June 14, 2020 (Updated August 4, 2020)
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader
United States Senate
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Charles E. Schumer
Minority Leader
United States Senate
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
1236 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
The Honorable Kevin Owen McCarthy
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
2468 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Steny Hoyer
Majority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
1705 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Congressional Leaders,
The undersigned organizations write to seek your leadership protecting law enforcement personnel with best practices anti-retaliation rights in any police reform legislation. Unenforceable laws can intensify community backlash, because they are magnets for cynicism and resentment. That is why Congress included whistleblower protection in over 60 federal remedial laws, including 16 times unanimously since the millennium. Now the same standards must be applied in police bills for those reforms to be credible.
The truth is changing the course of history. Unfortunately, accountability in law enforcement remains a major challenge. Accountability-free abuses of power have become a way of life. For current reform proposals to work as intended, they must have effective measures protecting those who bear witness to enforce the law against law enforcement officers who break it. Video footage has led to a national reckoning, but it takes more than a smartphone to defend freedom. In many cases it requires testimony from those willing to bear witness. The only witnesses are often fellow officers.
However, the “blue wall of silence,” compounded by the lack of anti-retaliation protection for law enforcement, forces law enforcement officers to risk their careers, safety, or even their lives when they choose to blow the whistle. That is why we are asking Congress to include whistleblower rights in police reform bills.
How can whistleblowers make a difference enforcing police reforms? Their testimony could turn citizen rights into reality for major safeguards such as:
- the ban on chokeholds;
- controls on other deadly force;
- expanded liability;
- pattern and practice investigations;
- oversight of mandatory body cameras;
- restrictions on no knock warrants;
- controls on transfer of military equipment to state and local police;
- open and transparent forensic crime laboratory operations;
- accurate and complete information for a national registry; and
- an oversight record based on the whole truth for all oversight and enforcement.
Whistleblowing for law enforcement is “committing the truth,” because they are treated as if they had committed a crime. But the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth is the foundation for legitimate reform. There can be no higher priority than protecting those who provide it.
Sincerely,
ACORN8
Advocating Opportunity
Agape Healing Hearts
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
American Civil Liberties Union
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
Constitutional Alliance
Consumer Action
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)
Defending Rights & Dissent
Demand Progress
Dialysis Advocates & Associates
ECI Communications
Essential Information
Equal Rights Advocates
Farmworker Association of Florida
Food & Water Action
FracTracker Alliance
Freedom Network USA
Global Integrity
Government Accountability Project
Government Information Watch
HIPS
Hispanic Federation
IAW
Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee
NAACP
National Association of Social Workers
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Employment Lawyers Association
National Security Counselors
National Whistleblower Center
National Workrights Institute
Open The Government
Pax Advisory
PCUN
People For the American Way
Project On Government Oversight
Public Citizen
Public Justice
RAICES
Rural Coalition
Tahirih Justice Center
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
The Multiracial Activist
The Rutherford Institute
Tully Center for Free Speech
Whistleblowers of America
Woodhull Freedom Foundation
Cc: The Honorable Jerry Nadler,
Chair, U.S. House Judiciary Committee
The Honorable Jim Jordan,
Ranking Member, U.S. House Judiciary Committee
The Honorable Carolyn Maloney,
Chair, U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee
The Honorable, Jim Jordan
Ranking Member, U.S. House Oversight and Reform Committee
The Honorable Lindsey Graham,
Chair, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
The Honorable Dianne Feinstein,
Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
The Honorable Ron Johnson,
Chair, U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
The Honorable Gary Peters,
Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus
Members of the U.S. Senate Whistleblower Protection Caucus
Members of the U.S. House Whistleblower Protection Caucus