GREENSBORO - The leaked copy of a city consultant's report on the police department that was posted on area blogs originated with Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small, Mayor Keith Holliday announced at the end of Tuesday night's City Council meeting.
He made the statement after a 70-minute closed session, during which he and six other council members learned the results of a forensic analysis ordered after copies of consultant RMA's report appeared Oct. 16 on a local blog, Greensboro101.com, and then on some other local blogs.
RMA also investigated the leak, retaining a forensic document examiner to compare the copy posted on the Internet with all city copies.
The analysis compared 31 characteristics of the copy posted on the Internet with all other copies. Most copies were inconsistent on all 31; no copy besides Bellamy-Small's was consistent on more than 12. Bellamy-Small's was consistent on all 31 points.
Bellamy-Small had called in sick before Tuesday night's meeting, Holliday reported. Councilwoman Goldie Wells was out of town.
The RMA report, delivered to the city in December , concluded that city police Chief David Wray had "crippled" the department with harsher discipline for black officers than for white ones and had threatened commanders who questioned his decisions. Wray resigned in January after City Manager Mitchell Johnson changed the locks on Wray's office.
After the News & Record obtained a copy of the RMA report and reported on its contents in March, eight of nine council members took polygraph tests and signed affidavits saying they had not leaked the report. Bellamy-Small denied that she had given the report to the newspaper but refused to take a polygraph test.
Before saying whom the leaked copy had belonged to, Holliday read a statement asking the council to authorize release of the forensic analysis and explaining why he felt the leak had been so damaging to an ongoing investigation of the police department.
He declined to comment further after the meeting except to explain the timing of the disclosure: Before the leaked report was posted on line, the city's efforts to identify the leaker had stalled.
Council members left quickly after the meeting adjourned; most either later declined to comment or could not be reached.
"That was the result of the forensic report," at-large Councilwoman Yvonne Johnson said after the meeting. "If that is the case, it's very sad to me that anybody trusted by the public would leak a confidential document."
"It confirms what we kind of felt," Councilman Tom Phillips said of the forensic report. "She never allowed us to ask her questions. She basically said, ‘I didn't leak the report, and I'm not answering any questions,' so I would've liked to at least heard her response to what was presented tonight."
Staff writer Joe Killian contributed to this report.
Contact Lex Alexander at 373-7088 or lalexander@news-record.com
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