We believe that such off-duty responsibilities are not well-understood by many DOJ employees. Substantiated Allegations
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. Many DOJ employees believe that what they do off duty is their business and not a proper concern of their employer. 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. Decertification means Handley is forbidden from working in law enforcement anywhere in the state . Cultural change that sticks.Harvard Business Review. The phrase used by the persons engaged in the activity was "checking cars for niggers." Although one other witness believed he saw a T-shirt similar to the one described by Randall worn by one person at the 1995 Roundup, OIG found insufficient credible evidence that such shirts were for sale at the Roundup. We will attempt to promote the best in leadership for police organizations and hopefully eradicate some poor leadership qualities along the way. John F. Kennedy, for example, appointed his brother Robert as attorney general. He refused to comply with any aspect of this subpoena. What ethical dilemmas do favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism present. 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. In the lawsuit, Officer Philip Satterthwaite claims that LMPD officials promoted friends and family members over better-qualified candidates. They are not operating in any undercover capacity to infiltrate this racist organization. The initial allegations brought in their wake a blanket condemnation of all federal law enforcement personnel who attended the event. Surveys were sent to many agencies across Texas. We could not escape making judgments concerning their credibility. In our view, the existing standards of conduct are broad enough to regulate off-duty conduct when it could impair the effectiveness of DOJ employees or bring discredit on their employing agency. In the public sphere, favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism also undermine the common good. Cronyism occurs within a network of insiders-the "good ol' boys," who confer favors on one another. In 1991 wo-men accounted for only 9% of law enforcement agencies (Price, 1996). 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. We found no information to identify who was responsible for this sign. The first issue is competence. Favoritism has always been a complaint in government service. Indeed, we recognized that the persons who attended the Roundup may have had a motive to conceal or minimize the instances of racial or other kinds of misconduct in order to make their attendance at a Roundup appear more benign than it might have been. However, we found no evidence linking DOJ employees to acts of public drunkenness, public lewdness, or any of the other sordid aspects of the Roundup in any specific or persistent way. These people are so bitter that they spend most trying to screw over each other in order to make themselves feel better. The person who observed the sign reported that it was gone within half an hour. Ideas are not singular and are often a collaborative process of passing through many people coupled with thousands of thoughts and decisions before becoming final (Catmull, 2014). I'm always going to. Over 900 people were interviewed and statementized in connection with the OIG investigation. The Uniform Code of Military Justice is very clear. Over the sixteen years of the Roundup, only three percent of the total estimated number of attendees were DOJ employees. We believe we have developed a fair and accurate picture of what occurred. Finally, public nudity was commonplace at various Roundups. 1 . 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. 1. Finally in October he relinquished the videotape for analysis by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and agreed to an on-the-record interview. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations prohibit federal employees from engaging in "criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct prejudicial to the government."
In 1990 and 1992, "persons whom [OIG] could not identify were checking to determine if any blacks were in any of the cars driving through the campground. An important part of the climate was established by the availability of unlimited amounts of alcohol.
But by failing to eject or punish any of the people known to have engaged in the misconduct, the Roundup organizers failed to deliver a strong, unequivocal message that racist conduct would not be tolerated. (Government Executive Magazine, "Playing Favorites," by Brian Friel, October 2004). The next day Rightmyer told the offenders that blacks were welcome at the Roundup and if they did not like it, they should leave. Tweet. We found no evidence that any federal law enforcement personnel appears in the photograph. For example, one T-shirt for sale depicted three police officers around a police car and two black persons being held face down on the hood of the car. Racist skits were performed in 1990 and 1992. I. When groupthink is present, big ideas get pushed down, shunned, or worst never shared with the group in the first place. Our investigation found that DOJ employees played a minor role in the official activities and organization of the Roundup. When the organizers learned about it, they covered over the graffiti. In response to this activity and an article Hayward published about the Roundup the following month in the NAAWP Newsletter, in which he claimed that numerous David Duke supporters attended the Roundup, the event's organizers instituted new policies for 1993 prohibiting political and racist activity. We found evidence of the unofficial sale of T-shirts during several Roundups that some persons found to be racially insensitive. f) T-shirts
The banner was thrown in the trash. The assessment center for promotion of police officers: can it be improved? Two troops are up for awards: One has worked their ass off, day in and day out. In 2001 the National Center for Women In addition, a former ATF agent in an interview subsequent to his Senate hearing testimony alleged for the first time that in 1987 he heard from another ATF agent that a woman had been raped by an ATF agent at the Roundup. Favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism all interfere with fairness because they give undue advantage to someone who does not necessarily merit this treatment. Based on the number of convictions for violating federal corruption laws, Mississippi a state with just three million citizens ranks at the very top of the . We had a responsibility to set the record straight as to what actually occurred at the Roundup during a sixteen-year period. Brian earned his undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from California State, Sacramento and has a MS in Organizational Leadership from National University. Although not identified as such, Randall and Hayward proved to be members of a militia group based in Alabama that sought to discredit the ATF. Racist skits were performed in 1990 and 1992. Overall, OIG interviewed large numbers of people who attended the Roundup, particularly in those years for which there were extremely serious allegations of racist and other misconduct. Other attendees intervened and broke up the confrontation. A third local resident made a vague and contradictory claim that marijuana was used in the campground during one unspecified Roundup. Because of the historical connections between similar sites and racist activities, these agents attributed racist intentions to the Roundup due simply to its location. Many DOJ employees believe that what they do off duty is their business and not a proper concern of their employer. The lawsuit, filed by Sam Aguiar on behalf of Officer Philip Satterthwaite, claims LMPD allows friends, family and favorites to receive positions over more qualified applicants, particularly Black officers. We want an investigation to stop the good ole boy law system in McKean County as well as the tyranny. In July 1995, national attention focused suddenly on an annual private gathering in southeastern Tennessee known as the "Good O' Boy Roundup" (Roundup). . Several women in law enforcement who attended the Roundup reported feeling uncomfortable due to the vulgarity and demeanor of the male attendees. Despite evidence that the Roundup organizers officially discouraged such performances, their efforts to exercise control were half-hearted at best. For 1989, we received numerous allegations of racist conduct, most of which were made by Richard Hayward. The good ole boy system.
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. 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. Nonetheless, OIG expended considerable time, energy, and resources to determine as best we could what happened at the Roundup. Importantly as well, there were not many options given the initial objective of finding a site for an overnight camping and whitewater rafting trip near Rightmyer's duty office in Knoxville.
Indeed, by 1990, law enforcement officers -- federal, state, and local -- were outnumbered by participants who had no such affiliation. Most people define the Good Ole Boy System as "people who use or gain special treatment with job assignments and promotions because of the relationship they have with others.". In their affidavits to the Senate, the two Ocoee women claimed to have heard that a woman was gang-raped by a large number of Roundup participants. Hayward also brought a large David Duke for President banner to hang in the campground, but it was up only briefly before Roundup organizers ordered that it be taken down. ForAppleorAndroidusers. Finally, public nudity was commonplace at various Roundups. This investigation involved a murky and difficult area -- the responsibilities of federal employees generally, and federal law enforcement personnel in particular, to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with their law enforcement responsibilities even when they are off duty. E. OIG Recommendations
. Although the Roundup was plainly not the type of event that brings credit to its participants, we developed no evidence that any significant role was played in the Roundup by any DOJ personnel past or present. They believed that connections, partisanship, and other factors played a role. We have reported these not for their shock value but instead to give an accurate picture of what the Roundup was like. Third, executives should be thinking about strategic succession planning rather than waiting for retirements to occur and making picks in the moment. 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. Randall was even less cooperative, refusing to answer more than a few basic questions in the presence of other militia members in late July and refusing our requests for a subsequent interview. researches product purchases and suppliers. When the rules are not universal in a police organization, it becomes very difficult to keep everyone playing by them. Although we conclude that much of the early Roundup news coverage was overblown and distorted, our investigation revealed ample evidence of shocking racist, licentious, and puerile behavior by attendees occurring in various years. What are favoritism, cronyism, and nepotism? 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. In the lawsuit, Officer Philip Satterthwaite claims that LMPD officials promoted friends and family . agent and to the applicable Department of Treasury component for one of its employees who used to be employed by DOJ.
A future Roundup president and Hayward can be readily identified. This tale describes the danger of situations where people are afraid to criticize an initiative because of the people involved, or how popular the idea is, as well as the inability to ask questions because of the fear of feeling inferior. Indeed, we recognized that the persons who attended the Roundup may have had a motive to conceal or minimize the instances of racial or other kinds of misconduct in order to make their attendance at a Roundup appear more benign than it might have been. Some minority agents also expressed a reluctance to attend because the Roundup was held in the woods of an all-white county in Eastern Tennessee. It has become the most comprehensive and trusted online destination for correctional professionals nationwide. The OIG acknowledged in a March 1996 Report that "the persons who attended the Roundup may have had a motive to conceal or minimize the instances of racial or other kinds of misconduct in order to make their attendance at a Roundup appear more benign than it might have been." It has come to past that as things change that some things never change. This is evident in circumstances where internal gossip runs rampant and everyone plays by a different set of rules; where peers are unwilling to share information and politics control all decisions, ultimately leading to a lack of internal transparency. In addition, we found that because the central activity during most Roundups was the consumption of large quantities of Roundup-supplied alcohol, the organizers knowingly sacrificed the ability to control the conduct of participants. Because of the historical connections between similar sites and racist activities, these agents attributed racist intentions to the Roundup due simply to its location. And in many cases, DOJ employees acted as one would hope they would -- they saw an event marked by excessive alcohol consumption and puerile behavior and never returned. A widely-publicized excerpt from a home video allegedly filmed at a Roundup showed a sign that read, "Nigger check point." 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. The public drunkenness began far earlier and was a reason cited by many DOJ employees and others for not returning to the Roundup. 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. 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. You're skipping over experienced and educated applicants for a buddy. 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. 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. The display of the Confederate flag is a controversial matter. In insular environments, when ambiguous issues arise in meetings, there is a lack of questions that limit learning and understanding. When the conduct was brought to the attention of Roundup organizers it was criticized and terminated. WHAS11 asked Mayor Greg Fischer about the allegations on Tuesday. Hayward was told he could not enter the campground unless all of these materials were removed. OIG investigated every allegation of specific racist misconduct made by Hayward, Randall, several current and former black ATF agents, and witnesses who were interviewed during the course of this investigation. Apparently, the same concern and solicitude did not extend to the relatively few female law enforcement personnel who went to a Roundup. As long as theres still a working relationship, rivalries between units are fine. Contrary to the media accounts of this incident, the black agents were not turned away from the Roundup. Our initial task was to identify DOJ employees who attended any of the Roundups. [W]e found evidence that cassette tapes of music by a performer named David Allen Coe were played during various years, including the song, "My Wife Ran Off With a Nigger.". [P]ublic nudity was commonplace at various Roundups [with] women dancers, women baring their chests, [and] a retired officer exposing himself with his badge displayed on his penis. When the organizers learned about it, they covered over the graffiti. 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. Nonetheless, OIG expended considerable time, energy, and resources to determine as best we could what happened at the Roundup.
However, too often these are disregarded because superiors are told things are fine by the sycophants. On this, you do have to appreciate the amount of time someone has put into establishing it. Nor, as the initial news accounts suggested, was the Roundup dominated by federal law enforcement personnel. He also alleged that ATF agents surrounded cars entering the campground and shouted, "Got any niggers in that car?" An old boy network (also known as old boys' network, ol' boys' club, old boys' club, old boys' society, good ol' boys club, or good ol' boys system) is an informal system in which wealthy men with similar social or educational background help each other in business or personal matters. Insular environments are also the breeding ground of fear-based cultures. 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. This investigation involved a murky and difficult area -- the responsibilities of federal employees generally, and federal law enforcement personnel in particular, to conduct themselves in a manner consistent with their law enforcement responsibilities even when they are off duty.
Randall was served with an OIG administrative subpoena for photographs of the Roundup and the original videotape, which Hayward had turned over to him. Greater punishment could be warranted, therefore, if the behavior evidenced in this investigation is part of a pattern of documented racial insensitivity.
We found no evidence that the invitations to the Roundup, either written or oral, made explicit references or even allusions to racial restrictions on attendance or that racist activities were available or welcome at the event. Taunting the ATF agent about the presence of the two blacks, one of the Fort Lauderdale officers stated, "ATF fucks up everything they touch. 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. They were welcomed at the Roundup in multiple years. When asked for a comment, LMPD spokesperson Beth Ruoff said the department "does not comment on pending litigation.". 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. But by failing to eject or punish any of the people known to have engaged in the misconduct, the Roundup organizers failed to deliver a strong, unequivocal message that racist conduct would not be tolerated. They dont get in trouble with command, but theyre not the most people-friendly person youve met. If they do pretend it doesnt exist, troops will catch on and word will spread quickly through the ranks. READ MORE: UNDERSTANDING THE DARK SIDE OF LEADERSHIP PART III. With respect to a second individual, formerly employed by INS but now an employee of Treasury, we are transmitting information to the applicable Department of Treasury component by which he is now employed for consideration of possible discipline. They are here you know. A related idea is patronage, giving public service jobs to those who may have helped elect the person who has the power of appointment. On the other hand, simply attending a private, unofficial event at which a few participants engage in racist conduct and at which such behavior is not the purpose of the event should not, in most circumstances, merit punishment for the employee who attends. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. One was from May 13th in the amount of $1,280.79 and another on May . Both of these individuals are affectionately coddled and protected by at least one magistrate and two sitting U.S. District Court judges on the federal bench for the Northern District of Alabama. 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. Rightmyer was interviewed by OIG twice, including an all day on-the-record interview in the latter stages of the investigation. We thus concluded that in choosing the Roundup's location, its organizers did not have a racist intent, although the perceptions among minorities that they would not be welcome was an unintended consequence of the selected site. (Subsequently, the FBI concluded that Hayward's video taken at the 1990 Roundup was authentic and had not been altered.). Hayward had previously attended several Roundups as a registered attendee, until he was banned for his own racially offensive conduct. ", Racists with Badges: The Good Ol' Boys Roundup. In addition, because our evaluation of DOJ employee conduct required the fullest and most accurate reconstruction possible of what had actually occurred at the Roundup, we sought to identify as many attendees of the various Roundups as we could. In addition, two local women provided affidavits to the Senate Judiciary Committee alleging, among other things, that a woman had been gang-raped at a Roundup, a "drug enforcement officer" had offered one of them drugs during a Roundup, and a goat had been purchased for bestiality purposes. . In addition OIG concluded that the claims of bestiality, sex on Grumpy's stage during the 1995 Roundup, and naked men jumping out of trees onto women passing below were all unsubstantiated. Most agencies that employ such tactics ultimately end up with a sub-par employee energy level, providing little more to the public they serve than the status quo. Ultimately, the purported eyewitness recanted his claim. Beyond that, we build the best commitments from people being in the know and empowering them with information to help them do their jobs better. . Racists Vandalized LeBrons Los Angeles Home. Development opportunities go to the in crowd. 2023 Copyright Law Enforcement Today - All Rights Reserved. Extremely demeaning language and inappropriate sexual touching occurred. However, we found no evidence linking DOJ employees to acts of public drunkenness, public lewdness, or any of the other sordid aspects of the Roundup in any specific or persistent way. Furthermore, the failure of the Roundup organizers to take any action regarding conduct that was less blatant, but still offensive to many, created a racially hostile environment such that blacks who attended would not have felt welcome. 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. However, the respective components may wish to consider counseling for some of their employee participants based on our findings. Harvard professor Barbara Kellerman has identified seven types of bad leaders, and by ignoring bad leadership people undermine good leadership (Johnson, 2012). 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. 2) examine the existing standards of conduct that apply to the off-duty behavior of DOJ law enforcement components, and provide further guidance for what constitutes conduct that brings the Department or one of its agencies into disrepute;