There has been a fair amount of reporting on this subject, but let me see if I’ve got the big picture:
A Greensboro City Council member is going around talking about how the Justice department is investigating the police department, but no one within the city —-not Interim City Manager Bob Morgan, not other council members —- knows anything.
Interesting that reports indicate the investigation was revealed by Robbie Perkins after the closed session tape became public. N&R editor John Robinson says the paper “heard about it last week, but couldn’t get anyone to go on the record — nasty thing, that need we have for sources to be accountable for the information they give us.”
But I just now stumbled upon Perkins talking about it the day after Mitchell Johnson was fired, almost two weeks ago:
The Department of Justice is now looking into the claims of misconduct within the Greensboro Police Department.
Mitchell Johnson will continue to work for the city at his current salary of $179,000 until his contract ends in four months. City officials say he will most likely play a large part in forming the city’s budget.
Perkins says that Johnson will also play a large part in answering Department of Justice questions related to the police investigation.
Seems to me like Perkins just tossed it out there and it aroused no immediate curiosity among local media —- I didn’t give it much thought, either. I guess we’ve just become unresponsive to the many lawsuits lawsuits surrounding the Greensboro Police Department. Maybe there was previous reporting and I just missed it.
At any rate, it will be interesting to see exactly what “large part” Johnson would play in such an investigation, especially if he’s no longer “personnel.”
