Also of interest in this grievance is references to an investigation underway by the professional standards division to determine whether statements made by Cherry were truthful:
On July 16, 2010, while I was in the Professional Standards Division, I spoke with Sergeant AT McHenry, and Corporal MJ Harris was present. Sergeant McHenry is investigating me regarding an alleged truthfulness violation. Sergeant McHenry stated to me that based on a complaint I had filed, he had spoken to Attorney Ken Free. Sergeant McHenry stated he needed me to waive attorney client privilege to confirm some allegations I had made in a document. I stated, "Why don't you just ask Ken if he told me that Bellamy was on the lawsuit, and he would have told you yes. Why didn't you just ask Ken if he told me that Bellamy was off the lawsuit and he would've told you yes."
Editorial note: The lawsuit referenced here is the federal discrimination lawsuit that is currently pending.
Sergeant McHenry then replied, "I did ask him, and you know what he said? He (Ken Free) said, "I don't recall. You (Cherry) need to get your facts straight." I then asked Sergeant McHenry, "If you asked Ken that question, then why do I need to contact him and waive attorney client privilege?" I believe that Sergeant McHenry is being untruthful. I also believe that Sergeant McHenry needs me to waive the attorney client privilege to try and cover allegations that I made in previous documents. At this time, I do not intend to waive attorney client privilege, with Mr. Free. Please investigate my additional allegation against Sergeant McHenry. I believe Sergeant McHenry's actions support Assistant City Manager Mr. Speedling's statement, to an officer, that the result's of the officer's investigation is due to "incompetence or discrimination," on the part of professional standards.
I haven't attempted to get the city's response to these allegations, because so far I've found official statements to be evasive and incomplete. I also have found that the community at large and readership has generally displayed a lack of curiosity about this story. I'll hold my investigative firepower until either the city becomes more forthcoming with answers or the community becomes more insistent on demanding them.
2 comments:
I'm not sure it is that we don't care, Jordan -- hey, it's us! I just don't understand it well enough to have a handle on the conflict. That could well be my fault for not spending enough time read everything -- it gets deep quickly just wading into it. Maybe a brief primer might help.
Thanks for commenting, Roch. Yeah, I've gathered from talking to people who are typically engaged and concerned about fairness that this is a complicated situation. I do think that all of us who live in Greensboro have a stake in this, not just black people. And theoretically, issues of fairness and morale within the department spill over into the community in terms of the quality of law enforcement and public safety.
I'm taking a deep breath right now.
Post a Comment