Greensboro Ministers Protest Police Termination Hearings
Thursday, August 26 2010
by Jessica Jones
Eric Hodge: Greensboro’s newly chosen police chief, Ken Miller, will be sworn in next week in a ceremony at the city’s coliseum. He’s coming to a police department fraught with tension. There’s a pending lawsuit filed last year by 39 officers accusing higher-ups of racial discrimination. And this week, three minority officers are undergoing termination hearings— meaning they could lose their jobs. Jessica Jones reports local ministers say the men are being targeted unfairly.
Jessica Jones: The ministers, known in Greensboro as The Pulpit Forum, have been calling attention to the officers’ plight all summer. Earlier this month, City Manager Rashad Young released a statement saying he saw no culture of corruption and harassment in the police department. On Tuesday, Reverend Cardes Brown begged to differ at a press conference.
The city manager is privy to more information about the police department than anyone else in local government. But he won’t comment on the hearings involving Captain Charles Cherry, Officer Joseph Pryor, and Officer Robert Reyes. Their personnel files are not open to the public. Brown says the men have told him they’re being pushed out after voicing concerns about abuses of power and discrimination within the department.
The police department won’t comment on these cases either. Local coverage of the hearings hasn’t helped its image. There’s also the discrimination lawsuit filed last year against the city. Among others, it names David Wray, a police chief who resigned in 2006.
Tom Phillips is a former city council member who served in that position for 12 years. He says the high turnover of police chiefs in recent years hasn’t been good for the department.
Phillips says he thinks some reporters and bloggers help stir the pot. He also blames the African-American ministers who belong to the Pulpit Forum. But a cross-section of Greensboro residents have begun to join the forum’s cause, including white ministers. //BRING UP STREET AMBI//
Yesterday, Keeney and a handful of protesters stood holding signs in front of the red brick building where Captain Charles Cherry’s termination hearing was taking place. Cherry is a 23-year-veteran of the department who has helped other officers file complaints.
When the hearing broke for lunch, Captain Cherry emerged in a dark suit. His demeanor was calm and optimistic, but he said he couldn’t talk about what was discussed in the termination hearing.
Cherry says the panel has promised to tell him whether he can still wear his uniform by 4pm this afternoon. Jessica Jones, North Carolina Public Radio, WUNC.
& Newsletters
