Thursday, January 13, 2011

Bethel AME Church

Rev. Alphonso McGlen, Pastor
“Knowing the truth will set us free”

Presentation of the Fundamental Facts

Surrounding the Officers and Citizens related
to the abuse of police power.
 WHO IS CHARLES CHERRY?

 Highly Respected Officer in

the Greensboro Police
Department
 Served the Greensboro
Community for more than
23 years
 Rose to the level of Captain.
 An officer with superlative
evaluations and ratings.
 Question??
Why would an officer with
such an impressive record
be suddenly fired?
 The primary reason that former Captain Cherry
was fired is because he helped file grievances on
behalf of other officers that implicated the top
leadership within the department related to
violation of department regulations and criminal
law.
Officer Joseph Pryor
Officer aj Blake
Officer Frances Banks
Officer Robert Reyes
 Captain Cherry assisted many officers. we will
examine four cases.
1.) Officer Joseph Pryor
2.) Officer AJ Blake
3.) Officer Frances Banks
4.) Officer Robert Reyes
 1.) Officer Joseph Pryor
 Officer Pryor was accused of
kicking/assaulting a suspect during an arrest.
 In the course of the arrest where he was
accused of kicking a suspect, he fell injured his
knee while running and never had any contact
and could not have kicked anyone.
 Officer Pryor Cont.
 Officer Pryor requested that Captain Cherry
review his case file and upon finding multiple
errors in the case he then wrote a memo.
 The memo raised approximately 15 different
errors related to the investigation against Pryor.
This launched a series of grievances being
filed.
 Officer Pryor Cont.
 The errors raised implicated many top Greensboro
police administrators, the internal affairs division
(investigative arm of the police) and the assistant City
Manager
 The assistant City Manager publicly acknowledged
that the investigation completed by internal affairs
was discriminatory and incompetent.
 And yet Officer Pryor was fired.
 2.) Officer AJ Blake
 After Officer Blake was falsely charged and fired and
eventually found not guilty in court. Officer Blake
was re-instated to the Greensboro Police Department
Upon his return, Captain Wolfe spoke to Blake and
called him
“a sorry shack of s-h-**-t”.
Cherry assisted Blake with
filing a grievance.
 Officer aj Blake
Blake, being off duty, went downtown to view
a rally that was organized by a group of young
people. While standing across the street from
the rally participants, officers approached
Blake and ordered him into a car.
Captain Cherry assisted
him in filing a grievance
 Officer AJ Blake
Blake was taken to Assistant Chief Anita Holder’s
office, and was told that he was going to loose his
job and be suspend without pay because he was
associating with a criminal (Jorge “King Jay”
Cornell). Holder said that Blake waved at King
Jay at the rally.
Cherry assisted Blake in writing another
grievance.
 3.) Officer Frances Banks
Officer Banks was approved for a transfer to the
investigation division by then chief, Chief Tim
Bellamy. Captain Rogers violated personnel
privacy law by getting Banks’ file and
comparing it to another officer to evaluate the
difference between Banks’ training and the
other officer’s training. Captain Cherry
helped file a complaint.
 Officer Frances Banks
Captain Charles Cherry then wrote an email
discussing the violation of personnel privacy
law, and Assistant Chief Dwight Crotts then
told Cherry that it was unprofessional to
send that email.

Assistant Chief Dwight Crotts

 3.) Officer Robert Reyes
 Officer Reyes reported an incident of a fellow
officer using excessive force against a suspect.
 After reporting the incident, he felt retaliated
against because his rating decreased.
 He decided to appeal the decision, and
requested the proper information needed for
the appeal process.
 Officer Robert Reyes
 Officer Reyes’ request for proper information
was denied, and Reyes then sought assistance
from Captain Cherry.

 Once knowledge of Cherry’s assistance was

known, retaliation increased for both Reyes
and Cherry.
 Within all the filed grievances, there are claims of
violation of command policy and city, state, and
federal law.
 The Beloved Community Center, the local chapter
of the NAACP, the Pulpit Forum and the Spirit of
the Sit-In Movement Initiative refer to this lack of
professionalism and accountability as a Sub-
Culture of Corruption and Double Standards.
 Let’s Review before moving forward.

Charles Cherry helped file grievances for:

Officer Pryor - - - - March 10
Officer Reyes ---- March 24
Officer Banks - - - - March 29-30
Officer Blake - - - - May 8
On April 20, Captain Cherry was given a Level
(IV) Four Rating.
 In a May 15 Command Staff Meeting of the
Greensboro Police Department, Chief Tim Bellamy
stated that all those making claims of corruption and
double standards can turn in their badge, and “get
the hell out”. Cherry was present in this meeting.

 This act was not only un-

professional but also direct
retaliation
 Directly after that Command Staff Meeting,
Assistant Chief Dwight Crotts told Cherry to
stop filing grievances. Cherry responded with
two (2) questions: Has my work been
Affected?
Have I broken any Rules?

Crotts answered “No” to both questions.

 On May 26, Charles Cherry was recommended for
psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he
was Fit-for-Duty.

 Recall, Cherry received a Level (IV) Four rating

on April 20. On July 9, without the psychiatric
evaluation results, Cherry was given a Level (I)
One rating (which is termination level) by
Assistant Chief Crotts.
 When Cherry went to appeal the rating, Chief
Bellamy raised his rating to Level (II) Two.
His psychiatric evaluation proved that Cherry
was indeed Fit-for-Duty.

 This is when the process for firing the

officers escalated because of the grievance
filed and who they implicated.
 Then the Department made claims that Cherry
was lying in the grievances that he was filing.
This claim was false!

 Assistant Chief Anita Holder advise Cherry to

take an early retirement (claiming medical
reason). This advice was a violation NC
Retirement Law!
 When the fit for duty evaluation was found to
be without basis the GPD raised a number of
false allegations against Captain Cherry.

 Why was Captain Cherry fired? Because

he challenged the GPD’s subculture of
corruption and double standards by filing
legitimate grievances.
  Jorge and his family made a decision to move
Who is Jorge Cornell? from New York City to Greensboro in 2002 to
get a new start.
 He was a member of ALKQN in NY, but for
three years he had no activity with the
ALKQN in NC

 Came to the Beloved Community Center

because he was interested in working for peace
among street organizations and young people.
 Helped form a Peace Treaty.
 Ran for City Council.
• Who is Jorge  Because of the
Cornell? discrimination and abusive
treatment of latinos, he made
a decision to organize a
ALKQN chapter.
 Between 2005 to 2008 he
independently sought to
work with certain members
of the police force, but was
continually frustrated and
misled.
 Jorge Cornell came to the attention of the
Beloved Community Center and the Pulpit
forum in 2008 when he announced that he
wanted to promote peace amongst street
groups.
 Within days after contact with the BCC a
warrant appeared for his arrest. The charge had
no basis and was eventually thrown out of
court.
 Between June and November of 2008 members
of the ALKQN came under a withering assault
of arrest, harassment, profiling and arrest on
false charges.

 At one point, Jorge was charged with

seventeen felonies all of which were dismissed
or eventually defeated in court.
In a meeting with former
Chief Bellamy, Assistant
Chief Crotts, and Captain
Wolfe, community
members asked why the
police department was
targeting the ALKQN
when they are not known
to be a violent group in
Greensboro?
The response given by Chief Bellamy:
“They [ALKQN] are the most
organized group!!!”
One time the Police claimed they had a warrant
for Jorge’s arrest, and they were going around
to members of his Nation’s jobs questioning
Jorge’s whereabouts. Jorge went to turn
himself in, and there was NO WARRANT on
record for him.
 These charges have made it difficult for members of the
ALKQN to get and keep employment and housing.
 One example police went to a city worksite where a
member of ALKQN was working and lied. Saying that
the city forbade them to be on city property because
they were a gang. The City Manager overturned that
decision.
 Officer AJ Blake internally complained about Anti
Latino tactics. He said that the Gang Units tactics were
overbearing and over-reaching.
 Attorney Anita Earls of the Southern Law Coalition in
Durham, NC, formally of the U.S. Department of
Justice, thought it proper to file a Title (VI) case against
the Police Department for discrimination and
harassment. The case is pending.
 The Beloved Community Center, NAACP, the Pulpit
Forum, and others have had to offer financial assist to
the ALKQN because they have been bled dry of
resources because of bail bonds, payment to lawyers
and unjustified court cost.
 AJ Blake was an upstanding
police officer with eight
years experience.

 His story is a long one

beginning in January of 2008
when he was falsely arrested
and charged with assaulting
a two females at a police
party.
 Background:
Officer Blake attended a police sponsored birthday
party for one of his fellow officers. There was a
drinking contest, and mostly everyone was
intoxicated. Blake and his fiancé got into an
argument, and they were leaving. Another female
claimed she witnessed Blake kick his fiancé when
leaving, and went after them to assist.
 In District Court, Blake’s fiancé testified that
Blake did not kick or assault her in any
manner. This testimony would have dismissed
the second charge.

 With heavy police influence the judge rendered

a guilty verdict, and Blake appealed the
decision.
 All the while, Blake was suspended without pay,
and he and his daughter faced enormous hardships
as he lost his home.
 With the assistance of the NAACP, the Pulpit
Forum, and the Beloved Community Center,
Blake made the case that he was being singled out
because of his race. At one time he was accused
of being the leader of the ALKQN.
 Before the Superior Court proceeds began, the
community pleaded with Chief Bellamy to
delay Blake’s termination hearing until after
the appeal process. He rejected this advise,
and fired Blake anyway.

 Blake was found NOT GUILTY of all charges

in Superior Court by six men and six women,
six white and six black.
 The Interim City Manager reinstated Blake and
the GPD. He was met with extreme hostility
and malicious public denouncements,
eventually the GPD sought to fire him again
for something that the Interim City Manager
already made a ruling on. Sadly, Blake was
terminated again.
 There has been no
change in the Police
Department because the
core leadership remains
 In addition, the rushed
decision by City
Manager Rashad Young
to hire a new chief did
not help.
What’s Going on with  11 Discrimination
the New Chief? Complaints from 5
different persons against
Chief Miller (also on
Rashad Young’s desk)
 Set up arrest of two law
abiding citizens at
Fairview meeting
 I appears that all of the issues related to Police
Professionalism and accountability are complex
to the contrary, they are made to appear
complex. The issue is that the top leadership of
the Greensboro Police department have had for
a long time, “a subculture of corruption and
double standards.”
 This struggle will be long and it will be difficult, but if
we persevere to the end we will make Greensboro a
much better and compassionate city.
The immediate future
1. Attend the annual “Pulpit Forum” King Day Worship Service
January 17th 6:00pm at Trinity AMEZ Church.
2. Lets Build together for a large community meeting in late
February.
3. Continue to file title VI cases and support legal cases.