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Excellent post, Doug. Of course, the events of the last several weekends should be a sobering wake-up call for those in the local political culture who have been undermining law enforcement.

Unless, of course, crusades based on ideology and identity politics trump reality. In that case, the killings will continue, police will continue to be undermined, and we will continue to emphasize 1979.

Based on the city council election results, I am concerned that the latter scenario may prevail.

Doug you are the only person on the N&R hard news staff that I have any respect for. You get to the point and seem not afraid to say what needs said. Thank you.

The bleeding now going on in Greensboro is happening because the GPD was completely dismantled by the last city council and the current city manager and employed under contract city attorney. All the experienced command staff is gone and those left and being promoted to these positions simply are not ready to take their place. The police officers who I feel sure we will one day learn are in league with the drug dealers are still well entrenched and appear to be running the department. I see no end to the bleeding in Greensboro. I do see however a newly elected mayor who wants to keep shoveling the dirt under the carpet and pretending that all is well. Talking about holding town meetings where people can "vent". Dear Lord! People have been venting for almost two years now so it is about time our leaders do something about the situation. And that means finally telling the truth about why David Wray who was doing something about crime in this city at all levels was forced to resign. Then getting rid of the bad cops and getting some experienced and honest police officers back on the payroll.

We can only hope that the newly elected council members will feel differently because after all Y. Johnson still only has one vote thank goodness.

In case no one has noticed, police recruitment is way down. No one wants to be associated with the scum that we now have running the department. No one wants a job where they put their life on the line but can not be sure that if they arrest someone who is being "protected" that they themselves won't be shot. MY full sympathy and prayers go out to those many fine police officers who are still trying to work under the worse possible conditions. I understand from a close acquaintance on the force that just keeping your head down and hopefully your back covered is the by line of the day. He/she hates going to work now in a job once loved, but has too many years invested to change jobs.

The bleeding in Greensboro all began when the political heavy weights got rid of David Wray. Mitch Johnson was only the stooge they used to do the dirty work. Brenda Bowers

Ms. Bowers, I do not live in Greensboro, I come there often, you have hit the nail on the head. I have heard this for years. Sad part is good people get caught in the cross hairs, while going about their daily routine. I understand that MR. Wray sin was he was doing his job.

Folks, what I consistently hear from Yvonne Johnson is that public safety is her top priority. This council has its orders from the voters: deal with crime and gangs.

The mayor may be right that the police department needs an outside agency to examine its operations and make recommendations for improvement. I recall when Jim Fealy took over in High Point, he found the department just wasn't organized well. It didn't need a lot more resources so much as it needed to utilize what it had more effectively.

Here's a solution.

Wrap the GPD into the Sheriff's department and let B. J. Barnes sort things out.

B. J. reports directly to the voters and is very accountable for how he manages his department as a result of his impressive re-election numbers.

That would set off quite a debate.

One question: what if the next sheriff is good at getting elected but bad at running a law-enforcement agency? You have to wait four years to get rid of him.

I can't get over the morbid fascination some people in this city (including many at the N&R) have with a shootout between two morally repugnant groups three decades ago.

Why should we care in 2007? This nonsense has no bearing on our community today, save in the eyes of a few aging troublemakers who can't let go of their radical past.

I'm far more concerned about the items I see on today's homepage - two men murdered on High Point Road, Bojangles and Subway robbed, man with shotgun tries to rob grocery store, etc. Those are the real priorities facing Greensboro going into 2008.

Those definitely are the priorities, and I am happy that the city council has scheduled a special meeting for tomorrow afternoon to hear a report from police about this wave of violence.