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Support Teresa Chambers - http://honestchief.com/help.html

who is Teresa Chambers and why you should support her -

Gagging the Fuzz
The Park Police chief is being fired for telling the truth about her budget.
http://slate.msn.com/id/2093330/
By Timothy Noah
Updated Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2003, at 3:47 PM PT

If you've ever wondered why so much that you read in the newspaper is attributed to anonymous government sources, consider the sad story of Teresa C. Chambers, the first woman ever appointed to run the U.S. Park Police.

When Chambers was given the job in 2001, a press release issued by the National Park Service praised her to the skies. "I am very excited that Chief Chambers has accepted this historic challenge," said Park Service Director Fran Mainella. "She is a highly qualified professional law enforcement officer." Chambers had a quarter-century's experience in police work in Prince George's County, Md., and in Durham, N.C., where she was chief of police immediately prior to her Park Police appointment. During the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Park Police Chief Chambers kept a cool head when a nut drove a tractor onto the Mall and said he was going to set off a bomb made of ammonium nitrate; the man (who turned out to be bluffing) was taken into custody without a shot being fired. (The last time something like this had happened, a man threatening to blow up the Washington Monument had been shot and killed by a police sniper. See "The Ballad of Tractor Man.") As recently as Dec. 4, President Bush told Chambers (at a ceremony to light the White House Christmas tree) that she was doing a great job.

That was then. Today, Chambers is on "administrative leave" from the Park Police, and the agency has begun proceedings to fire her. Her offense was to answer questions posed to her by the Washington Post about the Park Police's lack of sufficient resources to patrol adequately national parkland in and around Washington, D.C.

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1. the facts

THE FACTS -- http://honestchief.com/addl.html

· The Fraternal Order of Police - not Chambers -- made the initial contact to the media over concerns of staffing and budget issues.

· Chambers only responded to inquiries from reporters.

· Chambers was interviewed by the Washington Post on November 20 and immediately notified her superiors in the National Park Service (NPS) that she had been contacted and interviewed by the Post, and she provided the content of that interview.

· Chambers was later told by the Secretary of the Interior’s Press Officer that she (Chambers) would remain the sole media contact on this matter - no guidelines or guidance about what she could or could not talk about was provided.

· The Washington Post published the story on December 2, 2003.

· Chambers granted follow-up interviews on December 2 to radio and film media as she had been previously directed by the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Press Officer.

· Chambers’ messages to all reporters were supportive of the Secretary of the Interior and the Administration regarding resource challenges, especially during this current time of war.

· Chambers’ messages also expressed concern over United States Park Police staffing challenges and shortages.

· Chambers was given a blanket gag order on the evening of the same day the Post article ran, December 2. (This order extended to prohibiting an interview about something as uncontroversial as the tree lighting and the Pageant of Peace, which media had requested for December 4.)

· NPS Deputy Director Don Murphy informed Chambers that the NPS Director Fran Mainella would meet with her the following morning, December 3 - the meeting has never occurred.

· Chambers was then ordered to report to Mainella’s office on Friday, December 5 at 4 p.m. with Chambers’ second in command (Assistant Chief Ben Holmes) to meet with both Mainella and Murphy about “general USPP issues.”

· Two email inquiries from Chambers about the nature of this meeting went unanswered by both Murphy and Mainella.

· Chambers complied with the directive to appear on Friday, December 5, at 4 p.m. and was greeted by two armed NPS special agents outside Murphy’s door, two armed NPS special agents inside his office, a senior attorney from the Solicitor’s Office, and Murphy. Mainella was not present, and Chambers was denied the opportunity to meet with her. Holmes was not included in the meeting.

· Murphy refused to tell Chambers what she is alleged to have done wrong except in broad terms of “insubordination” and “violation of two Federal rules.” Both he and the Department of the Interior’s attorney refused to provide more specific information.

· The NPS special agents had been ordered to be there and expressed to Chambers their sympathy and displeasure with what was occurring.

· Chambers was placed on administrative leave by Murphy, and her police powers were suspended.

· Chambers was required to immediately relinquish her badges, gun, and identification cards.

· Chambers was escorted back to Headquarters by two of the armed special agents where additional equipment, including her assigned vehicle and office keys, electronic equipment and telephones, and other DOI identification were confiscated.

· Chambers told the truth regarding a matter of community interest and public safety and is being punished as a result of it.

The following Congressional Members have expressed their STRONG support for Chief Chambers: Steny Hoyer, Eleanor Holmes-Norton, Jim Moran, Jeff Bingaman. Several members have expressed interest in this issue and have asked for additional information.

In the first three weeks following the start of this ordeal, nearly 2,000 emails of support were received from as far away as New Zealand. Additionally, news reports and editorials from across the nation were published. All supported the actions of the Chief, and each editorial called for her immediate reinstatement. In the meantime, the saga continues.