Who is Rodney Monroe NOW?

In a story for WBTV on May 15, 2008, reporter Tom Roussey had this to say about speaking with then new Police Chief Rodney Monroe:

Monroe says he believes strongly in not running a secretive police department. He wants to be transparent and build relationships with the public.

"The better you improve upon your ability to impart information, the greater your chances are of obtaining information," he explained.

Why is it, then, that Monroe has removed all information on the following items from public access on the CMPD.org/charmeck.org web site, and won’t answer any questions regarding the numbers:

Calls for service

Significant Event Log

Uniform Crime Reporting Numbers, as they relate to the numbers above

(please read details regarding this important issue in earlier CRIME REPORTING post)

Per Cedarposts.blogspot.com story “Rodney Monroe’s Plumbers,” the Internal Affairs reports, minutes of the Civil Service Board, and complete Police Department Budget are also not available anymore.

CMPD and all City officials have also refused to answer for the financial questions surrounding the CMPD Blue Hornets baseball team, run and in the name of CMPD officers—not to mention funded by public money and unknown sponsorships….

The last-minute and possibly after-the-fact additions of budget and non-budget spending items, including tonight’s TASER item, are mind-boggling.  But Mayor Foxx and City Council have continued to pass them, apparently in approval of Curt Walton and Rodney Monroe’s running of the Police Department and finances in their entirety.  They surely have the ability to force explanations for all items.

Why is it, too, that so many explanations to the City Council are made in Dinner Meetings or in private meetings, with no public accountability for the quick votes that obligate us for millions of dollars in spending—whether the spending has already taken place or is scheduled to take place in the future?  We have a right to know fully what is going on.

Later in the article as Monroe began his Charlotte career, Roussey mentions this:

The only potential mark on Monroe's record is that he's been indirectly linked to a federal probe on how grant money was spent during his time as chief in Macon, Georgia.

As mentioned in an earlier citynewswatch post, that didn’t turn out well for Macon—though maybe they didn’t fare as poorly as they could have, given the circumstances.

It’s interesting that the link in Tom Roussey’s story that says “Rodney Monroe’s bio” is broken, and the City and CMPD doesn’t have his resume posted anywhere

It’s more interesting that so many links to stories in the local paper and other local main stream media with controversial references, or possible negative statements or information are often reported as “broken links” when you try to find them on the web.  There’s always a trek to the good ole’ library (recommended), but why is the regular media seemingly removing the coverage of certain issues?   And why aren’t they asking pertinent questions now about activities in the CMPD, the City Manager’s Office, and the oversight responsibilities of Charlotte’s City Council and Mayor?

Good job to Tom Roussey for asking the question “Who is Rodney Monroe” and having the wherewithal to mention the Federal probe underway at the time—even this article did come after Monroe was approved—but where is the press now?

See Roussey’s full story here (at least for now).