US Park Police Chief Reinstated - Fired By BushCo Back In 2004 For Saying Service Understaffed

[hatrack]

A federal appeals board Tuesday ordered that Teresa Chambers be reinstated as chief of the U.S. Park Police, seven years after she was fired for telling reporters that her department was understaffed and in need of more funding. The decision by the Merit Systems Protection Board, which also awarded Chambers back pay with interest, was celebrated as a major victory in the whistle-blower community.

In a testament to the fact that such reinstatements are rare, Chambers said she was stunned by Tuesday's decision. She added that she's looking forward to returning to the U.S. Park Police "and picking up the pieces and continuing to serve my country."

Chambers said she hopes the ruling will bring about some positive impacts for other civil servants who want to speak out. "This is about whether a civil servant can get fired for telling the truth," she said. It is "a matter of sending the message of whether candor is valued rather than punished in the federal government."

On Dec. 5, 2003, Park Service officials suspended Chambers three days after she told Washington, D.C., reporters that her department had been forced to scale back patrols so that officers could guard national monuments. Chambers also told reporters that the U.S. Park Police had a budget shortfall of several million dollars and that she needed more officers to carry out the department's mission. Two weeks later, the deputy director of the Park Service informed Chambers he had proposed her removal and was also considering pressing charges against her for releasing sensitive information, insubordination and breaking the chain of command. Chambers was officially terminated the following July.

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/01/13/13greenwire-us-park-police-chief-fired-for-whistle-blowing-49802.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

[madrchsod]

1. 7yrs plus interest....not bad.

maybe this will clear the air about whistle -blower laws

[JohnWxy]

2. great news! thanks for this post. You won't hear about this on M$M! (television)

[Nihil]

3. Now *that* is a significant move ...

> The decision by the Merit Systems Protection Board, which also awarded
> Chambers back pay with interest, was celebrated as a major victory in
> the whistle-blower community.

Let's hope that the "deputy director of the Park Service" who illegally fired her
has been shit-canned.

ETA: They were:
> "The people that took these actions against me are all long since gone;
> they were all political appointees," she said.


> "This is a wonderful ruling, not only for Chief Chambers but for thousands
> who believe that honesty is part of public service"

Damn right!
:toast: