The business of telling people what they want to hear

Pardon us here in Greensboro for believing that if Risk Management Associates investigates the police department, it ain’t good for the police department.

Questions remain about RMA’s forthcoming investigation of the Winston-Salem Police Department. Based on the Journal’s account, it sounds more like a comprehensive investigation of departmental procedures, as opposed to an investigation of an individual, as was the case here in Greensboro. I don’t know if that will involve naming names, which perhaps means that the report will be released to the public, right?

RMA is also dropping into yet another highly-charged racial atmosphere, considering the fact that the Daryl Hunt case is the driving force behind the investigation, according to the Journal. I realize we just now know that Hunt was indeed the wrong man in the Deborah Sykes murder. But he’s been freed and has received restitution from the city. I’m concerned that’s not enough for some in Winston-Salem who want to use a 20-year-old case to prove that the present-day police force is corrupt, and they’re hoping that’s exactly what RMA’s going to tell them.

But here’s the bright spot: We here in Greensboro will now have another report by which to compare the flawed report on the David Wray administration, if it is indeed released to the public. (If it’s not, anyone want to bet that the Journal will still get its hands on a copy?) We’ll get a sense of whether or not Greensboro is some strange aberration or if RMA’s just in the business of telling people what they want to hear.