This morning, as I watched body camera video released by the City of Winston-Salem of an incident that happened just 24 hours before, I couldn't help but think. why is it that it is against state law for Greensboro to release police body camera video but it is apparently not against the law for Winston-Salem to release police body camera video?
And I can't help but believe that both supporters and adversaries of the Greensboro Police Department would agree this is the problem in a nutshell.
Well just this morning, Roch Smith jr posted not one but two articles on the subject. In an article titled Mayor, Council members are full of it, Roch wrote of Mayor Vaughan and Councilman Outling:
"As I say, either they are lying about their desires or not too bright. Maybe they think we won’t notice that their words do not align with their actions. Maybe they think we won’t remember that when it came to voting on a resolution to oppose the state law they now bemoan, they each voted not to oppose it. But we remember."
And then Roch followed up with Now we know just how full of it Nancy Vaughan and Justin Outling were, as he pens:
"Vaughan had told reporters, “I wish we had the ability to release the video,” and “There is nothing we can do next.”
Outling told the Rhino Times it was “out of the control of the City Council.”
Today, the city of Winston-Salem released police body camera video it went before a judge to get released."
Funny, it took the City of Winston-Salem less than 24 hours to get a judge to release their video but it took the City of Greensboro almost a year to get a judge to allow City Council to look at a police body camera video the public has yet to see.
No matter where you stand on the issue, I think it is now quite clear the Greensboro City Council is the problem.
We cannot expect our police department to remain above reproach when our finest officers are forced to work for the criminals in elected office. It is simply impossible for them to do. Let's stop asking GPD to do the impossible.
