Wampum

Chief Teresa Chambers, United States Park Police

A year ago Teresa Chambers, then the head of one of the top uniformed Federal law enforcement agencies, Chief of the United States Park Police, became a whistleblower. She went on the record and confirmed to a journalist working for a paper of record that the United States Park Police could no longer provide the level of service that citizens and visitors had grown to expect in our parks and on our parkways in Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco. She writes:

For being candid -- for being "honest" -- while still being supportive of my superiors, I was, without warning, stripped of my law enforcement authority, badge, and firearm, and escorted from the Department of the Interior by armed special agents of another Federal law enforcement entity in December of 2003. Seven months later, the Department of the Interior terminated me.

Frighteningly, the issues I brought to light about our citizens' and visitors' safety and security and the future of these American icons have not been addressed -- other than to silence me. In fact, there are fewer United States Park Police Officers today than there were more than one year ago when I was sent home for daring to say that we weren't able to properly meet our commitments with existing resources. Other security concerns I raised internally have also gone un-addressed.

...
My story is told on a website, www.honestchief.com, established in December 2003 and maintained by my husband so that the American people could "witness" the issues in this case. The website has provided transparency to my situation by making key documents available for viewing, including the transcripts of depositions of top officials and their testimony during a key administrative hearing.

Suppression of information is spreading - gag orders, non disclosures agreements, and the government's refusal to turn over documents. In agencies that span Federal service, conscientious public servants are struggling to communicate vital concerns to their true employers - you, the American public. Is anyone listening?

When we were in Washington last year we stopped to show Grace the signature of William Williams, Delegate from Connecticut at the Continental Congress, on the Declaration of Independence. William was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776. He voted for Independence, signed the Declaration, and was then appointed a member of the committee to frame the Articles of Confederation. In 1777 he was appointed to the Board of War. After the war, he attended the Hartford convention, where Connecticut ratified the Federal Constitution. His brother, Capt.. Benj. Williams, did the iron and blacksmith work and fitted the fully-rigged ship Oliver Cromwell in Essex (Saybrook), a warship of the Connecticut Navy that took nine British ships prize before captured by the Royal Navy. The Oliver Cromwell carried 20 guns and had a crew of 180 men. Grace & sibs are descendents of Capt. Benj. Williams.

Sam, Jonah and Kezzie, especially Sam, was chomping at the bit to go on to the Dinosaurs, which are a little older than the foundation documents of the Republic, but Gracie was amused that everybody signed the Declaration on July 2nd, not July 4th.

The later Framers knew that persons and party would, if unchecked, tend towards dictatorship, and the document intended to replace the Articles of Confederation created three co-equal branches of government. But there can be no meaningful checks and balances when the Executive can conceal its acts from the Legislature and Judiciary. That is why whistleblowers are important, and why it is of the first import when the regime can simply make the Chief of the United States Park Police "disapear", because it is inconvenient that she not.

Posted by EBW at April 4, 2005 05:48 PM | TrackBack