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GREENSBORO — It took Greensboro detectives nearly two months to interview a pair of their own department's policemen, said to be present during an alleged sexual assault involving two other city officers.

Criminal investigators didn't question suspended officers John LeGrand and C.S. Stevens until Feb. 12 about the incident that occurred almost two weeks before Christmas.

The delay apparently stemmed from disagreements between the department and the lawyer representing the officers. Meanwhile, the officers were suspended with pay, not on the streets doing police work but still drawing salaries that total a combined $89,000 a year.

The impasse in such a high-profile case is just one example of how the public often waits months for answers in investigations of alleged police misconduct.

City officials acknowledge that such delays can breed questions and distrust among residents at a time the department can ill afford that uncertainty.

The department is dealing with an upsurge in police misconduct allegations, while still weathering fallout from the departure of police Chief David Wray in early 2006. Its reputation clearly is in trouble with some in the community.

"I think that in light of the past two years and what we heard on the campaign trail, folks feel like something is not quite right in the department, and they want it fixed," Mayor Yvonne Johnson said. "They just want faith restored."

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At least eight cases of possible police misconduct have come to light in the past two years, four since December. Only one has worked its way through both the courts and the department's internal disciplinary system. And unless allegations result in criminal charges or some other court action, the public is unlikely to get the full story.

A combination of personnel law, civil rights and additional legal protections unique to police officers make it so the full truth about some cases never comes out for public consumption, City Manager Mitch Johnson acknowledges.

"I have always leaned toward getting the information out there," Johnson said, "but not when it tramples the rights of the individual."

Police Chief Tim Bellamy said he does not believe it takes his department significantly longer than other agencies to look into police misconduct allegations. But if there is a disparity, he said, it would be because Greensboro has a relatively small staff handling such cases and works hard to ensure fair treatment.

"The system is fair to the officers as far as giving them due process," Bellamy said.

In addition to the reported assault, cases of potential misconduct since 2006 include:

l three veteran officers facing felony charges of embezzlement or obstruction of justice;

l an ongoing investigation into irregularities in the police academy that emerged in mid-2006;

l an officer charged with soliciting a prostitute;

l a lieutenant and a sergeant being looked at for possible conflict of interest in operating a home for troubled youth;

l one officer being questioned about alleged domestic abuse;

l an officer suspended without pay for reportedly having a flashing blue light illegally installed on his personal car.

Bellamy said he does not think that public trust in the department has been seriously eroded by the unresolved internal investigations and suspensions, what another senior officer referred to as a recent "spike" in such cases.

Greensboro residents can be confident that "when we know there are violations, we take appropriate action," Bellamy said.

"We're committed to holding ourselves accountable," he said. "People have to have faith in their leadership and faith in the police department."

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The department has 11 officers and evidence technicians on suspension, at least six of them with pay at combined salaries of about $270,000 a year, or about $5,200 a week. Bellamy said the cost should not worry taxpayers because it is part of a system of public accountability that also treats employees fairly.

In general, officers under criminal investigation are suspended with pay unless or until charges are filed.

Criminal charges also mean the public has a better chance of learning details of the alleged wrongdoing, because court action is usually public. Of course, court cases also take time, potentially leaving the public in the dark even longer.

But if no crime is charged, allegations of police misconduct are handled largely behind closed doors. Nearly all discipline involving most public employees is confidential under state personnel law, limiting disclosure to such basic information as the person's name, age, position and salary.

In addition, police officers are protected by a provision known as the "Garrity Rule," which requires detectives investigating an officer's alleged criminal wrongdoing to keep their work completely separate from any internal administrative probe that is under way. The rule requires officers to answer questions about their job performance in any internal investigation or be fired. But it also bars any information obtained that way from being used in criminal charges against the officer.

Participants make no apologies for the convoluted format of police misconduct investigations. They readily concede it can take time but say it is designed to protect the privacy and constitutional rights of officers suspected of wrongdoing.

"If a criminal investigation is ongoing, the officer has the same rights as anybody else," said William L. Hill, the lawyer who represents LeGrand and Stevens in the assault case.

In that case, police investigators caused the delay in interviewing the officers about the incident, said to have happened late Dec. 14 or early Dec. 15, Hill said.

His clients and a sergeant were suspended with pay when a fourth officer claimed that one or more assaulted her after offering her a ride near Four Seasons Town Centre.

Hill said his clients deny any wrongdoing and were willing to talk with investigators within days of the incident. But one of the detectives insisted that the interviews be done at the police department because that was standard procedure, he said.

His clients did not want to be interviewed in their place of employment and simply asked for a more neutral setting, Hill said. The dispute could have been settled quickly but dragged on, he said.

Bellamy puts the blame on Hill, saying an investigator was ready to accommodate the officers in mid-January but was stymied by the lawyer's travel out of town and other factors outside the department's control.

Investigators arranged for an interview at a State Bureau of Investigation building at one point, but neither Hill nor his clients showed up, the chief said.

Bellamy said, however, that the investigation is about to be turned over to the district attorney. That could mean a decision as soon as this week on whether criminal charges are filed.

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Experts say charges of misconduct are not uncommon for police departments; any large organization will have some employees accused of bending or breaking the rules.

During the past two years, the Raleigh Police Department has faced a scandal involving officers convicted of criminal charges for working private, part-time jobs the same hours they were supposedly on duty for the city. Last year, a number of Durham police officers were investigated for allegedly having sex with a prostitute while on duty.

Charlotte has dealt with several controversial shootings by police in recent years, including the killing of an unarmed 16-year-old last year and the fatal shooting of a 67-year-old double amputee in a wheelchair three years back.

Charlotte police conducted almost three times as many internal misconduct investigations of its officers as Greensboro in 2006, the most recent year for which figures are available — 317 to 111. But the Charlotte department, with 1,627 officers to Greensboro's 592, is almost three times larger, so the number of investigations is roughly proportional.

Most cases of alleged police misconduct in Greensboro don't involve criminal wrongdoing, falling instead to the department's Internal Affairs Division to investigate as rule violations.

A staff of five looks into complaints made by residents and other Greensboro officers or administrators. They reach conclusions about those allegations on a scale from unfounded, exonerated or "unsustained" —

meaning they cannot be proven — to sustained.

"Sustained means the employee did violate some departmental policy or procedure," said Capt. Jane Allen, who leads the division.

Last year through October, the department received 62 complaints from residents alleging police misconduct. More than a third — 22 — were at least partly sustained by investigators. Despite the impasse over interviews in the assault case, Hill said the Greensboro department has a thorough system for investigating misconduct by officers that is worth the time it takes.

A good example, Hill said, is the case of Officer Christopher Dale Smith, a veteran policeman who was arrested in High Point on misdemeanor charges of soliciting a prostitute in October 2006. The criminal case was dismissed in District Court for lack of evidence. A police disciplinary board also dismissed most of the internal charges after giving Smith the chance to tell his side. He said he asked the woman for directions and was arrested while chasing her to recover the wallet she stole by reaching into his car, Hill said.

Smith was able to present enough evidence that the board found him guilty only of failing to report the incident soon enough to his superiors, but not guilty of the soliciting charge, Hill said.

"He got fully reinstated with a substantial amount of back pay," Hill said of the outcome.

Because the case is confidential under state personnel law, Hill could talk about it only because Smith gave him permission.

But that's not always the way it happens.

And that could prove disappointing for Greensboro residents who want a full account of recent incidents that raised questions about the department and some of its personnel.

Contact Taft Wireback at 373-7100 or taft.wireback@news-record.com

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com