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GREENSBORO — In their first public comments, four fired or suspended officers claimed the Greensboro Police Department is rife with racially-infused corruption Sunday at a church event that drew hundreds of protesters.

The four men’s appeals on video during the event at Mount Zion Baptist Church led about 60 pastors and other religious leaders to sign a petition asking the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate “a developing and dangerous crisis within the Greensboro Police Department and the larger Greensboro community.”

Some of the pastors and audience members plan to take the letter by bus to Washington, where they hope to hand-deliver it to federal officials.

“And we take our complaints straight to them, not by snail mail, not by e-mail and not by Twitter. ... We need to get on the bus and go to D.C.,” said the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, to a standing ovation by 500-plus people.

The current and former officers — Capt. Charles Cherry and officers Ahmed Blake, Joseph Pryor and Robert Reyes — were at the meeting but did not address the crowd in person.

Instead, each spoke in pre-recorded film clips broadcast on overhead screens in the church sanctuary. The event was part social-justice rally and part church service interwoven with prayer, choir music and a love offering to support the four men and their protest.

Greensboro officials have not explained in detail why action was taken against each of the four, citing privacy law. But City Manager Rashad Young released a letter earlier this month denouncing critics’ repeated accusations of “a subculture of corruption” in the department, saying that none existed.

The four officers are African American and Latino. The city manager is African American, as is former police Chief Tim Bellamy on whose watch some of the racially prejudiced actions allegedly occurred.

Cherry, a 23-year veteran, gave his account of being suspended and on the verge of firing for helping several junior, minority officers submit grievances that were rejected in an atmosphere he called “true corruption.”

Cherry said he was blind to the alleged corruption until he was promoted several years ago to a position where he could see it clearly. “It began to mushroom, so to speak. . . . Then the retaliation began to come at me in addition to the other officers (who filed grievances),” he said. “It’s taken from me the belief that the police will always do the right thing.”

Some of the corruption he and the others described involved minority officers allegedly being disciplined for protesting what they saw as misdeeds by white officers or administrators. They also point out that those accused of committing or condoning such behavior often play major roles in making the department’s decision on whether the complaints are justified.

Two-year police veteran Reyes said he put his job in jeopardy “simply for doing the right thing” by pressing complaints against a fellow officer who allegedly mistreated a Greensboro resident.

“Before that badge, I am first a citizen,” Reyes said to audience applause. “I did not become a police officer to protect the police department.”

Bishop George Brooks, pastor at Mount Zion, estimated the turnout at 500 to 600: “I would have thought the numbers would have been higher, but I’m glad to see the number that did come.”

The audience was made up primarily of African American residents, but there also were a significant number white attendees, including former Mayor Carolyn Allen.

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