news-record.com

GREENSBORO — A group of residents is expected to deliver a letter to the city Friday, asking that leaders stop the process of hiring a new police chief until the racial controversy at the police department is resolved.

City Manager Rashad Young said Wednesday he will not stop the process, saying he has not seen the racial allegations substantiated.

About a dozen residents, all of whom are white, have attended meetings or shown support for the Greensboro Justice Summer. That’s an offshoot of the Pulpit Forum and other local groups, which have lodged numerous allegations of double-standards for minority police officers and a “subculture of corruption” at the department.

“Those of us signing this letter are white,” the letter says (.pdf). “We have been listening to varying and complex stories of those who feel mistreated by the police department and we feel compelled to get involved and to call on citizens of all races to get involved.”

The group also raises concerns about finalist Lisa Womack, who resigned as chief in Elgin, Ill., earlier this year.

Details surrounding her departure have not been disclosed. City leaders have not said whether they know the full story about her resignation other than what she told people interviewing her.

Womack is one of two finalists, along with Kenneth Miller, senior deputy chief at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

The group is asking the city to ask for a formal U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the police department, something also requested by the state NAACP and the Pulpit Forum in May.

If that happens, the group wants Young to make sure Chief Tim Bellamy cooperates with that investigation after his retirement Saturday.

“We do not believe that the new chief should step in until the city gains a real understanding of the department’s systematic problems and their causes — and explains this to the community in a way that begins to rebuild broad trust in the department,” the letter says.

Young said Wednesday he doesn’t plan to stop the process and won’t ask for an investigation because he doesn’t feel it is warranted.

“At a minimum, I think the word corruption is wrong to use when describing what (the Pulpit Forum is) talking about,” Young said.

“Disciplinary issues are at the root of what they are saying. I have not seen evidence that our discipline is disproportionate in 2010 or 2009 to the demographics that exist in the police department.”

Young said he could not comment on specific examples brought up by the Pulpit Forum including disciplinary issues involving Capt. Charles Cherry and Officer A.J. Blake because of privacy laws.

He said the process in selecting the next chief has included a cross-section of the community and that residents should not rush to judgment about Womack.

“Whether it is one of these candidates or another candidate, I have to satisfy myself and the community that the person has the skills, background and competency to do this job effectively,” he said.

Sherry Giles, a Guilford College professor, says she will sign the letter.

“When any residents or public servants of the city are harmed or treated unfairly, it harms all of the residents, including whites.”

Contact Ryan Seals at 373-7077 or ryan.seals@news-record.com