Thoughts after listening to the Buracker report on the GPD
Posted in Greensboro City Council
Jul. 8, 2008 at 19:23
by BrendaBee
I have read some comments of those who are disappointed with the Buracker report on the GPD. It seems people are taking sides as to whether the report condemns or praises the current adminiustration and are getting rather huffy about it in some cases.
I personally did not expect a stinging indictment of the current City Manager, or Police Chief, or any naming of names concerning that 1% of the GPD that has caused all the problems, or any conclusions regarding the Wray case. This is not what a consultant does. As Buracker said "the past administration is past history" and his firms concern is the present and the future. And all considered I felt the report was good as given (I have not yet finished reading it but am also impressed with what I have read. These people know their stuff and did an in depth study. For those of you who want the indictments you need only read between the lines a bit and they are certainly there loud and clear in every area that needs corrections. These are the very areas where problems that have upset most of us occurred. However it was not the consultants place to judge individuals, only systems or groups, if you prefer. That said I will repeat here a comment from Joe Guarino''s blog that very much needs repeating and understanding by all of us and all of the City Council if they are ever to begin to crawl out of the mess the GPD is in as well as all of the city government of Greensboro. If they do this they will fire Mitch Johnson and do a nationwide search for a specialized city manager trained and educated for the position. BB
Repeat comment:
"Did the GPD get accredited during Wray's Admin.?
Did the crime statistics shown show a decline during Wray's Admin? Did Wray not change the officers' schedules to provide for better coverage and put experienced officers on patrol with rookie officers...only to have the officers complain he was being unfair...senior officers preferred to work 9-5 and off weekends? Did not Buracker's report show over staffing Mon-Fri, 8:30-4:30 and severe under-staffing Sat-Sun? Did not Wray request more police officers? Did not Wray, also, question off-duty employment and the need to control abuse of it? Did not Buracker indicate to Rakestraw that the time limit for paid administrative leave should be established by the Chief, or the City Manager, or even the City Council if necessary? I thought it was a good report...in fact, it could have been written by David Wray. But, it wasn't, so now the City Council has an objective, outside opinion to use as a tool to resolve some of the problems in the GPD. Of course, it won't be easy as the N&R quoted Assist.Chief Harold Scott, commander of the patrol bureau as saying, "No matter what his chart said, we can address community issues with the overlap we have,"...
My response to that is, as a citizen, I would like to have more than 14 to 18 officers on patrol on weekends covering the entire city and I would like them to have help to keep them safe as well.
Posted by: Andy | July 08, 2008 at 01:41 PM
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