05-29-12 Answers Needed - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

May 24, 2012 "Answers Needed" Press Release -- page 2 action taken if found to be running afoul of policies and procedures, what would happen if a South Bend resident is threatened? We continue to hear rumors that there may be other South Bend Police Officers who have been allegedly threatened, but are hesitant to step forward for fear of retaliation. We believe that this kind of behavior, if true, is very detrimental to our city and cannot be tolerated. The citizens of South Bend need to have confidence in our police department, as well as all individuals who are working for our community. We reviewed Mayor Buttigieg's Executive Order which created an Ethics Code. We also reviewed the City of South Bend's Policies and Procedures. We did not see a specific policy addressing protections for whistle - blowers and/or policies which prohibit retaliation against elected public officials or city employees. If the City does not have such policies, it appears we should. We are aware that employees of the State of Indiana have protections (See IC § 4- 15 -10 -4 attached). We will exercise leadership locally and look into this further under the governing state law provisions set forth in IC § 36 -1 -8 -8 (copy attached). We also note that the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is the "independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency" under the federal Whistleblower Protection Act, which again underlines the need for a neutral and independent review that is in place at the federal level. We plan to be available at 3 pm today in the Council Chambers to address this further. We also plan to discuss these growing concerns with the entire Council later this afternoon. Our residents and all of our city employees deserve nothing less. 111.113.1.1