news-record.com

GREENSBORO - So the "forensic document analysts" have determined the leaked copy of a controversial police department investigation originated with Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small.

Questions remain: How'd it happen? Did she hand over the copy to the Web site that published it? Did she give it to a third party, who then presented it to Greensboro101.com? Was the copy stolen?

The woman who may have answers isn't talking.

Bellamy-Small didn't return telephone calls by the News & Record on Wednesday, nor did she respond to a list of questions left at her southeast Greensboro house. Her fax machine rings perpetually busy.

She also called in sick before Tuesday night's City Council meeting, when Mayor Keith Holliday announced the results of the investigation.

Fellow council members said Wednesday that they hadn't heard from her, either.

"The ball is in her court," Councilwoman Sandy Carmany said. "She owes us an explanation of how this happened or how it could have happened."

Council members can't remove Bellamy-Small from office. But at least one member said Wednesday that Bellamy-Small should resign.

"I think that she should do the honorable thing and that is to resign," Councilwoman Florence Gatten said.

Most of what the public knows about the police department scandal stems from the report produced by the Raleigh-based consulting firm Risk Management Associates. It concluded that David Wray had "crippled" the force as the city's police chief by giving black officers stiffer punishments than white counterparts in similar situations and by intimidating white captains who opposed some of his decisions.

Wray resigned in January after City Manager Mitchell Johnson changed the locks to Wray's office.

A link to the RMA report appeared Oct. 17 on Greensboro101.com, a Web site that publishes information from local bloggers.

Last month, the city hired an investigator from R M A - the same company that compiled the report - to compare that copy with all city copies.

Although RMA determined this week that the copy originated with Bellamy-Small, it's still unclear who gave the report to Greensboro101.com or who leaked the document to the News & Record in the spring.

News & Record Editor John Robinson declined Wednesday to identify the source.

In May, Bellamy-Small denied playing any role in the original leak of the RMA report to the News & Record. She also said then that she thinks suspicion centered on her because she opposed the use of polygraphs during a closed-door meeting with other council members.

Bellamy-Small was the only member to refuse to take the polygraph test or sign an affidavit stating she didn't share the report with anyone.

"I have stated I had no part in the leak of the report. ... I have never been the source of any leak," she wrote in a faxed statement, responding to questions from the newspaper.

Bellamy-Small also said her "character and integrity have been insulted and questioned."

"At this point, if my word is not good enough, nothing would be, " she said then.

It's also unclear how much this latest investigation will cost taxpayers. The RMA analyst charges $100 an hour, but as of Wednesday afternoon he had not submitted a bill documenting how many hours he worked.

The polygraph tests cost about $5,000.

Contact Margaret Moffett Banks at 373-7031 or mbanks@news-record.com