letter regarding greensboro police complaint review process july 7 letter to city council

8/20/2019 Letter Regarding Greensboro Police Complaint Review Process July 7 Letter to City Council

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PACSHI Letter to City Council 7/7/2015 Regarding Policy related to GPD Internal Investigative Mechanism Page 1 of 3

A Project of the Beloved Community Center

417 Arlington Street Greensboro, NC 27406

336.230.0001 office ~ 336.230.2428 fax

July 7, 2015

The Honorable Nancy Vaughan, MayorMembers of the Greensboro City CouncilCity of Greensboro

P.O. Box 3136Greensboro, NC 27402-3136

Transmitted Via E-mail

Dear Mayor Vaughan and Members of the Greensboro City Council:

We write you to make a formal request to our Mayor and City Council on a policy issue related to the

Greensboro Police Department’s (GPD) internal investigative mechanism.

A delegation of clergy and community members met with Greensboro City Manager Jim Westmoreland,

City Attorney Tom Carruthers, and Assistant City Manager Wesley Reid on June 3, 2015, in the Plaza

Conference Room. During that meeting, we were told that under the current GPD internal complaint process

there exists no power nor duty nor responsibility to investigate and determine whether there was any factual

basis to stop, frisk, search, or arrest the complainant who subsequently lodged a complaint against a police

officer.

We are greatly concerned, if in fact, no such power or duty to assess the cause(s) for police action insuch circumstances exists. We are, therefore, making a formal request that the City Council clarify whether the

GPD, using all components of its current internal complaint review process, can or cannot make factual

determinations as to whether a police officer ’s stop, frisk, search, or arrest has a legal and factual basis.

Our request can be summarized as whether or not there is jur isdiction within the internal complaint

review process to determine whether “legal cause” existed for an officer to act as he or she did. Without a clear

resolution to this question, the internal police mechanism is essentially meaningless as it relates to justice,

except as a fog of confusion and deception to mislead the public.

The tragic, inhumane and heinous murder of nine people at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston,

SC on Wednesday, June 17th, speaks to the “fierce urgency of now,” to use Dr. Martin Luther King’s phrase.

We can no longer afford the luxury of seeing the explosion of racist acts of violence or police abuse of power asisolated incidents. Rather, we must see them as a broad trend which includes Greensboro. It follows that we

cannot tolerate “fuzzy” or unclear internal complaint review policy parameters and scope, which have life and

death implications.

Frankly, we were shocked to hear the City Manager ’s claim that the internal complaint review process

does not have jurisdiction or authority to make determinations of fact and truth related to such fundamental

complaints against police as to whether the stop, frisk, search, or arrest of the person had a factual basis or rather

was wrongly based initially on racial profiling or other discriminatory impetus. That claim by representatives of


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our city effectively ended any meaningful discussion for us. The assertion raises profound questions of policy or

integrity, possibly both.

To provide some context, this discussion arose out of our desire to explore with city leaders the policy

implications of the internal complaint review process, as applied to the Scales Brothers ’ stop and arrest in

August 2014. We made it clear from the very outset that we were not gathered on June 3rd

to discuss or settle

any legal claim the Scales Brothers’ have because neither the Scales Brothers nor their lawyer were present. We

emphasize this point because we want the Mayor and City Council Members to be clear that we are writing toaddress poli cy issues, regarding the scope of the internal complaint review process, as opposed to personnel or

litigation matters. We are raising an over-arching policy issue directly within your purview and responsibility.

It is our view after nine months of study and investigation, that Officer Cole, the arresting officer in the

Scales Brothers Case, did not have a legal or factual basis to stop, interrogate, insult or arrest the Scales

Brothers. Further, we concluded that Officer Cole lied and committed perjury when he falsely swore before a

Magistrate to obtain the arrest warrants for the Scales Brothers. We believe the claim of denial of jurisdiction by

the City Manager is a way of avoiding saying yes or no to the essential question of whether the stop,

interrogation, insults, and arrests of the Scales Brothers was based on racial profiling and otherwise without any

factual basis.

Again, we share this information for context only. Please understand that we are not asking the Councilto make any determination on any aspect of the Scales Brothers Case. We are simply asking for clarity on the

scope or jurisdiction of the City’s internal complaint review process from Professional Standards Division

(PSD) all the way up to the City Manager. We believe it is your responsibility and duty to express (or cause to

be expressed) a clear position on this important policy issue.

The implications of the City Manager’s assertion that the process lacks even the authority to investigate

and determine legal cause of stops and arrests are, indeed, profound. The finding of “facts” is sometimes

complicated, but it is, nevertheless, routinely carried out within our civil and criminal justice system. That is

why the City Manager ’s assertion was so shocking. Judges make this determination in some situations. In jury

trials determining the facts (what really happened) are exclusively the province of the jury. The jurors decide

who to believe based on direct evidence, circumstantial evidence, the demeanor of witnesses, etc. Similarly, it

seems to us that police supervisors can and must investigate, probe, cross-examine and “test the truth” of all

witnesses and all of the evidence and then make a decision regarding what factually happened.

Initially, it was not clear to us whether the City Manager was aware of what he was saying. He was,

therefore, questioned further and he still affirmed his initial position. This boils down to the fact that neither the

PSD nor any aspect of the current process, as described by the City Manager, is empowered to look at and make

a determination of the most common and serious complaints: those grounded in race-based discrimination with

regards to who most frequently gets stopped, frisked, searched and arrested.

This claim by the City Manager appeared to us to be a device employed to avoid investigation and

exposure of police officers who violate the law (or police policy) as we allege happened in the Scales Case. Or,

perhaps worse, the Manager’s statement reveals a shocking weakness in the internal complaint process that

exposes the useless nature of the internal process and, thereby, underscores the need for fundamental and

democratic change in the entire police internal complaint and investigation mechanism.

We believe that the City Manager’s assertion that the City “process” is somehow barred from

investigating and determining whether racial profiling occurred is an expression of today’s racism. Various

forms of the cultural outlook that breeds and perpetuates racism exist. There are the vicious individual racist

acts as in the horrific Charleston murders, where Mr. Roof alleged that black people are “raping our women or

taking control of our country.” Others are more disguised structural and systemic acts of racism. They are

linked and part of the same trend.


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We in Greensboro have an opportunity to nurture a counter trend that boldly faces the truth and the

essence of the problem and seeks creative, democratic and enduring approaches to solving it. In that spirit, we

ask for a speedy response. We are available to discuss this matter further with you in the presence of the City

Manager or in a separate setting, if you prefer.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely yours,

Rev. Dr. Cardes Brown Mr. Lewis Pitts Pastor, New Light Missionary BaptistChurch Retired Civil Rights Attorney

Rev. Dr. Gregory Headen Rev. Nelson Johnson

Pastor, Genesis Baptist Church

Pastor, Faith Community Church & Director, Beloved

Community Center

Rev. Alphonso McGlen Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman

Pastor, Bethel AME Church Pastor, St. Phillip AME Zion Church

Bishop Alfred “Chip” Marble Mrs. Joyce H. Johnson

Retired Assisting Bishop, NC Episcopal Diocese Jubilee Institute Director, Beloved Community Center

cc: City Manager Jim WestmorelandPolice Chief Wayne Scott

Human Relations Director Love Crossling

letter regarding greensboro police complaint review process july 7 letter to city council

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