The N&R reports the City of Greensboro will name its new police chief tomorrow morning. No speculation in the blogosphere on who the lucky bastard is.
On the subject, an interesting part of last night’s city council meeting that hasn’t been covered was the Human Relation Commission’s request that the city petition the General Assembly for an amendment to the statute regarding citizen complaints against police officers.
HRC representative Wayne Abraham said the committee doesn’t want access to personnel files, only to the investigation report, which could contain personnel information. Without access to the investigation report, the HRC can’t can’t adequately perform the task assigned by the city.
Interim Police Chief Tim Bellamy explained that currently a separate disposition folder is kept on the investigation, and HRC staff members meet with the police to discuss that disposition. No written report or executive summary is provided, but Bellamy said one could be provided in the near future.
While City Manager Mitchell Johnson verified that the HRC wanted access only to information related to the investigation, Council Member Florence Gatten read a sentence in the HRC’s that didn’t leave much room for interpretation:
….designated staff person to be able to read the police personnel records and police reports regarding citizen complaints without restriction….
The motion was voted down, but the question remains whether the HRC does indeed want access to police personnel records and whether or it should get such access.
