OUR DEMOCRATIC MISSION
Despite having three different mayors, three different city managers and three different police chiefs since 2006, many citizens believe there continues to be a police culture in Greensboro that operates without transparency, uses double standards, promotes inequality before the law based on race or ethnic background, abuses investigatory power, and protects police misconduct. As a result of this culture, there are now over 45 civil and criminal lawsuits brought against the Greensboro Police Department (GPD) by current and former police officers, as well as many uninvestigated or inadequately investigated civilian complaints and cases.
In this the first of three discussion papers on crucial aspects of democracy—racial equity and social justice, sustainable economic justice, relevant education with community values—we present 14 case studies that illustrate the serious problems of police corruption, racism and misconduct in our city. We also present a call for Greensboro citizens to work together to craft a viable and long lasting solution to the problems plaguing our police department police department.
We have come together to work on difficult problems before. We can do it again. Later in this document, we share an example—the K-Mart struggle between 1993 and 1996—that demonstrates what can be accomplished when we work together as a community on a common problem. We invite you to study this document and to discuss it with others. Then, let us join together to make our city great.
