This week's column: Who IS David Wray?
Nearly one week after Greensboro Police Chief David Wray resigned under mounting pressure, the Rev. Albert Som-Pimpong still has trouble squaring what he reads in the newspaper with what he has seen for himself, up close.
Som-Pimpong roomed for two weeks with Wray during an 11-day trip by 44 local residents last fall to Israel through a program called the Interfaith Mission Tour. "We slept in the same room," said Som-Pimpong, an immigrant from Ghana, West Africa. "We prayed together."
Som-Pimpong can't say whether charges that the chief used his Special Intelligence unit to target black officers on the force are justified. Nor can he address concerns by City Manager Mitchell Johnson that Wray had lost the trust and confidence of the men and women he commanded. "But for him to become a persona non grata. I have a problem with that."
In an interview last week, even the city manager himself wrestled with who Wray appears to be versus what he appears to have done.
Johnson noted that even citizens who sat on a panel in 2003 to evaluate finalists for the chief's job were stunned.
"One of them called me and asked if she'd done something wrong," Johnson said of one panel member who had enthusiastically endorsed Wray for the job.
David Wharton, who is active in the Neighborhood Congress, praised Wray's ability to hold dialogues with neighborhoods.
"Chief Wray had an extraordinary gift for communicating with ordinary people," Wharton wrote last week in a blog comment, "and I believe he really understood what kind of policing the city of Greensboro needs. It's a shame that the management problems so entangled him."
That's part of what makes this all so hard to swallow. Wray's demise has been utterly rhymeless, cloaked in a fog of episodes and behaviors that seem to have no logical pattern.
Wray seemed the consummate professional. He seemed to understand how police work and the social fabric of the community were so tightly interwoven. He also seemed acutely aware of the political and social consequences that could follow if a sensitive issue were handled insensitively.
Consider his response to a widely publicized 2004 case in which a 68-year-old Egyptian woman who spoke little English scuffled with Greensboro police officers at the Battleground Avenue Wal-Mart and later was hospitalized.
Alleging that someone had taken money from her purse, Afaf Saudi became agitated with store clerks and refused, when asked, to leave the store. Still refusing to leave even after police arrived, Saudi had been handcuffed and arrested.
Wray helped keep the incident's aftermath from turning ugly by meeting with representatives of the Muslim community and holding a news conference to clarify the circumstances of the incident.
Some fumed in a poisonous post-9/11 funk about "ragheads." Others railed about police brutality.
Facing that potentially explosive backdrop, Wray reacted coolly and gracefully. The police met with Muslim leaders days after the incident. Wray stressed his intentions to find out what happened and to respond appropriately, heading off a planned mass prayer at the Guilford County Courthouse that could have sparked more friction and possibly even violence.
"We felt the right thing to do was to give the police a chance," Wajeh Muhammad, treasurer of the Islamic Center of the Triad, said later.
After an internal investigation, based on store camera footage and eyewitness accounts, cleared the officers, Muslim leader Badi Ali appeared with Wray when the chief announced the findings at a news conference.
"You can make out of a bad incident a good thing," Ali said.
How could that Wray be the same man whose "secret police" tore a rift through the police department and who seemed to effectively alienate himself from so many of his officers?
How could he be the same man who seemed to hide and mislead and to stir fears of conspiracy among some in the black community?
Who is David Wray? And where did black books and "secret police" come in?
Were we simply fooled, charmed and taken in by Wray's ability to say what we wanted to hear, when we needed to hear it?
"If what he was doing was pretending," Albert Som-Pimpong said, "he couldn't pretend for 11 days. The guy we went to Israel with is not the guy we're describing today."
Which is to say, the only thing more unsettling than what we know about Wray's fall from grace is what we still don't know.
Comments (16)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
Thank you. Much is still unanswered, but we rush to convict. Is the Chief's silence due to ongoing investigations, or possibly the threat of lost retirement if he speaks out? Was he given an opportunity to see the report and defend himself before he was locked out? Where on earth was Johnson for the past 3 years while all these bad things were supposed to be happening in the police department? If things were kept from him (Johnson), isn't it at least possible that things were kept from the Chief? If he (Johnson) trusted the Chief, isn't it possible that the Chief also trusted others..including Johnson? It sounds like Wray inherited a very troubled department. Did he get ambushed while trying to fix it? And since Johnson's job was to manage the police department, perhaps his rush to publicize all the problems was to deflect his failures as a manager. He took full responsibility for hiring Wray, but, unlike Chief Wray, fell short in taking responsibility for any failures that may have occurred on his watch.
Posted on January 15, 2006 8:55 AM
In the end, the truth doesn't matter.
The media has tried, convicted, sentenced, and executed David Wray. Front page newspaper coverage, 6PM TV news leads, and editorials have concluded that a couple of things Chief Wray did during his years of leadership were worthy of "throwing out da bum" no matter whether the allegations are true, and no matter what other good things were done during Chief Wray's tenure. I'd venture that if we were to pick out a couple of things done by any leader in a large business during the last few years and blow them out of proportion there would likely be a similar outcry from those unfamiliar with the business.
Civilians seldom understand and are often confused by the machinations involved in running a law enforcement agency. The bigger the agency, the more complex these are. Often the rank and file workers themselves are unaware of the complexity of the decisions and policies made at the highest management level in private business. The same is true of a large, metropolitan police department.
It’s unfair to take a few things, simplify them for the civilian masses, and make conclusions clouded by unfamiliarity with the inner workings of police internal investigations.
How could all of those people who knew Chief Wray so well be so wrong about his character in light of what the media is forcing down their throats?
Maybe they aren’t.
Posted on January 15, 2006 11:10 AM
John, I must disagree only with your opening statement - the truth is everything. We just don't know it all yet.
As Som Pimpong intimates above, a person does not just all of a sudden become a racist anymore than a leopard can change its markings. To my knowledge, Wray served this community with distinction for 22 years without a hint of any racial prejudice, so I am not going to be quick to indict him with what we have gleaned so far from this fledgeling investivation.
I have no doubt that Wray made mistakes, and I trust Mitch Johnson enough to believe he has taken appropriate steps to bring things back into line. But I seriously doubt (hope) that David Wray will be found guilty of racially motivated discrimination or profiling.
Gross mismanagement? Perhaps. But racially segmented mismanagement? Doubtful.
We need the whole truth - because what we have so far just doesn't square with what we knew before this whole mess started.
In addition... Allen's piece above, and every other report on this incident seems to place Mitch as being the 'accountable one'.
But what about former manager Ed Kitchen? The majority of this happened under his tenure, but I haven't yet seen any efforts to find out what he knew and when he knew it. In my view, Mitch Johnson seems to have been left to pick up the pieces of something that was broken under Ed Kitchen's watch.
Posted on January 15, 2006 1:47 PM
David, perception IS truth. Racial posturing has overtaken this issue; news stories these last couple of days blare out "FBI" "racial profling" and "NAACP." That's what people think of when they consider this story.
A friend of mine mentioned this yesterday, "Well, I see the FBI is stepping in on the racial profiling thing."
I asked if he'd read the article, he said, "No, I just saw the headlines."
No matter what facts come out in the weeks and months ahead, most have made up their minds based on the attention-grabbing headlines and TV news teasers, the whole truth be damned.
To again quote Defense Sec'y Donald Rumsfeld, "The media is more interested in getting it first than getting it right."
Posted on January 15, 2006 2:11 PM
There has been some gross mismanagement perhaps, but it is surely not confined to the Chief. In all my 23 years as a city employee under 7 different managers, I never saw such a firestorm of destruction bent on ruining one individual. Managers can remove any department head and there doesn't have to be a reason. This manager faxed press releases out before the Chief had a chance to respond to anything, and had press packets waiting at every turn. He has removed any option for reemployment for the Chief. City employees can adjust time served to reach retirement (add sick/vacation time). I want to know if Johnson is allowing Chief Wray to do this. This is the only option to salvage his retirement after all his years of service.
Posted on January 15, 2006 2:35 PM
"what about former manager Ed Kitchen? The majority of this happened under his tenure, but I haven't yet seen any efforts to find out what he knew and when he knew it."
Interesting point, David. Didn't Kitchen accept a "promotion" to Bryan, now working for Jim "Still Mayor, Don't You Forget It" Melvin?
I'm sure phones in Irving Park are ringing off the hook. I hope the FBI taps them all. It's time for Greensboro to clean house and join the 21st century. This city no longer belongs to the mill owners, and shouldn't be run by overseers.
Posted on January 15, 2006 3:29 PM
The first line of my above comments should have read "...perception IS reality", not truth.
Posted on January 15, 2006 4:20 PM
I'm reading the above, all about blame, and about "it doesn't matter what the truth is, only the perception," and as much as it pains me to type, that's probably right. We need someone to blame so we turn on people we loved last week in order to assuage our need to be angry at someone.
I agree with the original point of Allen's post: David Wray didn't become a racist overnight; in fact, he's more than likely not one. It's a label we throw around too often; it's a term that one of our pols has used so much that it has no real meaning anymore.
But it gets headlines.
Ed Kitchen retired with lots of notice; this isn't cause and effect and even if you keep implying it, it doesn't make it so, so cut it out now. There seems to be so much information that Sandy Carmany keeps pleading for us to wait for that I'm going to do just that.
Quit dissing people who have done good work for Greensboro until we get all the facts. Then, if we need to hang someone in effigy so we feel better, we can, at least, choose the right person.
Problems like this do not have single causation. Try as we might, there's no single person to blame and poor David Wray, no matter what he's done nor not done, seems to be taking a grand hit. And a few weeks ago? We loved him, as a city. (Once again I reiterate: I don't know him.)
Greensboro needs to grow up; wait and get the facts; and only then decide to hate someone we used to like. We have leadership and we need to let them do their jobs. I hate it that we turn on our own friends when something we don't like happens. There are just a couple of religions that teach against that, aren't there?
Posted on January 15, 2006 6:19 PM
"...poor David Wray...a few weeks ago? We loved him, as a city."
Read what the police officers under his command thought of him. "Love" is not included. Results of June 2005 Greensboro Police Officers Association Survey about David Wray and his leadership: http://www.greensboropoa.org/surveyresults.htm
I agree that the public should wait for the facts to come out before forming an opinion about recent events. And "hate" is not a productive response, period. But we can't dismiss the voices of the police officers who responded to that survey and pretend that the whole city was in love with David Wray a few weeks ago. That's not true.
Posted on January 15, 2006 10:58 PM
Generalizations abound. I'm not sure I would put much stock in a survey by a police association. By definition it is focused on the officers who pay for it, and not so intersted in the citizens. It is a weak attempt at a union, so management will always be the enemy. You can look at any city of size and realize that when an association starts dictating the direction of a police department, the officers are more focused on their own issues than those of the community they serve.
As for Ms Carminy's plea for folks to wait for more information, the Council's 'unanimously' chosen manager did not wait for information from the Chief before he was publicly hung out to dry. The damage is done. The Chief and his family have no doubt suffered more than you or I will ever know.
Posted on January 16, 2006 7:26 AM
I don't know David Wray personally but I deal with folks who have worked with him for 20 plus years. Clearly Rev. Albert Pim Pong knows the real David Wray. The actions of the City Manager ( term used loosely ) used loosely are disgraceful.Wray got a raw deal. The segment of malcontents in the GPD got what they wanted and are hoping for another fool like Robert white who can be easily manipulated by their network.
John Appel is spot on.
Posted on January 16, 2006 3:26 PM
Read Sandy Carmany's blog today for a very good (and fair and informed!) analysis of what's happened so far. As a City Council member with access to the facts, I'd say she knows whereof she speaks.
Posted on January 16, 2006 6:49 PM
I agree with Sue. We only know a small fraction of the facts at this point. While I appreciate the forthrightness with which City Manager Mitchell Johnson has confronted this issue (and the City Council allowing him to do so) there is a precious plenty yet to learn.
We're barely into Chapter 2 of what appears to be a very long, troubling story.
Posted on January 17, 2006 6:05 PM
I just finished reading that long survey and my immediate reaction was, “What a bunch of spoiled brats! And these are the MEN? and WOMEN? who are supposed to be protecting us?” Every comment on the survey said just one thing: I’m mad about the rotating shifts because they are interfering with my real life, so me and my friends are gonna get this guy!
Now that David Wray is gone and the rotating shifts are continuing I wonder what they are saying? Dr. Guarino in his blog suggested that a tough big city cop be brought in as the next chief and I certainly hope this happens because these “cry babies” need their butts kicked.
Posted on January 18, 2006 10:01 PM
CM, I would be interested in seeing another survey done TODAY, RIGHT NOW, under the acting Chief.
After reading that, I sort of get the impression that the GPD is full of crybaby, self serving, racist, want something for nothing, individuals.
The responses they gave spoke volumes about THEM, not Wray, in my opinion.
I feel that another survey, taken under the current commander would reveal about the same responses, except of course, without the racial overtones.
Posted on January 20, 2006 9:59 AM
xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies
xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies xxxfree-videos-movies
freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies freegay-spase-videos-movies
amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur amateur
Posted on August 2, 2006 11:27 AM