An unwritten rule for attorneys is that you never ask a witness a question if you don’t already know the answer.
Following a question asked by City Councilmember Tammi Thurm at the Tuesday, Feb. 7 meeting, that might be a good rule for councilmembers to consider.
At that meeting, Thurm asked for the “truth” about the status of additional police patrol cars to correct some news articles written lately.
The truth is that the Greensboro Police Department (GPD) does not provide take-home police cars for patrol officers while every law enforcement agency that the GPD competes with for officers does provide take-home police cars.
The City Council was told that the GPD would need an additional 100 patrol cars to provide take-home cars for all patrol officers and, as Thurm found out, the GPD currently has provided zero additional cars for patrol officers.
At the meeting Thurm said, “I wanted to ask Assistant City Manager Trey Davis if he could speak to the police cars. There have been articles written lately about the status of police cars, etc. If you could speak to how many are on order, what the situation is, I know they were backlogged for quite some time, if you could provide us some truth to that information.”
Thurm didn’t say it, but it appears she is referring to a recent article in the Rhino Times that noted that, despite numerous requests, GPD patrol officers still don’t have take-home police cars.
Assistant City Manager Trey Davis said, “Due to things out of our control with the manufacturer closing windows and different things that are probably impacting our whole country, it has really slowed down. But I can tell you about a report I got today that of the 20 cars, you know, we did them in phases, nine of them have arrived, seven of them should be arriving in the next few days. Of those nine that have arrived, that’s a pretty lengthy process. We have to go out and use other vendors, but hopefully we’ll have those nine and a few others up on line in early March. Again the plan is to continue ordering 20 in each stage, in year two and then in year three.”
He added that when the cars do become available, he’s going to consult with Police Chief John Thompson about the best way to deploy the nine or more cars to help with recruiting and retention.
So, the GPD needs 100 additional police cars in order to be on par with other law enforcement agencies. The City Council agreed to purchase 20 percent of what was needed on Nov. 17, 2021, and currently the GPD has not provided a single additional police car for patrol officers.
It’s good to be able to get the truth out there.
The truth will set you free, but it first will make you angry.
Pitiful councilwoman Thurm who boast about her support for the police department is so out of touch with reality. Not surprising!
Should have voted in Tony, Thrum is a sheep that will follow what the Socialist council tells her to do. She is a so called supporter of the police but does not have a clue what is going on. The voters of GSO just keep putting the same bunch in office that do little for the tax payer. Just a waste! GSO fell off the Far left cliff a long time ago, sad but true.
Truth may follow an apology – only forthcoming if caught.
Wonder why the Covid recovery money that was going begging could not have been used to order all 100 cards? Sounds like the his is a problem no one wants to solve.
Yes, I agree. The problem is the current council has always put non-profits ahead of the citizens. I’ll scratch your back in return for political support in elections. Ever wonder how Yvonne Johnson gets money for her 501(C)3, and her relatives and friends are employees of those organizations?
Non-profits work for and are made up of locals.
Many of them seek $$$$ for their own benefit so they can be employed and earn an income (see Yvonne Johnson and her family). Am not against non-profits, but it seems Geekboro is full of them standing in line at the money trough of government.
If you can believe the city. There is plenty of wasted money that can be taken from council members pet projects, which show no results, and buy more police cars.
Defund Yvonne and see how long she stays around. Nose glued to the trough.
Bingo! Would be interesting to see how much money she and her family has been paid over the last several years. They won’t do an investigation since east Greensboro would be marching on city hall.
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Well I’m sorry, but if a fully equipped and expensive police vehicle is sitting in Officer Bob’s home garage for 16 hours, or 12 hours of every day, it’s just not earning its keep. It needs to be out there on the street – and Officer Bob needs to take care of his own commuting needs, like the rest of us.
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So you are saying a car should be driven 24 hours a day? You’re just going to wear the car out exponentially faster than if one officer used it. Cars are not meant to be driven to that extreme, and I cannot think of any business that does that to their vehicles. An officer is much more likely to be personally invested in an assigned vehicle because it’s theirs. They will actually drive more carefully, wash it, and take care of it, making it last much longer thaan an overdriven fleet vehicle.
1.
Ah yes, Officer Don can always be relied upon to weigh in on behalf of cops, and police bureaucrats, whenever the slightest criticism of them is evinced. And true to form, here he is…
2.
So that cops can get an additional perk – take home cars & free commuting! – he is advocating that the cars be unavailable for duty most of the time. Sorry officer, but a cop car is NOT your personal vehicle.
3.
When I went on a ride along once, in a brand new GPD Caprice in the late 1990’s, I was shocked at how abusively the officer drove the vehicle. But Officer Don claims that if it’s parked in the cop’s driveway for 16+ hours a day, the guy will magically begin to pamper it. Yeah… right. Nobody’s buying that crap.
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If nothing else, this serves to demonstrate how fiercely aggressive the public sector army of workers are when their benefits are threatened – or even when they smell a new benefit that they could grasp.
I would love it if my employer were to provide me with a car for me to get to work and drive home again.
I think I’ll demand it tomorrow morning and see what happens…
Austin-Was your ride-along in the front or back seats? The advantage of the take home car is that the officer checks on duty, when the shift begins and can be immediately assigned a call ( job). If the vehicle is abused, in most cases the officer is relieved if the vehicle, reassigned or terminated. Yes a marked unit in a neighborhood can be a deterrent to crime.
Fair enough – those are two good points. I don’t believe that those minor benefits justify the police department having to purchase so many more cars though.
The taxpayer always seems to get a raw deal, and the public sector always seems to get its way.
And I rode in the front seat of the cop car, wise guy. It was offered to me by a new neighbor who was aware of my opinions of law enforcement. He thought a ride along would help. It didn’t – and he was subsequently fired for corruption and stealing associated with “Safety Town” (a program to teach kids to look before they cross the road, apparently).
So in the end, he just reinforced my opinion of cops.
So guru don how do you argue that the Winston Salem P D has better pay and take home cars but also has a vacancy of over 100 positions please give us your opinion. We know you will. By the way they don’t drive Toyota Camrys either
There are studies that prove the cars last longer, the maintenance is less with take home cars. These same council members who have been in there have studies going back 20 years over the car issue. They just don’t care. It is defunding the police without a blatant defund. GPD has so many vacancies they cannot fill the most basic divisions. If every other agency finds it financially feasible to have take home cars why can’t Greensboro. They want to be the best mid size city in America per their vision statement. Let’s see if that happens without police.
It’s the classic cry of the public sector (and the small child) : “But if someone else is getting it, then I deserve it too!”
And that’s how Greensboro has a City Manager who is paid more than $6,000 every week.
And that’s how public sector parasites work just 30 years, often “retiring” before 50, going on to land ANOTHER public sector job before double-dipping both on salary and pensions – at taxpayer expense.
It’s an obscene rip-off of the hard working Americans who are pulling the wagon, and paying the salaries of these people.
And their Cadillac health care plans….
And their gold plated retirement plan, or plans, with inflation adjusted raises every year!
– And their not even grateful.
Anytime you would like to apply GPD is hiring. Go work a night shift and face the people who roam around at night. Maybe by the time you are hired they will have vehicles.
There are plenty of high control/low intelligence individuals to fill the ranks of law enforcement.
i have better options.
I share your opinion on that particular cop. I share the same opinion (but worse) of the two that were just fired for sex crimes and the third non sworn who was also fired for sex crimes. This will happen more and more as the standards drop for GPD who cannot offer the same salary or similar benefits to attract better recruits. I actually agree with you-the public opinion of police will continue to drop as the hiring standards drop. Quite a few officers in the area are lazy, parasitic employees who should be fired.
I would love having a police car in a driveway near my home. Seems like it would deter crime.
Incompetent Danny Rogers was able to get the cars he needed in just a couple of months because he wasn’t picky. Every other agency in the state possesses and maintains a fully staffed fleet of take home cars. It’s not like there are no cars out there in the world. Every car dealership I drive past has plenty of cars for sale. The GPD, the City Council, and their stupid City Garage system are stuck in the rut of only purchasing one type of car in one specific way. Just go out and buy whatever is available, slap some blue lights on it, and get GPD in the game. If I was an officer and had the choice of no car at all or a Toyota Camry with blue lights, I would opt for the Camry. No it isn’t perfect, but if GPD wants to keep waiting for perfect cars to come along, they will end up running out of officers faster than cars.
Council, use all that tax money you just collected and buy them some cars now.
“Incompetent Danny Rogers was able to get the cars he needed in just a couple of months because he wasn’t picky.”
He also did that without the approval of the Commissioners. He thought as Sheriff he could buy them by his own decision. Look it up.
If it’s money in his budget he can. He is also an elected official. I’m pretty sure the commissioners voted on it.
I’m not a fan of Rogers but it seems his agency may have foreseen vehicle shortages if what Davis says is true. In the city government they are only reactionary. GPD has over 130 vacancies and counting with pitiful size academies. City council either doesn’t see the writing on the wall or doesn’t care. Im going with both.
Go back in time and read the articles on how he “messed up”. The County did not give him approval to buy the cars before he purchased them, although they may have had it in their budget. He may a stupid presumption that he was “the Sheriff” and he could do anything.
Did BJ go with his hand out for every little thing or did he go with his budget?
Look what up? They’re clearly on the agendas and approved by the board. Read the minutes on the county web page.
What you describe is one reason why Danny Rogers is not respected. He is a loose cannon who thinks the rules do not apply to him. People like him usually get into serious trouble.
So Don why don’t you join the GPD get that Camry with the blue lights and get busy you sound like a real problem solver
And you sound like a whiner. How dare I suggest a doable solution. Just buy cars. They have the money. They just don’t want to do it. You never offer anything of substance.
And Joe, I wish GPD would just make a few decisions without council. They are the ones holding GPD back on purpose. Yeah, there needs to be some oversight, but it should be done with common sense, not agendas..
Don please tell me one police dept in America that uses Toyota Camrys for its Police dept. Heck give them a bicycle that’s a take home vehicle. So Don give us a doable solution
I did. Buy what cars are available.
Didn’t GPD used to have some weird vehicles like Volkswagon Rabbits and Mustangs in the 1980s for the always elite traffic unit?
GPD did use a handful of Mustang 5.0 LX sedans. I remember clearly because (a) I had one too and (b) they ran around for a while with Freeman Ford badges on the back, who supplied them, but the badges were subsequently removed.
I got my ‘Stang from David Freeman in 1990 (and people always thought was a cop in an unmarked car).
The last police chief with gumption was Chief Wray. The city manager and council were hell-bent on taking him down. They did. A shameful episode in City history. How could any sane person believe that a photo array of all Black men is discriminatory when someone identified the perpetrator as Black? That entire episode was disgraceful on the part of the City.
I think I just threw up in my mouth. There was more to that episode that a notebook.
Sheriff Rogers must not be incompetent if he was able to get the vehicles and equipment required for the sheriff department to effectively do their job. He has the support of the county commissioners, unlike the support needed for our police department from the city council and mayor.
Just my opinion.
Tammy, you could always put forth a motion to fully fund the GPD take home car program immediately, rather than on a 5 year worthless plan that results in zero cars actually coming in. No? Just idle talk I guess.
Do not confuse rhetoric with intentions. Remember that Thurm’s cohorts are Randall Kaplan and his wife, Kathy Manning. They go back a long way. How do you think Thurm was able to win the last election? Kathy Manning is a Democrat. Democrats as a party have shown their dislike for police. Thurm would never say this, but she and all council members are anti-police. Do not look at what they say, look at what they do. The people of Greensboro who voted for these politicians are either ignorant of the process or plan on making money off their connections, like Randall Kaplan and Kathy Manning.
A perfect summation of the problem with our council. As I have called out Mayor Vaughan recently. She says one of her priorities is public safety. I do not even know if she knows what that means. I have stated here before-I grew up on the east side of town and my family still lives there. They are not safe. They cannot afford to move and try to stay inside.
Perhaps the GPOA would like to chime in here? Maybe show up at a meeting and speak with the council in a public forum?
Silence.
Their skirts must feel so soft against your timid little cheeks.
Meanwhile, GPD burns.
Have Mr. Davis explain how Sheriff Rogers (who everyone in these comments thinks is an idiot) can have his people call all around the country and find vehicles but the city cannot. The city uses vehicles as a shell game to move around money. See Patton Garage. They make the police department pay “leases” for years for their own vehicles. Some vehicles are paid for multiple times through these “leases.” If the police department could run their own fleet they could save money and bureaucracy. But the city and this incompetent city council could care less about saving money or the police department. If they wanted cars and competitive pay and benefits for police it would happen. Count those vacancies that keep piling up.
Very accurate.
I have often wondered if “DTF” and Officer Don were one and the same person.
I am becoming increasingly convinced of it.
What say you?
I’m not Don. No idea who he is.
Thanks.
Why would that matter?
Looks like no one said much of anything, but I’ll chime back in. No, even though Don and DTF both start with the letter D, our duality ends there. We are not the same person. Why would I reply to myself as the same person over and over? Wouldn’t I be better suited to make up a whole list of fake supporters? Hell, I could create an entire fan club of fake friends, or a roll call of dead voters like the Dems. Nah. Too much trouble dude.
I’ll try to be succinct on your other points. The policing job market is very competitive right now. There are not enough applicants to fill the vacancies. So yeah, agencies need to offer lucrative perks to attract decent candidates. Or would you prefer a bunch of Memphis type wackos running your streets? That incident happened because the city got desperate, lowered standards, and accepted people into the role that could not live up to the requirements. Low standards often lead to the type of policing that you often rail against. If you want your cops to be professionals on par with other “professions”, you need to make your pay, training, and expectations all on par with each other. You’re not going to get rocket scientists for $40k a year. In other words, you get what you pay for.
The Memphis incident only serves to reinforce my opinion of cops, and refute yours.
High control/low intelligence personalities are always drawn to law enforcement. They get to fulfill their fantasies on a daily basis.
And you’re claiming that when you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. And when you pay them more, you just get overpaid monkeys. They get paid what they deserve – and if they disagree they’re free to market their breathtakingly magnificent abilities elsewhere. The free market will be a reality check for them, and they know it.
Would you hire lawyer for $20 an hour? A doctor? No? Then why would you entrust the enforcement of the law and constitution to a bunch of people earning slightly more than McDonalds employees and only ask them to have a GED and 10th grade reading level? You cannot expect officers with such low levels of hiring requirements to interpret the law and constitution in real time, which is what cops often have to do.
When they get it wrong, you get dead people, criminals for cops, and an erosion in confidence in the agency. GPD is well down the road on that already. It is only a matter of time before their low quality employees do something more impactful than whatever sex crimes the last three jokers were up to. We will have our own Memphis incident here soon enough, and it is because Greensboro is so uncompetitive in the police job market that they end up hiring incompetents and scumbags.
You get what you pay for and low expectations create poor outcomes.
You sound like you’d be perfect for the job
Just so you know – Thrum works for a law firm but is not an attorney.
Just to be sure I understand. Gso. Is going to order 20 cars year 1 through 5 that would be 100 new cars that’s MAGA math but what the council forgets or isn’t told 20 cars a year will not cover the attrition rate of the current fleet so anyone with any intelligence will know at the end of 5 years the net gain of cars will be 0. But the key word is intelligence that word doesn’t mesh with the current council
And she is totally ignorant to police needs, procedures and protocols. Hope she does better as she states she supports the police but has voted to defund, suspend, hand tie and deflate the department.
A shame the tax rate increase can’t go towards this.
Just another example of our incompetent city council.
I guess you could say that the voters who voted for them are incompetent too.