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GREENSBORO — The Guilford County District Attorney will not recommend criminal charges against three Greensboro police officers accused of sexually assaulting a female officer, according to a statement released Friday afternoon.

The three officers have been suspended with pay since the female officer reported the assault Dec. 18. The officers are Sgt. A.S. Wallace, 43; Officer J.O. LeGrand, 37; and Officer C.S. Stevens, 42.

The female officer said she was assaulted between 11 p.m. Dec. 14 and 1 a.m. Dec. 15 after the three male officers picked her up near Four Seasons Town Centre. The News & Record does not name people who report sexual assault.

A written statement from District Attorney Doug Henderson said his office decided against bringing charges after reviewing the investigative report and the lab tests from the State Bureau of Investigation.

"Significant factors considered in arriving at this decision include the intoxication or impairment of the complainant, the delay in filing the complaint, the delay in seeking a medical examination, and the absence of supporting physical evidence," Henderson's statement said.

Henderson could not be reached for comment Friday, but the district attorney's statement said his decision does not mean his office believes the three on-duty police officers acted appropriately or that they abided by police department regulations. His office said those issues will be taken up by an administrative review within the Greensboro Police Department.

City Councilman Mike Barber said the burden now is on the police department to handle its own officers — a responsibility he said the department hasn't taken seriously enough.

"We have hundreds of great police officers, and we have about a dozen rotten ones," he said. "We've seen too many instances in this city of officer behavior where, if this was the private sector, they'd be fired. And that's what should happen any time they engage in behavior that's unbecoming a police officer."

Barber said he believes recent controversies involving Greensboro's police force have hurt the department's morale — not because the incidents occurred but because the officers involved weren't properly punished.

"I think all these issues would stop in large measure if we'd fire a handful of these officers," Barber said. "These bad eggs need to realize that this behavior isn't going to be forgotten. ... It will be met with termination."

The police department should "expect excellence" and that begins with Police Chief Tim Bellamy, he said.

"All of this has happened on Chief Bellamy's watch," Barber said. "Something has got to change — either the continued behavior of these officers has to change, or their management has to change. And the City Council, through the city manager's office, is willing to make that change."

Neither Bellamy nor City Manager Mitchell Johnson could be reached for comment Friday evening.

But several Greensboro City Council members said they have faith that the police chief will take the right steps as the internal police investigation continues.

"I know that it will be handled correctly, whatever the next step is," Councilwoman Goldie Wells said. "I am sure that Chief Bellamy will handle it the right way."

City Councilman Robbie Perkins said: "I have full confidence that he'll make a decision that is fair, just and based on the procedures already in place at the police department. And that decision will be based on facts and evidence, not rumors and innuendo."

Contact Joe Killian at 883-4422, Ext. 228, or joe.killian@news-record.com