Residents hear from prospective police chiefs
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
The four candidates to replace
Police Chief Pat Norris were ques
tioned by community members last
week at a forum held at City Hall. .
The candidates, Cary Police
Chief Scott Cunningham, Assistant
Atlanta Police Chief Alan Dreher,
Assistant Winston-Salem Police
Chief Kevin Leonard and Winston
Salem Police Captain Alonzo
Thompson, all have extensive back
grounds in' law enforcement.
Many questioners asked how the
candidates would use their experi
ence to deal with the city's growing
Hispanic population.
All the candidates committed to
meeting with the members of the
Hispanic community and trying to
increase the department's number
of Hispanic and Spanish-speaking
officers. Dreher said that Atlanta
has a Hispanic Liaison Office with
Hispanic officers and that he would
do the same in Winston-Salem.
Thompson said it will take time to
increase the number of Hispanic
officers in the department and build
a trust with that community.
"I'm going to need your help in
breaking down the barriers ... that
have existed, not only in the Latino
community but in the African
American community as well, tljis
distrust or mistrust of law enforce
ment," said Thompson, the only
minority candidate up for the job.
Local NAACP President
Stephen Hairston asked Dreher
about a 2006 incident in Atlanta in
which Kathryn Johnston, a 92-year
old woman, was shot dead by nar
cotics officers. When the investiga
tion into the shooting began, Dreher3
said the officers, acting on a no
knock warrant, shot Johnston in
self-defsnse when she fired on them
and drugs were found in the apart
ment. Later it came out that the
officers got the warrant with false
Candidates Scott Cunningham, Alan Dreher, Alonzo Thompson and Kevin Leonard.
Photos by Todd Luck
NAACP President Stephen Hairston asks a question .
information and planted the drugs
after the raid.
Dreher said the incident was
tragic. Currently, two of the former
Atlanta officers that were involved
are in federal custody and a third
was sentenced to four years in
prison. Dreher said after the inci
dent, all narcotics officers were
reassigned and a whole new team
was brought in and re-trained.
Procedures were also tightened and
more reviews were added to war
rants.
"It caused a great concern in the
community and it took a long time
to bring that trust back," Dreher
said.
Another question was what each
candidate would do about crime in
public housing projects.
Leonard was one of the first
supervisors of the WSPD's foot
patrols in public housing. He said
he's seen neighborhoods revitalized
because of the department's effprts,
but that problems move to other
areas and the police have to% track
them.
Cunningham said enforcement
and community education are keys
to prevention. He emphasized try
ing to fittd a solution to the prob
lems by working with community
partners.
"No one should have to live in
fear. No one should be fearful of
sitting out on their front porCh or
being unable walk down the street.
That should not exist in any part of
dur community," said Cunningham.
All the candidates pledged fo be
approachable, responsive and in
touch with the community.
"The department's goal is ulti
mately to serve. I think I have a ser
vant's heart, I think our officers
should have a servant's heart," said
Leonard.
Chief Norris, the city's first
black police chief, retired at the end
of last year but has agreed to serve
through June. By then. City
Manager Lee Garrity will likely
hire one of the four candidates.
v ...
To watch a recording of the
forum online or give feedback to the
city, visit the city's Web site,
www.ci.winston-salem.nc.us.
Local folks named
Democratic delegates
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT .
Seven delegates from Forsyth County
will represent North Carolina at the
Democratic National Convention in
Denv?r;??olb. in late August. The state's
77 Democratic delegates were selected at
district conventions across the state on
May 17. Twelve alternate delegates were .
also elected.
The Forsyth County del&-\
gates/alternates are Denise D. Adams.
Jimmie Lee Bonham, Susan Campbell,
Frank Dickerson,
Michael Flatow,
Bette James and
Albert T. Porter, Jr.
More than 550
,peop]e .applied to be
delegates to the
Democratic National
Convention, more
than three times the
number of applica
tions received in
2004. Delegates and
alternates are appor
Bonham
tioned among the congressional districts
according to the district's Democratic
performance in the last presidential and
gubernatorial elections. The number of
delegates and alterpates elected from each
district ranged from four to 10.
Delegates and alternates are appor
tioned among presidential candidates
according to the prjmaj-y votes the candi
dates received. Nohh Carolina's May 6
primary results were reflected across the
state's districts with 31 delegates and 5
alternates pledged to Sen. Hillary Clinton
and 45 delegates and 7 alternates pledged
to Sen. Barack Obama, who won the
state's Democratic primary.
North Carolina will send a total of 1 34
delegates to the Democratic National
Convention. In addition to the delegates
and alternates elected, 26 delegates and 7
alternates as well as 12 Party
Leader/Elected-Official delegates, or
super delegates, and two "add-on"
unpledged delegates will be elected at
large during the State Convention in New
Bern on June 21.
Photos by Bernard J Carpenter
Franklin Hayes with his daughter, Candace.
Grads
from page AI
lege and making sure I get
my good education," said
Mahan, who aspires to obtain
a degree in computer informa
tion technologies from UNC
Chapel Hill.
The Forsyth Tech pro
grams allow adults to com
plete their high school diplo
ma or GED while still holding
down full-time jobs and rais
ing families.
"It didn't take me long, a
couple of months and it was a
nice journey because I had a
lot of nice teachers and nice,
respectable counselors that
helped push me along through
the process, and here I am now
to this day," said Mahan. "I'm
graduating and (I'm) pretty
proud. I see now that I can
actually accomplish things
that I put my mind to."
Another graduate, Phillip
Weaver, was unable to attend
the graduation. Weaver was
recognized during the ceremo
ny for achieving the highest
score statewide on the GED
test.
Perhaps one of the most
storied graduates was Ola Mae
Venable, who completed the
GED program in Stokes
County earlier this year. At
79, Venable is one of the old
est graduates in the history of
the institution.
, 'I'm happy about it and
everybody in my family and
all my friends, they are really
happy," she commented.
"They thought it was great."
Venable dropped out of
school 65 years ago, during
her eighth grade year. She
took the GED placement test
in 2006, at the urging of her
husband, Wayne, who was in
search of a second career and
considering obtaining his own
GED.
After taking the test,
Venable says she was appre
hensive about returning to
school. She waited until the
last possible day before
enrolling. Venable passed all
sections of the test on her first
attempt, except for math,
which took her three tries.
"She was determined to
keep on going," Wayne
Venable said of his wife. "She
wouldn't give up, that's for
sure."
Attending the community
college was an enriching
experience for her, says
Venable, a great-grandmother
of 10.
"Everybody's treated me
just like all of the other stu
dents and I didn't feel a bit
odd in the classroom," she
giggled.
As for the GED certificate,
Venable says she plans to hang
it on the wall in her kitchen.
"I hope it'll be an inspira
tion to some future genera
tions or maybe somebody now
that has dropped out of school
and thinks that they are too old
to go back," she said with a
smile. "I've done proved that
it's never too late to go back."
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