E. OIG Recommendations We also found substantial credible evidence of racially insensitive conduct in 1985, 1987, 1989, and 1993. Copyright 2023 Unsubstantiated Allegations Third, executives should be thinking about strategic succession planning rather than waiting for retirements to occur and making picks in the moment. They also bring this up in the report, the club the good old boys club. 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; 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. Introduction Thirty-six were DOJ employees when they attended; eight went prior to becoming DOJ employees. Lieutenant Ellis has worked in a number of specialized assignments including with the Problem Oriented Policing Unit, Parole Intervention and Career Criminal Apprehension Teams, Narcotics and Robbery/Burglary divisions. The phrase used by the persons engaged in the activity was "checking cars for niggers." These good ole boys clubs have a range of consequences in the business world . . | Father of Louisville man killed in shooting pleads for end to gun violence, Timeline: Here are the changes and reforms we've seen in Louisville since Breonna Taylor's death. 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. 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. We found no information as to who was responsible for this sign. In 1992 and 1993, Hayward openly distributed former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke's presidential campaign literature and souvenirs, as well as materials publicizing the National Association for the Advancement of White People. 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. Near these signs, and also visible in the video, was a drawing of a likeness of an African American with a circle around it and a red slash across the circle. The initial allegations of racist conduct were made in an article in the Washington Times on July 11. Principal OIG Findings It ensures we will always be short staffed, which weakens us. When these allegations were first made public, the public criticism was broad and harsh. 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. 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. http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheEmperorsNewClothes_e.html, https://hbr.org/2012/07/cultural-change-that-sticks, https://qz.com/196273/how-to-break-up-the-old-boys-club-in-your-office/. These leaders would vehemently agree that their peers and superiors who exhibit obvious favoritism are in the wrong and are, frankly, undeserving of their position. Youre seeing that problem right now with [FBI Director] Andy McCabe and the people there that moved up there and moved around quite fast, as opposed to having any female people, criminal investigators in those top ranks, she continued. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) regulations prohibit federal employees from engaging in "criminal, infamous, dishonest, immoral, or notoriously disgraceful conduct prejudicial to the government." The OIG report contains a summary of our findings with respect to these and all other DOJ employees who attended. Johnson, C. (2012). 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. He is currently the SWAT commander and oversees the Metro Divisions Special Operations section. When there is a more formal approach to succession planning, departments usually build more buy-in and elicit better work outputs from people. OIG made special efforts to interview persons from many federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, and to interview a large number of participants who had no law enforcement affiliation. 05-26-2005, 01:54 AM. Accordingly, we recommend that the Department of Justice do the following: 1) explicitly advise its employees that off-duty conduct is subject to regulation and review and that sanctions can be imposed for off-duty misconduct; 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; 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. 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. 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. Thus, DOJ participation in the Roundup was relatively insignificant both numerically and organizationally. 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. Cronyism occurs within a network of insiders-the "good ol' boys," who confer favors on one another. Other attendees intervened and broke up the confrontation. 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. But the inquiry is, by necessity, highly fact-specific. If someone is accused of wrongdoing, its up to a jury of their peers to determine their fate. Favoritism has always been a complaint in government service. We also conclude that by the time racist conduct began to appear at the Roundup and persons began to attribute racist tendencies to it, the Roundup organizers should have been aware that the name itself may have sent a less-than-welcoming message to all potential attendees. 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.". Several women in law enforcement who attended the Roundup reported feeling uncomfortable due to the vulgarity and demeanor of the male attendees. 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. This agency, is the worst "law enforcement" agency I've worked for. The day before the Roundup opened a small sign that read, "no niggers," was observed posted on a stake alongside the road into the campground. The Roundup was also attended by white supremacists like Richard Hayward and Jeffrey Randall, who were members of a militia group based in Alabama. Instead, it is working for those in power, which crushes ongoing momentum efforts. The signs were removed and destroyed. 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. Open Meetings, Open Records, and Transparency in Government, Relationships between Elected Officials and Staff. Some spent little time at the campground where the misconduct took place; others hardly stayed at the Roundup for any period of time. In 1992 and 1993, Richard Hayward brought to the Roundup David Duke for President campaign literature and souvenirs, and materials publicizing the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP), a pro-Duke organization whose Michigan chapter Hayward had founded. The "good ole boy" system plagues T.D.C.J, and is part of the reason they have a hard time keeping employees. Some spent little time at the campground where the misconduct took place; others hardly stayed at the Roundup for any period of time. Self-censorship: People avoid deviating from the norms of the group and would rather fit in over having a better answer. OIG also found insufficient evidence to conclude that a racist sign was displayed in any part of the campground during the 1989 Roundup. Rites of passage, even in the job place, which leave coworkers to fend for themselves until they have proven themselves to be "worthy" of being included. Intent and a "Whites-only" Policy. (1999). Our review of Roundup policies and practices established by Rightmyer and the Roundup organizers revealed no evidence of an intent to create or maintain a "whites-only" event. Hayward had previously attended several Roundups as a registered attendee, until he was banned for his own racially offensive conduct. 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. But, when two groups of good ol boys butt heads, everyone else now needs to play along with their stupid game no matter how petty. Thus, whether intended or not, the Roundup was in fact predominantly a gathering of whites. In 2019, Bryan County law enforcement officials responded to 661 domestic violence calls. This woman denied that she was raped. According to Fatal Encounters, George Floyd was one of 819 individuals killed during interactions with police so far in 2020. We found no evidence that such "licenses" were widely available at the Roundup; indeed, we found no one other than Randall who claimed to have seen one in the campground. Brian earned his undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from California State, Sacramento and has a MS in Organizational Leadership from National University. "We are proud of the support we have from Democrat and Republican sheriffs. In one photo, a group surrounding the flag are shown making obscene gestures and raising their fists in a Nazi salute. In Hayward's case, for example, the important kernels of truth contained in his 1990 videotape and in his allegation regarding a particularly egregious racist skit in 1990 were combined with other allegations that were embellishments of actual events and in many cases distortions and outright fabrications. His component, however, must assess this conduct in light of the employee's history. It begins when friend promotes friend. 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 2001 the National Center for Women Greater punishment could be warranted, therefore, if the behavior evidenced in this investigation is part of a pattern of documented racial insensitivity. Collaborative environments are incubators for good ideas to occur. The display of the Confederate flag is a controversial matter. In addition to charges of racism, allegations of criminal or other misconduct were also raised. Racists Vandalized LeBrons Los Angeles Home. They hire people from Africa, who barley speak or understand English. The department was one of nine law enforcement agencies in Michigan to receive such an award in the latest grant cycle. OIG found no evidence that any DOJ employee -- or federal employees from other agencies -- participated in such conduct. 7. 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. #8. 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. 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. 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. Other isolated but nevertheless significant evidence of racially offensive or insensitive conduct occurred in a number of years. A third local resident made a vague and contradictory claim that marijuana was used in the campground during one unspecified Roundup. Additionally, organizations that have insular leaders also suffer due to a lack of problem solving within the management rank. The lawsuit alleges that the department retaliated against Satthertwaite when he filed a complaint about a practice he believed to be unlawful. 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. 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. 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. We further believe that such regulation is wholly appropriate. When the organizers of the Roundup learned about the signs, they ordered the signs taken down. 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. They never reach their end goal by the way. 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. 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. To call a sheriff a part of the Good Ol' Boy network, I think is an injustice," Kemp said. Instead we have racism, nepotism, favoritism, and few other ism's. The phrase used by the persons engaged in the activity was "checking cars for niggers." When he filed a complaint, the lawsuit alleges LMPD command "directed and authorized efforts to intimidate, harrass and surveil" him. Second, although our primary task was to assess the allegations of racism as they reflected on DOJ employees, we learned that the Roundup in fact had been marred by a number of serious and disturbing incidents of racial and other kinds of misconduct. The only identifying information we received was that an unspecified person from Ohio and another from Mississippi possessed one of these tapes. At least 10 percent of the attendees had federal law enforcement affiliations. For a period of time substantial effort was made to see who could be the most vile and disgusting. Through these efforts, OIG identified nearly 1400 persons who attended the Roundup between 1980 and 1995. 2. This kind of environment breeds groupthink which brings with it a host of problems including, but not limited to: The good ole boy system is a haven for groupthink, as the more group-focused the leadership team becomes, the less people are thinking and/or challenging each other. Many DOJ employees believe that what they do off duty is their business and not a proper concern of their employer. 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. agent and to the applicable Department of Treasury component for one of its employees who used to be employed by DOJ. More information about these Birmingham-area law enforcement Skinheads will be detailed in my upcoming book, "Inmate 36223-001: The Story of a Political Prisoner. Copyrighted and Published on January 29, 2020. It is the 21st century. It also makes us highly skeptical of anyone new coming in. We also found that an atmosphere hostile to minorities -- and to women -- developed over time because inadequate action was taken by the Roundup's organizers to appropriately deal with instances of racial or other kinds of misconduct. Poor decisions are made, costing the organization credibility and destroying public confidence. 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. We essentially place or lives in each others hands. A third local resident made a vague and contradictory claim that marijuana was used in the campground during one unspecified Roundup. In 1993, Hayward arrived at the campground with his car plastered with racially offensive and political materials. Decisions that need to be made get kicked down the road and unpopular people no matter their competence have no voice. The person who observed the sign reported that it was gone within half an hour. In the words of basketball coaching legend John Wooden, when everybody thinks alike, nobody thinks. There are countless leaders in history such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln Winston Churchill, and Franklin D. Roosevelt who used the value of challenging their own modes of thinking; whether through a team who had diverse views, or reaching out to others for advice, or seeing how the value of people who think differently than you builds success. . 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. 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. While these practices are intended to strengthen us as a whole and weed out the untrustworthy, it actually does the opposite. Internal transparency builds trust and more importantly- ownership. This failure, together with the availability of massive amounts of alcohol, no doubt contributed to the recurrence of such incidents. In 1992, two different signs were displayed at the campground. The law is clear and yet, somehow, different troops arent held to the same standard for the same crimes. August 2, 2020. Unlimited access to beer twenty-four hours a day led to extreme drunkenness. One witness also recalled that Hayward was wearing a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. mask with a bullet hole in the forehead. 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. Only through a full understanding of the context of the event and the employee's participation in it can a fair assessment be made of whether punishment is appropriate. 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. That same day several of the Fort Lauderdale officers left the Roundup. We found no information to identify who was responsible for this sign. Logan of the University of Kentucky, the lead researcher, noted that the rural women were from the Appalachian area, which has received media attention because of drug use. Arrests Are Plummeting. 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. Basically favoritism is just what it sounds like; it's favoring a person not because he or she is doing the best job but rather because of some extraneous feature-membership in a favored group, personal likes and dislikes, etc. Dallas Police Association president calls for end of 'good ole boy' system of promoting officers to top ranks By Scott Goldstein 11:34 AM on May 14, 2012 CDT Dallas police leaders have been. Hayward and his attorney terminated the interview shortly after the questioning turned to Hayward's own white supremacist views and activities. When these allegations were first made public, the public criticism was broad and harsh. On July 11, 1995, the Washington Times blew the whistle on this annual racist Roundup of law enforcement agents and their invited guests. 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. The interview comes after the DOJ released a report on Tuesday, revealing that women make uponly 16 percent of criminal investigative jobs within the departments central investigative agencies and hold few executive leadership positions. Copyright 2023 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. Friends and family can usually be counted on for loyalty, and officeholders are in a good position to know their strengths. Our investigative and interviewing strategy was designed to get beyond potentially self-serving accounts. He left the Roundup a few hours later. "You know, you're the person that plays golf with the commander of the unit, so when you go apply you're going to get that spot.". 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. The next day Rightmyer told the offenders that blacks were welcome at the Roundup and if they did not like it, they should leave. 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 1985, an unidentified local deputy sheriff pulled a statue of a black figure, referred to as a "lawn jockey," out of his camper and tied his dog to it before being told to put it back in his camper. Finally in October he relinquished the videotape for analysis by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and agreed to an on-the-record interview. Worst yet are those organizations that seek improvement in this area and bring in another person to fix, who ultimately repeats the same thing in the attempt of changing the organization. In the change process, the new leader creates more of the same, as the only thing that changes are the players, not the game (Katzenbach, Steffen, & Kronley, 2012). In 1989 and other unspecified years we found evidence that cassette tapes of music by a performer named David Allen Coe were played at various campsites, including a song named "My Wife Ran Off With a Nigger." 'Good ole boy system': LMPD officer files lawsuit accusing department of bias, discrimination. a) 1989 Allegations The group is given inside information and preferential treatment, ultimately leading to a pyramid scheme of corruption and incompetence. You want to make sure that you have a diverse leadership, the former FBI agent said. . We are rapidly heading into 2015. In Hayward's case, for example, the important kernels of truth contained in his 1990 videotape and in his allegation regarding a particularly egregious racist skit in 1990 were combined with other allegations that were embellishments of actual events and in many cases distortions and outright fabrications. 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. 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.
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