Satterthwaite claims that leaders within the department will use loopholes in the system if they don't like the candidate that receives the highest ranking. Now you are bringing niggers to the Roundup." We believe that such off-duty responsibilities are not well-understood by many DOJ employees. This agency, is the worst "law enforcement" agency I've worked for. Nonetheless, OIG expended considerable time, energy, and resources to determine as best we could what happened at the Roundup. "We are proud of the support we have from Democrat and Republican sheriffs. Blaming these people for the sins of others would have been unfair. I can see and understand how the system would come into practice. The caption of the photo on the T-shirt read, "Boyz on the Hood." Furthermore, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee in public hearings emphasized the need for a comprehensive investigation because the allegations implicated numerous law enforcement agencies in the criminal justice system. Continue reading. Unlimited access to beer twenty-four hours a day led to extreme drunkenness. For a period of time substantial effort was made to see who could be the most vile and disgusting. Beshear confirms 3 dead after severe weather makes its way through Kentuckiana, LG&E: 'Significant' power outages with no restoration time given, A councilwoman's 'road map' to equity in Louisville, 'We have another study that tells us what we already know' | Black Louisvillians react to LMPD review, 'Breonna's home state continues to fail her' | Louisville groups raise concerns over changes to bill that would limit no-knock warrants, 'To lose my son in the same community I grew up in, it's tough.' #3. In 1993, Hayward arrived at the campground with his car plastered with racially offensive and political materials. That same day several of the Fort Lauderdale officers left the Roundup. For more information about government ethics programs and resources contact John Pelissero. He also claims the department violated his First Amendment rights. Hayward also brought some bumper stickers and hats to sell, without much success. He also alleged that ATF agents surrounded cars entering the campground and shouted, "Got any niggers in that car?" Unsubstantiated Allegations In addition, allegations of criminal conduct, including narcotics distribution and rape, were raised at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing held within ten days of the original news stories. Hayward had previously attended several Roundups as a registered attendee, until he was banned for his own racially offensive conduct. 2. He has written articles for several publications, including Law Enforcement Today, Peace Officers Research Association of California, Police One, The Oxford University Press, The Journal of California Law Enforcement; and has contributed to chapters in IGI Global Publishing textbooks. An investigation by the DOJ's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) ensued. He is currently the SWAT commander and oversees the Metro Divisions Special Operations section. In the Redneck of the Year skit, "a dog was traded for a man in blackface who then pretended to perform oral sex on a person in mock Ku Klux Klan garments." Coming from the Italian word for nephew, it covers favoritism to members of the family. A third local resident made a vague and contradictory claim that marijuana was used in the campground during one unspecified Roundup. Based on our review of the statements of over 150 attendees at the 1989 Roundup and our credibility determinations regarding the various witnesses, we concluded that no racist sign or effigy was displayed at the registration desk for any portion of the 1989 Roundup and that the claim that ATF agents were "checking cars for niggers," although similar to conduct reported in other years, is unsubstantiated. In the fourth installment of dark leadership that impedes the best in leadership, we will examine the failures of the insular leader and how they negatively impact police organizations. Good Ol boys club. It must take into account the known facts of the egregious behavior, what the employee saw and did, and how the misconduct was handled by the event's organizers. We discuss the problem of one of our State Legislators practicing Law privately and representing a subject in a high profile, double murder trial and how it raises questions for citizens, Law Enforcement and Circuit Solicitors Offices. The authors suggest four opportunities to dig an organization out of an insular environment. Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. ", 4. This failure, together with the availability of massive amounts of alcohol, no doubt contributed to the recurrence of such incidents. We believe we have developed a fair and accurate picture of what occurred. . LOUISVILLE, Ky. A Louisville Metro Police (LMPD) officer has filed a lawsuit claiming that LMPD is trying to hide bias, discrimination and nepotism in how it promotes officers to specialty assignments. Rightmyer also announced generally that everyone in law enforcement was welcome at the Roundup, and those who disagreed should leave. Finally in October he relinquished the videotape for analysis by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and agreed to an on-the-record interview. Share. The emperors new clothes.Retrieved from http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheEmperorsNewClothes_e.html. CAIRO, Ga. It was Election Day in Grady County, and Sheriff Harry Young, 76, had hardly slept three hours the night before. Although in earlier years we found efforts by Rightmyer to ensure that women were treated appropriately and these women reported no problems, we found little evidence of concern in the later years when the objectionable conduct became pervasive. Tweet. What do favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism have to do with ethics? And everyone can point to instances where cronyism or nepotism is an accepted fact of life in political sphere, as well. 4) provide further training on the role of federal law enforcement officers in our society and the reasons why it is critical for law enforcement personnel to be held to extremely exacting standards of conduct to earn and maintain the full confidence of all citizens. Twenty-three of the forty-four DOJ employees attended only one Roundup; eight more went only twice. One particular display in 1992, captured in a photograph we obtained during the investigation, included a group surrounding the flag whose members are shown making obscene gestures and raising their fists. Another T-shirt had a crude drawing of the figure used in the children's game, "Hangman," and the initials "O" and "J" beneath the figure. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/07/cultural-change-that-sticks, Lee, A. In 1992, T-shirts with a pocket drawn on the upper left of the shirt, a drawing of the head of the character Buckwheat from the old television show "Little Rascals," and the words "Good Ole Boys '92" written on the pocket were offered for sale by some unidentified person or persons. For the 1990 incidents we found no evidence that any Roundup leaders were notified or were aware of such conduct or that any action was taken to stop these persons. At our direction, DOJ components canvassed their employees to determine whether any had either attended or been invited to a Roundup or knew anyone who had. OIG investigated these allegations and concluded that none of the claims that a woman was raped at a Roundup were supported by the evidence. During this 16-year period, only 4 black law enforcement agents ever attempted to attend the Roundup. Moreover, OIG interviewed residents in the area near where the Roundup was held to learn what relevant evidence they might possess. Substantiated Allegations Thus, we had a responsibility to gather as much evidence as possible on the experiences of the DOJ personnel who attended the Roundup so we could absolve the innocent as well as blame the guilty. We found no evidence that any federal law enforcement personnel appears in the photograph. There is a popular old tale by Hans Christian Andersen (n.d.) of the emperors new clothes, where an emperor pays a significant amount of money for some magic clothes, which can only be seen by those who are wise. Brian Kemp, R., are angry at Stacey Abrams' debate remarks suggesting they're "good ole boys" who target African Americans and think the media's demonization. We found no information to identify who was responsible for this sign. We chase off and scare off new officers before they can grasp even the basics of our profession. What are favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism? In any event, no one was punished for posting them. During this sixteen-year period, more than 1,000 people participated in the Roundup, including an estimated 500 federal, state, and local law enforcement and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials. Through these efforts, OIG identified nearly 1400 persons who attended the Roundup between 1980 and 1995. Nonetheless, OIG expended considerable time, energy, and resources to determine as best we could what happened at the Roundup. After the transition, Satterthwaite alleges that he was directed to change his focus from making cultural changes within the department to recruiting more Black officers from the community. We have referred to the Director of the FBI a report with respect to this one current FBI employee for whom we recommend that punishment be considered for his behavior at the Roundup. This creates a multitude of problems. 05-26-2005, 01:54 AM. We hope that our effort to deal fully and carefully with disturbing allegations against officers responsible for enforcing our federal criminal laws will promote the fair administration of justice and the public's confidence in the ability of the Department of Justice to police itself. This woman denied that she was raped. 1980-95, we conclude that the Roundup was not, as it was portrayed in the media stories, a "Klan rally," an intentionally "whites-only" racist gathering, or a haven for criminal conduct. Racist skits were performed in 1990 and 1992. Being a federal law enforcement officer within the Department of Justice is a privilege not a right; it can appropriately be conditioned on maintaining a proper level of behavior at all times. COLUMN: Bryan Co. Good Ol' Boy System Means No More Services for DV, Sexual Assault Victims. Other attendees intervened and broke up the confrontation. It ensures we will always be short staffed, which weakens us. Gritz said that the DOJ and the FBI has more work to do in promoting gender equality and diversity within their ranks. When several months later OIG requested that he submit to an interview on a range of topics including his supposed discovery of a "nigger hunting license" at the 1995 Roundup or the militia plan "Operation Achilles Heel," whose stated goal was to discredit ATF, Randall refused and renewed these threats in more graphic terms. Every good leader should be looking for means to positively improve the unit, no matter how minor the change. by Bob Adelmann June 23, 2014. A so called "merit-based" promotion policy or system is nothing but another way to make it sound like management is promoting based on merit, when they're actually just putting up a smokescreen to disguise their need to circumvent civil service rules to put their boys into positions they're too . It begs the question of how important relationships are in the advancement of people within an organization, and how do great organizations find the balance of personal relationships? Second, there are few issues within a police organization that should be held close to the chest (i.e.- internal affairs investigations or sensitive investigations). Probably the biggest dilemma presented by favoritism is that, under various other names, few people see it as a problem. In conducting this investigation, the OIG's principal purposes were (1) to determine whether DOJ employees had committed acts that might warrant sanction by their components and (2) to determine whether existing standards of conduct provide adequate guidance as they relate to off-duty conduct or whether any changes in administrative policy or practice should be made. For most of the allegations, no physical or documentary evidence was available. In a fear-based culture, people consciously and unconsciously avoid risk and being risk adverse costs the organization limited opportunities for innovation as well as an overall environment where new ideas are rejected (Catmull, 2014). Op/Ed: Police Stops Are Dangerous. Racist signs were posted in at least two years: 1990 and 1992. Because of the lack of controls placed on the distribution of fliers once they reached particular offices, the extent to which they were brought to the attention of the agents in these offices varied. During the course of this investigation OIG interviewed over 500 witnesses, including participants in the Roundup, people who were invited but did not attend, vendors to the Roundup, DOJ employees based in Southeastern offices, river raft guides, local Tennessee residents, and others. Further, many conscientious lawmakers have discovered that they must change their patterns of socializing when their work involves many decisions affecting friends and associates. In 1991, officers from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. brought to the Roundup shirts that depicted three police officers around a police car and two persons being held face down on the hood of the car. Thirty-six were DOJ employees when they attended; eight went prior to becoming DOJ employees. This group of participants affiliated with DOJ constitutes approximately three percent of the estimated total number of attendees at the sixteen Roundups. No DOJ employee ever served on the "REX" (Roundup Executive Committee), the group responsible for setting Roundup policies. After the confrontation, "unidentified persons painted the words 'niggers go home' and 'whites only' on toilets in the campground.". We want an investigation to stop the good ole boy law system in McKean County as well as the tyranny. No DOJ employee ever won Redneck of the Year, Ugliest Good O' Boy, Liar's Contest, or Beer Enduro competitions. Avoidance of critical thinking during planning efforts: People dont criticize plans that are rolled out by power players, thereby not really putting our best foot forward. Favoritism has always been a complaint in government service. And although we were able to identify more who had been invited to attend, most chose not to -- some merely because the name and location suggested to them that they would not be welcome there. Rightmyer was interviewed by OIG twice, including an all day on-the-record interview in the latter stages of the investigation. Although not raised initially as allegations, OIG found substantial credible evidence of rampant alcohol abuse and extreme cases of juvenile and shocking behavior. 4thEdition. e) Hayward's White Supremacist Literature. Because he was not shot, George Floyd will not be included in The Washington Post 's compilation of law enforcement homicides from officer-involved shootings. Even though our assessment is that an inadequate evidentiary basis exists to recommend discipline for any of the other DOJ employees whose conduct we considered, we are extremely troubled by many of the excesses committed by non-DOJ attendees at the Roundup that developed during the mid-1980s and grew far worse during the years 1990-95. The Orange County Sheriffs Office has problems like everywhere else, but at least Sheriff Kevin Beary supports his troops. g) Display of Confederate Flag . Cultural change that sticks.Harvard Business Review. During the course of this investigation OIG interviewed over 500 witnesses, including participants in the Roundup, people who were invited but did not attend, vendors to the Roundup, DOJ employees based in Southeastern offices, river raft guides, local Tennessee residents, and others. Contrary to the media accounts of this incident, the black agents were not turned away from the Roundup. OIG interviewed every DOJ employee, current and past, who attended at least one Roundup, and many of their colleagues and supervisors, with a particular emphasis on minority employees, to determine what they knew about the Roundup. John F. Kennedy, for example, appointed his brother Robert as attorney general. They also bring this up in the report, the club the good old boys club. Extremely demeaning language and inappropriate sexual touching occurred. Such conduct included playing music with racist lyrics at campsites; wearing, trading, and selling T-shirts with racially insensitive messages; telling racially offensive jokes during official competitions; and, in the context of particular facts found, displaying Confederate flags. Although OIG was able to interview the local residents and the current and former ATF agents who made allegations, the militia members did not cooperate. In 1992 the same persons who ordered the sign taken down pulled the responsible person away from the car and told him to stop what he was doing. There arent any ifs, ands, or buts about it. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/crsj Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, Human Rights Law Commons, and the Law Enforcement and Corrections Commons Recommended Citation Kami Chavis Simmons, Beginning to End Racial Profiling: Definitive Solutions to an Elusive Problem, 18 In the early years a contest called the Beer Enduro took place, requiring participants to drink a specified quantity of beer at regular intervals. In 1995, T-shirts with a crude drawing of the figure used in the children's game, "Hangman," and the initials "O" and "J" beneath the figure were sold by two officers from Fort Lauderdale. However, in an investigation that examined events occurring over a sixteen-year period and involving well in excess of 1,000 participants, we cannot be sure that we have uncovered every objectionable incident. Vari Hall, Santa Clara University500 El Camino RealSanta Clara, CA 95053408-554-5319, Ethical Considerations for COVID-19 Vaccination, Hackworth Fellowships Project Showcase 2021, The Ethics of Going Back to School in a Pandemic, Systemic Racism, Police Brutality, and the Killing of George Floyd, COVID-19: Ethics, Health and Moving Forward, The Ethical Implications of Mass Shootings, Political Speech in the Age of Social Media, Point/Counterpoint: Democratic Legitimacy, Brett Kavanaugh and the Ethics of the Supreme Court Confirmation Process. A. DOJ Participation OIG believes further that employees bring disrepute to the Department and adversely affect their ability to perform their law enforcement mission if they knowingly attend an event whose purpose is to encourage or promote racist activity. Another Ocoee area resident claimed he had requested and been handed some cocaine powder while in the campground during a Roundup in the late 1980s. During a debate with incumbent (real) Governor Brian Kemp (R-GA) Sunday night, Abrams decided to take a potshot at county sheriffs throughout the state. The signs were removed and destroyed. Here's what I am working up to: it's been mentioned in many articles. After conducting a comprehensive investigation of the Roundup from Thus, DOJ participation in the Roundup was relatively insignificant both numerically and organizationally. August 2, 2020. 3) educate and train its law enforcement officers concerning how participation in events that are characterized by racist misconduct in particular can interfere with their ability to effectively do their jobs, such as opening up lines of inquiry relating to racial prejudice when law enforcement officers serve as witnesses in criminal cases; and A second sign, this one reading, "nigger checkpoint," was reported to have been posted across from the registration area early on the morning the Roundup began. Surveys were sent to many agencies across Texas. News stories reported that the Roundup was a "whites-only" gathering of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and other federal law enforcement officers that resembled a "Klan rally" and at which these agents discriminated against blacks by posting racist signs, wearing racist T-shirts, performing racist skits, and playing racist music. So, unconsciously we end up testing them, and closely evaluating their every move. When the investigation began, concern was raised that federal employees might have used government time and resources to promote racist activities, in violation of Office of Government Ethics standards. When he believed that OIG intended to seek court enforcement of the subpoena he publicly threatened bloodshed. Substantiated Allegations None of the allegations of criminal conduct were substantiated, although activity inappropriate for a gathering with a substantial number of law enforcement officers took place. We found substantial evidence that strippers performed at the campground year after year beginning around 1988. Other than one inappropriate comment by one FBI agent, we found no evidence that any DOJ employee engaged in racist or other misconduct while at the Roundup. After multiple failed attempts, Satterthwaite was elected as the Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer under then-Deputy Chief Lavita Chavous. Immediately after the skit, Rightmyer publicly criticized its participants but took no other action, such as ejecting them from the Roundup. (2014). We also coordinated with a number of other law enforcement agencies that were conducting investigations into participation by their own personnel in the Roundup, most notably the Department of Treasury Office of the Inspector General (Treasury OIG). To assist the Director of the FBI in his determination of punishment in this case, we are also forwarding additional information from our investigative files and will provide further information as requested. Look for a box or option labeled Home Page (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) or On Startup (Chrome). On two occasions the Redneck of the Year contest contained blatantly racist material. We discovered, however, a huge gap between these policies, on the one hand, and actual attendance at and perceptions about the event, on the other. He left the Roundup a few hours later. The OIG report contains a summary of our findings with respect to these and all other DOJ employees who attended. Another local resident professed to have actually seen the rape during the 1988 or 1989 Roundup. In part this lack of understanding is the result of very general provisions that govern off-duty conduct. Satterthwaite is asking for reinstatement to his position, a trial by jury and that the department covers his attorney fees. You would have everyone on equal footing, we would be treated fairly. Solely on our findings, an appropriate sanction would be a reprimand, either written or oral. And although we were able to identify more who had been invited to attend, most chose not to -- some merely because the name and location suggested to them that they would not be welcome there. Mired in tradition, the 'good ol' boys club' mentality keeps us moving backward and prevents us from being respected for the job we do. In addition to the persons who brought allegations of racism to light, OIG sought to interview persons who were identified as having committed racially offensive acts. Despite reports that prostitutes were present during various Roundups, we found no evidence that anyone was solicited for prostitution or that sex was exchanged for money. Golfing partners, people who come over for Sunday dinner, members of the same congregation all are likely to exert a greater influence over an official than a stranger might. #8. Although we heard conflicting views as to whether this conduct was intended to send a benign message of "Southern heritage" or a message of racism and intolerance, especially towards African Americans, we conclude that such displays had the effect, whether intended or not, of adding to a racially charged and hostile environment. Mired in tradition, the 'good ol' boys club' mentality keeps us moving backward and prevents us from being respected for the job we do Dec 30, 2014 We are rapidly heading into 2015. TVs Krystal Ball on Rising.. Findings Regarding Specific Racist Misconduct Based on our interviews of each of these witnesses, our conclusions regarding their credibility, and all the testimony of a number of credible witnesses, we concluded that none of these allegations were supported by substantial credible evidence. Hayward, who made the videotape with the "checkpoint" sign and who in an affidavit submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee claimed to have witnessed a broad array of racist acts at a number of the Roundups, refused for several months to cooperate with the OIG investigation, submit to an interview, or surrender the original videotape. We are disturbed that an event characterized by rampant public drunkenness, widespread public lewdness, and in later years episodes of racist conduct drew participants from DOJ and other law enforcement organizations. b) Checking Cars When a small group is privy to whats really going on, the majority of the organization is in the dark and cannot be expected to have the ability to do its best work. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations prohibit federal employees from engaging in "criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct prejudicial to the government." III. Open Meetings, Open Records, and Transparency in Government, Relationships between Elected Officials and Staff. We determined, however, that because the Roundup campground was not isolated or well-secured, it was ill-suited for secretive racist gatherings. Principal OIG Findings Our investigative and interviewing strategy was designed to get beyond potentially self-serving accounts. Randall also alleged that a T-shirt with a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with a target superimposed over his face, was offered for sale. Satterthwaite, who has been with the department since 2012, says LMPD has a "clique like nature" that negatively affects morale in the department. We not only had to deal with weak recollections due to the passage of time but also faulty or incomplete memories because so many participants had consumed so much alcohol during the Roundup. The public drunkenness began far earlier and was a reason cited by many DOJ employees and others for not returning to the Roundup. Remarkably, we found no one in attendance who appeared to be offended by such activity or who sought to curb it. He left the Roundup a few hours later. 2. The banner was thrown in the trash. Once Hayward and Randall's allegations were made public, one former and several current black ATF agents made allegations that the Roundup was a "whites-only" event and that no black agents had ever been invited to attend. In 2002, a survey from the federal government's Office of Personnel Management found that only 36.1 percent of federal workers thought promotions in their work units were based on merit. They are not operating in any undercover capacity to infiltrate this racist organization. What do favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism have to do with ethics? Stallard, M. (2007). Extra effort was made to take the report beyond simply a conclusion that, "It wasn't one of ours." We have been on the . Why this hurts us Although our investigation established that the Roundup was nothing like a "Klan rally," the fact that specific acts of racist misconduct occurred in three different years made more difficult our assessment of the general charge that the Roundup had a "whites-only" attendance policy.