The release of tapes at a Greensboro City Council meeting last month added more controversy to an investigation of former top officers of the city’s Police Department.
The controversy has been going on since the resignation of Police Chief David Wray in January 2006. The State Bureau of Investigation is wrapping up its investigation of Wray and former Deputy Chief Randall Brady. The results are due later this year. For the most part, the city has resisted calls from the public and the alternative media to release information in the case, citing the ongoing investigation.
But during a meeting last month, City Manager Mitchell Johnson, in the center of the storm since he changed the locks on the door to the police chief’s office before Wray offered his resignation, made a presentation to the City Council during which he released three tapes. Council members and the public heard three tapes, two of which were an interview between Brady and agents with Risk Management Associates, the private agency commissioned by the city to prepare a report based on its investigation.
In those tapes, Brady acknowledged he was aware of a “black book” that is at the heart of the case against Wray.
The black book allegedly was used to target black officers in a secret internal investigation to check out allegations of inappropriate conduct. While questionable activities have been reported by the local media, no official action has been taken.
But the third tape appeared to be totally out of context with the other two. It was a conversation between Brady and Officer Scott Sanders, who apparently recorded it without Brady’s knowledge. The tape, stored on the hard drive of Sanders’ computer, was seized as evidence in the SBI’s investigation.
On the tape, Brady is describing a situation to Sanders in which a woman has been harassing Wray, going so far as to move into the condominium next to Wray. Brady describes the woman as a “nut,” but also describes her as highly intelligent and articulate, traits that could make outrageous claims against Wray seem credible. The woman had already told a detective in the department that Wray was soliciting prostitutes, a claim later proven to be false.
Brady tells Sanders to prepare a “file” on the woman, telling him “you know what kind of file I’m looking for. I mean, where we can go up there and lay it down and say here’s the history of that woman, here’s what she’s done, and before it’s over with, you and I are going to figure out a way to get her kicked out of that freaking place … even if we have to make it look like she’s done something.
“It’s amazing what I get paid for, isn’t it?” Brady concludes, although when listening to the tapes, it’s difficult to tell if he’s being sarcastic.
Since the city previously had resisted calls to release the RMA report, citing the ongoing SBI investigation, the sudden release of the tapes prompted charges the city was selectively releasing information to influence public opinion.
John Hammer, editor of the alternative weekly The Rhinoceros Times, wrote that the city is “either horribly incompetent or devastatingly clever when it comes to releasing public information … It appears the only reason for releasing the tapes was to embarrass Brady.”
But the city was also involved in a federal case to deny Brady his supplemental retirement benefits because he was engaged in activity that might have triggered his termination.
The problem was that Judge Carlton Tilley had already ruled that the city had to pay Brady his benefits because he legally had met the criteria. The city is considering an appeal, however.
In a phone interview, Johnson said the amount due Brady was almost $250,000.
“We couldn’t effectively explain to the judge the basis for our concerns without making available the information,” Johnson said. “From a public policy standpoint, it seems inappropriate that the taxpayers should be paying for someone for all those years — and it’s not an inconsequential amount of money — just because they were able to retire before we could complete an investigation.”
Though Johnson admitted that there is no evidence illegal action was taken against the woman accused of stalking Wray, he defended the release of the tape.
“The whole conversation ended up being unnecessary, but that’s irrelevant,” Johnson said. “What that tape does, in essence, is it shows you there was a willingness on the part of those two individuals to do things that I hope nobody that believes in our justice system thinks are remotely appropriate. People that swear an oath and wear a badge find that to be one of the most horrendous conversations they’ve ever heard. These are people that have the authority to put you in jail. It’s pretty scary.”
Amanda Martin, general counsel of the N.C. Press Association, said she understands the legal situation public agencies often find themselves in regarding the release of personnel information, considering the statutes that govern the release of that type of information. Such situations often result in policy decisions that might not be popular with the public.
“From a public policy standpoint, it’s a problem to have public officials manipulating the release of information in a sort of halfway fashion,” Martin said. “It’s appropriate to release information when some issue has arisen that causes alarm or concern about how a public official or a public employee is discharging his public duties.”
Sam Hieb is a contributing editor of Carolina Journal.