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? 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. New York, NY: Random House. 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 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. Other isolated but nevertheless significant evidence of racially offensive or insensitive conduct occurred in a number of years. racism and the criminal justice system, safety and preparing minority youth for interactions with police, fostering positive relationships between police and communities of color, assisting . Many of the central figures involved in staging the Roundup over the years were also interviewed. On two occasions the Redneck of the Year contest contained blatantly racist material. 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. Intent and a "Whites-only" Policy Moreover, we found Randall's claim to have found the "license" in a Roundup bathroom not to be credible. Racist skits were performed in 1990 and 1992. Thus, DOJ participation in the Roundup was relatively insignificant both numerically and organizationally. 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. We further believe that such regulation is wholly appropriate. In media interviews, Randall and Hayward stated that they went to the site of the 1995 Roundup with the intention of finding racist conduct to report. He contended that racist signs and an effigy of a black person were displayed at the registration desk for the entire Roundup. Instead, most troops will eventually break down and take the easy route of prioritizing the buttering up of their superiors. 1998 - 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved. The OIG report contains a summary of our findings with respect to these and all other DOJ employees who attended. No DOJ employee ever won Redneck of the Year, Ugliest Good O' Boy, Liar's Contest, or Beer Enduro competitions. OIG received no allegations and found no evidence that any DOJ property was used to support the Roundup. The good ol boy system is when a leader unabashedly chooses favorites among their subordinates. They are here you know. An important part of the climate was established by the availability of unlimited amounts of alcohol. It begins when friend promotes friend. 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. Despite evidence that the Roundup organizers officially discouraged such performances, their efforts to exercise control were half-hearted at best. 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. 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. Maybe they'll freeze, or run away. Finally in October he relinquished the videotape for analysis by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and agreed to an on-the-record interview. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications. You would have everyone on equal footing, we would be treated fairly. These signs read, "Nigger check point," "Any niggers in that car?," and "17 lb." In the lawsuit, he says he applied for multiple positions within the department, but believes he was scored unfairly and was denied access to his interview files so he could review the decision. Most people of interracial goodwill have never heard of Gene Rightmyer, the former Knoxville, Tennessee-based ATF agent who organized and led the Good Ol' Boys Roundup (Roundup) from 1980 through 1995. Thirty-six were DOJ employees when they attended; eight went prior to becoming DOJ employees. 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. On July 11, 1995, the Washington Times blew the whistle on this annual racist Roundup of law enforcement agents and their invited guests. This process is a cancer that eats away your staff until the only remaining experienced staff you have are beyond disgruntled. Now you are bringing niggers to the Roundup." 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. Misappropriation of funds in local government, discrimination against businesses, or favoritism allowing certain people to do . Twenty-three of the forty-four DOJ employees attended only one Roundup; eight more went only twice. It is the 21st century. 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. 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. In addition to Roundup participants, OIG made significant efforts to interview the persons who alleged misconduct against the Roundup and its participants. As discussed below, two of them who were accompanied by a white ATF agent got into a confrontation when the white ATF agent was accused of "bringing niggers to the Roundup" by the event staff members who were operating the "Nigger checkpoint.". Some witnesses we found to be extremely credible; others to be wholly incredible. Furthermore, because of their duty to fairly investigate and prosecute violations of the law, DOJ law enforcement officers are held to even stricter application of these standards of conduct. F. Conclusion C. Findings Regarding General Allegations of Racist Although Hayward alleged that the tape also contained a racist "comedy" routine and was for sale at the campground, we found no corroboration for these additional claims. 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. Nepotism is an even narrower form of favoritism. PHOTO: An example of the racist paraphernalia sold at this event. 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. 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. Through these efforts, OIG identified nearly 1400 persons who attended the Roundup between 1980 and 1995. f) T-shirts Only one DOJ employee, now retired, served in an official organizational capacity as an "MOB," which stood for the "members of the board" or "mean old bastards," the group with responsibility for cooking, registration, and official recreational activities. e) Hayward's White Supremacist Literature 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. Also, "a Fort Lauderdale, Florida police officer competing in the Redneck of the Year contest performed a skit where he claimed to have found a watermelon which had fallen off the back of a passing truck, struck it until it broke open, and then pulled out a doll he had painted black. In 1995, one current and three retired Fort Lauderdale police officers confronted a white ATF agent who had come to the Roundup with two black law enforcement officers. In the lawsuit, Officer Philip Satterthwaite claims that LMPD officials promoted friends and family members over better-qualified candidates. 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. The next day Rightmyer told the offenders that blacks were welcome at the Roundup and if they did not like it, they should leave. A widely-publicized excerpt from a home video allegedly filmed at a Roundup showed a sign that read, "Nigger check point." We found substantial evidence that strippers performed at the campground year after year beginning around 1988. 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. Our report describes many of the crude and disgusting incidents that were related to us during our interviews. Our investigative and interviewing strategy was designed to get beyond potentially self-serving accounts. A related idea is patronage, giving public service jobs to those who may have helped elect the person who has the power of appointment. Creativity Inc: Overcoming the unseen forces that stand in the way of true inspiration. Compounding the frustration is that these small groups of in-players are loyal to each other to the core, even when one of their members is incompetent. 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. Nevertheless, because the investigation established some episodes of egregious racist conduct in certain years, we tried to determine which DOJ employees attended the Roundup in those years, and whether they participated in or encouraged such conduct. The lawsuit details the process that LMPD is required to go through when promoting internally, which includes interviews and a ranking system. Additionally, organizations that have insular leaders also suffer due to a lack of problem solving within the management rank. The initial allegations brought in their wake a blanket condemnation of all federal law enforcement personnel who attended the event. 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. 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. 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. This interviewing strategy was designed to ferret out as much information from as many different sources as possible to minimize the chances that racial or other kinds of misconduct might be concealed from us. 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. 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." 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). He described the doll as a seed and told the audience that one must 'kill the seed when it is young," and proceeded to beat the doll. For more information about government ethics programs and resources contact John Pelissero. One of the most common threads among troops wanting to leave a unit (or the military in general) is toxic leadership. 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. After these events, Satterthwaite filed a PSU complaint. 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. 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. Another local resident professed to have actually seen the rape during the 1988 or 1989 Roundup. The two primary accusers were Jeffrey Randall and a person identified only as a "former Alabama police official," whom we later determined to be Richard Hayward. Those incidents helped create and perpetuate a climate that was not welcoming towards African Americans, other minorities, or women. They are the power in-group where promotability is based upon who you know rather than what you know. 'Good ole boy system': LMPD officer files lawsuit accusing department of bias, discrimination. In part this lack of understanding is the result of very general provisions that govern off-duty conduct. OIG subpoenaed computer and bank records relating to the Roundup from Gene Rightmyer, the former ATF agent who had organized and led the Roundup from 1980 through 1995. COLUMN: Bryan Co. Good Ol' Boy System Means No More Services for DV, Sexual Assault Victims. And no DOJ employee was ever elected to be president or vice-president of the Roundup. 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. 8. Moreover, we found Randall's claim to have found the "license" in a Roundup bathroom not to be credible. Seek out advice, if your world becomes too insular, it limits your creativity. ~ Georgina Chapman, Brian Ellis, Anthony H. Normore, & Mitch Javidi National Command and Staff College. Catmull, E. (2014). 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. 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. Hayward also brought some bumper stickers and hats to sell, without much success. Although Rightmyer again criticized the officer who performed this skit, he took no other action. 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. 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. We found no evidence that any racial restrictions, either explicit or implicit, were placed on the distribution of these invitations. Racist signs were posted in at least two years: 1990 and 1992. Look for a box or option labeled Home Page (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) or On Startup (Chrome). One of the most basic themes in ethics is fairness, stated this way by Artistotle: "Equals should be treated equally and unequals unequally." That creates a unique bond regardless of your personal relationship with someone. I look around from time to time and never cease to be amazed at how little social progress we have actually made. "Obviously LMPD fights any type of discrimination but I don't know about the case and if I did I couldn't comment about it," Fischer said.
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