Troopers association blasts independent report

Raleigh, N.C. — The independent report released earlier this week about the North Carolina Highway Patrol is incomplete, biased and misleading, a group representing the interests of state troopers said late Friday.

The North Carolina Troopers Association said the 56-page report by the international consulting firm Kroll is inaccurate in relevant parts "and is a severe disservice" to state troopers and the public.

Kroll praised the Patrol for being an elite law enforcement organization with many high-minded, dedicated workers. But it also found that the agency needs to improve its management, suggesting more supervisor training and instilling ethical behavior into patrol culture.

"The Kroll report is an attempted whitewash of proven and acknowledged longstanding cultural and institutional problems in the North Carolina Highway Patrol," the NCTA said in a statement.

The group said the report is flawed in several ways and that it would expand upon those ways "in the immediate future," but went on to criticize the methodology used by Kroll to make its evaluation.

"Our hundreds of troopers statewide were not surveyed by Kroll, which could have been done in a simple written survey," NCTA said.

It also says Gov. Mike Easley, who ordered the report following a series of misconduct issues within the Patrol, ignored their request to expand the scope of the evaluation to include the areas of "known primary problems."