(Archived Content)
On July 17, 1995, we as a Department took several steps to address the allegations that Treasury Department personnel participated in the so-called Good O' Boy Roundups held annually from 1980 to 1995.
We condemned racist or bigoted behavior by law enforcement personnel as wrong and inconsistent with their duties. We asked our Department's Office of Inspector General to conduct an independent fact-finding investigation to determine the evidence and extent of Treasury employee participation in the Roundups. We impaneled a distinguished group of citizen advisors to evaluate the investigation. We ordered our Office of Enforcement, with the support of the Office of General Counsel, to initiate a policy review process to clarify our strong opposition to bigoted behavior and prevent future law enforcement participation in incidents such as the Roundups.
Finally, we promised to make our work public, to Congress and the American people, so they could be the final judges of our performance in this investigation.
Today, I am referring for further inquiry thirty-one Treasury agents whose conduct may merit discipline or counseling, and I am also releasing strong anti-bias policies designed to help prevent an incident similar to the Roundups from ever occurring again.
In total, I am announcing seven actions, all products of the investigative, evaluative, and policy processes we started. These actions seek to balance the individual and civil rights of law enforcement agents with the truly American commitment to the administration of justice in a manner free of bias, and I firmly believe that our actions strike this balance appropriately.
Summary
With the Inspector General's report and Policy Review complete, I can now announce the following seven actions:
First, while the Inspector General's Report found no credible evidence that any Treasury employee engaged in any overtly racist acts at the Roundups, it suggests to me that the actions of some agents require further review. I will refer the names of 31 current law enforcement officers to the Bureaus for further disciplinary and other relevant inquiry, and I have directed the Bureaus to focus particularly on the conduct of managers.
Second, we have set forth fifteen new policy recommendations that reach the issues of racism and bias in hiring, training, evaluation, and discipline. Simply put, new rules will make clear that we won't tolerate abjectly racist or biased conduct on- or off-duty and that we wish not to hire people who have engaged in racist or biased conduct before seeking a job with Treasury. We can already discipline our employees under existing rules for the kind of off-duty racist conduct that transpired at the Roundup. There should not have been any ambiguity about the applicability of these rules; there will be no ambiguity about off- or on-duty conduct going forward.
Third, we are releasing to Congress and the public the Report of the Inspector General, the Treasury Department Policy Review, and all letters from the five-member, independent Citizen's Review Panel. This disclosure underscores our belief in transparency, which is central to safeguarding the public's trust in our agents.
Fourth, because the Citizens' Review Panel did voice reservations about aspects of the Inspector General's Report, I have written the Inspector General asking for her response to questions the panel has raised. My letter to the I.G. is released today.
Fifth, of the 100 Treasury agents currently working to solve the eighteen arson cases in African-American churches, we have identified two ATF agents who may be subject to disciplinary inquiry for their conduct at the Good O' Boy Roundups, and ten other agents who attended the Roundups but who are not subject to referral either for discipline or counseling. ATF will review the record promptly and consult with the Department of Justice in order to carefully determine whether investigators should discontinue work on the church arson investigations. We will consult with the appropriate Department of Justice Officials to make sure that these investigations are staffed appropriately. The successful prosecution of the people who set fire to these churches is our paramount concern.
Sixth, to make sure the church arson cases are effectively handled, Director Magaw is reviewing the adequacy of the resources assigned to these cases. Four investigations have resulted in arrests; one arrest in Mississippi occurred just yesterday, an earlier arrest in Alabama resulted in the apprehension of acknowledged KKK members. There are few crimes as sensitive or important as the torching of a house of worship, especially in ethnically identifiable communities, and we are striving to earn the trust of those most deeply affected by these tragedies. We will not be satisfied until all eighteen cases are solved.
Seventh, and finally, all Treasury employees are on notice that they should not attend anything like a Good O' Boy Roundups in 1996 or at any time in the future, should anyone have the egregiously poor judgment to organize such an event.
This is our response to the Good O'Boy Roundups -- the largest Inspector General investigation in our Department's history; the referral of thirty-one agents for potential disciplinary action; a comprehensive reform of our hiring and employment standards to fight bias and prevent a reoccurrence of the Roundups openness and disclosure. These actions are comprehensive and they are the right things for us to do.
We have acted in this manner for one central reason: We cannot enforce the law, fairly and with repute, unless law enforcement officials demonstrate, in perception and reality, that their behavior is as free from bias as the fair administration of justice requires them to be.
The people we entrust with a badge, gun and arrest power are and must continue to be individuals with the highest integrity, professionalism and impartiality. Treasury agents do dangerous and difficult work, and they have our complete support. They are best equipped to do their jobs, however, with strengthened anti-bias policies standing behind them, along with a strong Departmental commitment to implementing those policies and making them work. I affirm that commitment today.
In conclusion, I wish to express my appreciation to the following individuals inside and outside of Treasury who assisted with the Department's response to the Good O' Boy Roundups.
My thanks to Customs Commissioner George Weise; John Magaw, Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; Eljay Bowron, Director of the United States Secret Service; Charles Rinkevich, Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center; Margaret Richardson, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, and Stanley Morris, Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, for their support and the support of their bureaus. I also appreciate the tremendous contributions of the Citizens Review Panel (Chairman Norman Dorsen, Julius L. Chambers, Patrick V. Murphy, Helene L. Kaplan, and Chief Fred Thomas). I regret that one outstanding panel member, former Solicitor General Rex Lee, passed away less than one month ago. We mourn his loss and appreciate his contribution.
I also want to compliment Inspector General Valerie Lau and her staff for their exhaustive efforts; Edward S. Knight, General Counsel of the Treasury, Neil S. Wolin, Deputy Counsel, Stephan J. McHale, Lee Patton, and Maurice A. Jones, for the singular contributions of the General Counsel's Office; members of the Policy Review Team, including Lee Michaelson and Marc Greenwald; and the Office of Enforcement, Under Secretary Ronald Noble (retired), Assistant Secretary for Enforcement James E. Johnson, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement Elisabeth Bresee for their work on the policy review and their deeply effective stewardship of this process.
These individuals are true friends of law enforcement and real exemplars of public service. I thank them.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 2, 1996
Background Information on Seven Actions
Treasury Department Office of Public Affairs Summary
Background
Following reports that federal law enforcement officials planned and attended the so-called Good O Boy Roundups, both the Department of Justice and the Department of Treasury asked for inquiries by their independent Inspectors General. The Justice Department IG released its report last month. The Treasury Department IG report is released today.
Treasury was especially determined to find the truth about the extent to which its law enforcement agents participated in offensive or proscribed off-duty conduct. The events were organized by an agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, now retired.
Secretary Rubin ordered the formation of an independent Citizen s Review Panel to evaluate the IG s inquiry. This group of prominent Americans included a nationally known legal scholar and civil libertarian, who served as its Chairman, as well as two former Chiefs of Police, a veteran of the civil rights community, and an esteemed legal practitioner.
Secretary Rubin also assigned the Treasury Office of Enforcement, with support from the Office of the General Counsel, to review the adequacy of existing personnel policies respecting biased behavior and to report on whether new policies were required in view of what transpired at the Roundups.
Over the last eight months, the Treasury Inspector General queried 33,000 Treasury law enforcement employees, including 1,135 managers and lawyers at the Law Enforcement Bureaus. This investigation was conducted in parallel to the Justice Department s Inspector General s investigation and reached similar conclusions.
Early in the 1980s the Roundups became an arena for repulsive and repugnant behavior ill-befitting the attendance of law enforcement officials. Beginning in 1989, overtly racist conduct began to occur. No Federal law enforcement officials are known to have engaged in such conduct. Indeed, they comprised a small percentage of the attendees. Nonetheless, upon becoming aware that racist behavior did occur at the Roundups in all too many instances, agents did nothing to stop it, and many returned in subsequent years knowing that egregiously racist conduct did occur.
As described in his statement, Secretary Rubin outlined seven actions he is taking in response to the Treasury Department s inquiry into the Roundups.
Action #1 Review of Cases for Discipline or Counseling
Secretary Rubin is referring thirty-one Treasury employees to the law enforcement bureaus for disciplinary inquiry or counseling. These individuals comprise three categories of employees:
First, employees who witnessed racist conduct at the Good O' Boy Roundups and may not have taken appropriate action are referred for disciplinary inquiry.
Second, any current employee who may have misused government property and/or abused annual leave are referred for disciplinary inquiry.
Third, employees who attended more than one Roundup after 1988, even those who assert they did not see racist conduct, are referred for counseling and for review of their personnel files. [Both the Treasury and Justice Department Inspectors General found that patterns of egregiously racist behavior occurred after 1988.]
Secretary Rubin has met with the Treasury Law Enforcement Bureau Heads or their designees representing the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Customs Service, the United States Secret Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
The Bureau Heads support the policy recommendations and have accepted the referrals for appropriate action. They share Secretary Rubin's concern, and similar concerns expressed by Professor Norman Dorsen on behalf of the Citizen's Review Panel, that the inquiry process pay special attention to the role and reactions of managers to the racist incidents and behavior which occurred at the Roundups. Additionally, they have agreed to inform Secretary Rubin when law enforcement employees have certified that they have read and understand the new policies.
Action #2 New Policies in Hiring and Employment to Fight Bias
The behavior alleged to have occurred at the Roundups is already covered by policies that reach off-duty conduct; indeed, referrals of 31 Treasury agents for further inquiry and disciplinary action under the existing policy occurred today.
At the request of Secretary Rubin, the Office of Enforcement, with support from the Office of General Counsel, used the review process to determine whether existing policies should be strengthened. They concluded that hiring and employment standards to guard against bias should be toughened. Fifteen recommendations are provided in the 200-plus pages of the Department of Treasury Report of the Good O Boy Roundups Policy Review.
Important recommendations include a new rule on bias motivated conduct which makes explicit that law enforcement officers will be disciplined if they engage in racist or sexist conduct. This new rule prohibits all statements, conduct, or gestures evidencing hatred or prejudice on account of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability. In total, the rules reach the issues of racism and bias in hiring, training, evaluation, and discipline. The revisions are comprehensive. They are based on the view that racist or biased conduct by a law enforcement officer is wrong, that it lowers the respect for that officer and law enforcement generally by the public, that it renders that officer less persuasive as a witness and harms the moral standing of our law enforcement ranks.
The recommendations were received with praise by the independent Citizens Review Panel. Typical among the reactions was that of former New York City Chief of Police Patrick V. Murphy, Director of the Police Policy Board of the U.S. Conference of Mayors:
The policy report is professional and comprehensive. The implementation of its recommendations will significantly reduce the risk of a repetition of embarrassing behavior by Treasury law enforcement personnel in the future as well as strengthen management and leadership through strict but reasonable accountability from first line supervision to top administration. [Letter to Secretary Rubin, March 29, 1996]
The Office of Enforcement's review of policy approaches by other Departments and local law enforcement organizations was wide ranging. They found particularly valuable comments by ATF regarding its suggested improvements in our proposed policies on participation in hate groups, prescreening techniques for hiring, and enhanced background checks.
The ATF today is clearly a different, more diverse and modern organization than it was when the Good O' Boy Roundups was started by a now-retired ATF employee. Indeed, ATF currently has the highest percentage of African-American agents of any Treasury Bureau.
The Offices of General Counsel and Enforcement made 15 policy recommendations that are being adopted by Treasury law enforcement bureaus. These recommendations apply to standards reaching off-duty conduct, prohibition of bias-motivated conduct, participation in hate groups, toughened hiring standards, stronger background checks, policies that promote diversity in hiring, and streamlining ethics and rules of conduct.
Action #3 Public Disclosure of Documents
Additional data can be drawn from the documents Secretary Rubin released today: The Report of the Inspector General, the Department of Treasury Report of the Good O Boy Roundup Policy Review, the comments of the Citizens Review Panel, and Secretary Rubin s letter to Inspector General Valerie Lau. As Secretary Rubin said in his statement, This disclosure underscores our belief in transparency, which is central to safeguarding the public's trust in our agents.
Action #4 Follow up by the Treasury Department s Inspector General
The independent Citizens Review Panel voiced reservations about the Inspector General s report because it does not make findings of fact or draw conclusions concerning possible individual culpability. Secretary Rubin, on his reading of the report, did conclude that sufficient evidence existed to refer to the law enforcement bureaus the cases of 31 current Treasury agents whose cases fit in the categories described above (Action #1). He has also written the Treasury Inspector General, however, and directed her to respond to the Panel s comments, particularly as to why the I.G. declined to reach these conclusions in this report.
Action #5 Re: ATF Agents assigned to Church Arson Investigation
There are eighteen southern church arson cases dating back to January 1995. Four investigations have resulted in arrests. ATF is working closely with State and local authorities, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the various United States Attorneys to bring the arsonists to trial.
Approximately one hundred (100) ATF agents have been assigned to these investigations; of whom, twenty (20) are African-American. ATF's role in these investigations is to conduct expert arson analyses. ATF's most well-trained and experienced agents and technicians are working to determine the cause and origin of the church fires.
When the Inspector General's Report was complete, ATF was able to determine that two (2) agents working on the investigation might be subject to further inquiry and disciplinary action relating to the Good O' Boy Roundups while ten (10) others attended during the period before a pattern of abjectly racist conduct emerged at the annual event. Regarding these ten individuals, no further disciplinary action is contemplated. ATF will review the record promptly and consult with the Department of Justice in order to carefully determine whether investigators should discontinue work on the church arson investigations. We will consult with the appropriate Department of Justice Officials to make sure that these investigations are staffed appropriately. The successful prosecution of the people who set fire to these churches is our paramount concern.
Today s report makes clear that no one from ATF participated in any racist activities at the Roundups. ATF now has the most diverse special agent workforce among law enforcement bureaus in the Department. ATF has peerless experience in investigating and solving arson fires. The Departments of Treasury and Justice are committed to bringing the investigation of these eighteen fires to a prompt and successful conclusion.
Action #6 Resource Assessment and Consultation for Church Arson Investigation
Secretary Rubin met yesterday with ATF Director John Magaw and the agent-in-charge of the church arson investigation, the Deputy Associate Director for Criminal Enforcement, Donnie Carter. Director Magaw pledged to review the adequacy of the resources deployed at the Bureau for solving these crimes.
Action #7 Caution to Treasury Law Enforcement Agents
The Secretary made clear that all Treasury employees are on notice that they should not attend anything like a 'Good O' Boy Roundup' in 1996 or at any time in the future, should anyone have the egregiously poor judgment to organize such an event.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL'S REPORT
On July 17, 1995, Secretary Robert E. Rubin requested that Inspector General Valerie Lau and Under Secretary for Enforcement Ronald K. Noble conduct a joint inquiry into the alleged participation by Department of the Treasury employees at an annual event in southeastern Tennessee known as the Good O' Boy Roundup (Roundup). The Office of Inspector General (OIG) was responsible for the fact-finding portion of this investigation, and this report concludes its investigation. The Office of the Under Secretary for Enforcement was responsible for determining the applicability of current laws, policies, rules and regulations to the facts discovered by the OIG. In addition, the Office of the Under Secretary for Enforcement was responsible for recommending changes to current laws, policies, rules or regulations, if deemed appropriate.
Our purpose was to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the Roundup. Specifically, we addressed three concerns: (1) to ascertain what transpired at the Roundups, and in particular, what evidence existed to support allegations of racism, sexual misconduct, misuse of government property and other inappropriate conduct; (2) to determine the extent of participation by Treasury; and (3) to ascertain if Treasury managers were aware of the Roundup, and what that awareness was, and what actions, if any, they had taken in light of their awareness.
The Roundups received national attention on July 11, 1995, when newspaper and television reports raised concerns that law enforcement officers, in particular Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) agents, had participated in racist acts. Initial allegations included racist acts, misuse of government time, resources and equipment and excessive drinking. Subsequently, additional allegations of other inappropriate and illegal acts arose in hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate on July 21, 1995. These allegations included rape, various types of sexual misconduct and drug use.
To investigate these allegations, we queried 33,000 law enforcement employees of the Department to determine if they were invited to or attended any Roundup. To learn what management officials knew about the Roundups, we conducted a second query of 1,135 managers in all law enforcement bureaus, as well as the lawyers who provide legal counsel to those bureaus. To confirm information from our queries and to obtain information about Roundup events, we interviewed 399 individuals from within and outside the Department, including all 125 current Treasury employees who attended one or more Roundup events.
To verify and confirm the information from these queries and interviews, we compared responses of different interviewees and verified their responses, where possible, to documentary evidence. We were able to retrieve previously-deleted computer files of Roundup mailing lists, as well as lists of those who have had various roles at the Roundups. We were able to use these lists as a separate source to ascertain whether or not an individual had been invited to or participated in a Roundup.
Summary of the Results of Investigation
There have been a total of 16 Roundups; the first one in 1980, and the most recent one in 1995. Raymond Eugene Rightmyer, a career agent with ATF until his retirement in January 1994, founded the Roundup while assigned to ATF's Knoxville, Tennessee office. The stated purpose of the event was and is to promote fellowship within and outside of law enforcement.
Acts of racism did occur at the Roundups. However, our investigation did not reveal any evidence that Federal agents participated in these acts. The most notable incidents occurred in 1990, 1992 and 1995, although there were incidents in other years. In 1990, a racist sign was seen at the Roundup consistent with the videotape which aired in the national media on July 11, 1995. Also in 1990, a racist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) parody skit was performed. Our investigation indicated that police officers from Kentucky perpetrated these acts. In 1992, another racist sign was posted and there was another racist skit. In 1995, a racial confrontation occurred over the attendance at the Roundup of two black officers, one an ATF agent and the other a local police officer. Police officers from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, were responsible for both the 1992 skit in and the 1995 confrontation. We were not able to determine who posted the racist sign in 1992.
We have no credible evidence to support other allegations of illegal acts such as rape, prostitution or drug use at the Roundups.
We found that 125 current Treasury employees attended one or more Roundups. The majority of these Treasury attendees went once, twice, or three times. Most also went before 1990. The number of Treasury employees at a given Roundup fluctuated through the years. In 1980, 36 percent of attendees were current Treasury agents, while in 1995 this had declined to about 7 percent. According to Rightmyer and others who attended Roundups, this was a regional event and most who attended were stationed in the southeastern part of the United States.
Of the 125 current Treasury employees who attended at least one Roundup, about half (64) worked for ATF. Personnel from other bureaus also attended: 30 U.S. Secret Service (USSS), 13 U.S. Customs Service (USCS), 15 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and three Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) employees. A key question has been the extent of Treasury involvement in the event. Rightmyer acknowledged using some copier paper in his ATF Knoxville, Tennessee, office and later using his ATF Greenville, South Carolina post office box and telephone for the Roundups of 1991, 1992 and 1993. Also, a written account of the first Roundup was reported in the July 1980 ATF Director's Notes, a newsletter circulated at ATF.
To determine whether any other Treasury attendees utilized government resources, all interviewees were asked whether they had taken leave and what their mode of transportation was to the Roundup. All advised that they took annual leave if they traveled during duty hours. To verify this information, the OIG conducted leave and travel voucher reconciliations for the last three years of the Roundup; 1993, 1994 and 1995. Of the agents who attended the Roundup during duty hours, all took annual leave with the exception of the following three incidents. One USCS agent submitted a leave slip for 16 hours of sick leave for the 1994 Roundup. This particular incident will be referred to USCS for appropriate action. Two ATF agents attended the Roundup in 1995 without fully charging their time to annual leave. Both agents corrected this discrepancy prior to the initiation of the OIG investigation. Administrative action was taken by management relative to the two ATF agents.
All 125 current Treasury employees who attended took leave and no travel vouchers were filed for those years by any of the 125 attendees. We found no evidence that Rightmyer used ATF letterhead or stationery to promote the Roundup, as alleged during this investigation.
A poll of management found that 107 current Treasury managers were aware of the event prior to the media coverage in 1995. In addition, we identified 11 lower level or retired managers who were aware of the event. We interviewed all 118 individuals and found that few had first-hand knowledge of the event. In all, 12 managers had attended one or more Roundups. All stated that they had not witnessed any racist events.
Almost all attendees were white males. Over the years, a limited number of women and other minorities attended. Interviews were conducted of 26 minorities who attended one or more Roundups. This number includes sixteen women (3 IRS, 1 ATF, 1 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), 1 U.S. Postal Service (USPS), 10 civilian or local law enforcement), three African Americans, three Native Americans, two Hispanics and two Filipinos. Many attendees stated that they saw various other minorities through their years of attendance. However, we did not include these persons in our count of minority attendees unless they could be identified by name and their attendance could be corroborated by other evidence. One additional African American was identified by name as attending for five minutes, but this was not corroborated.
The results of this investigation are further detailed in the body of this report.