Teresa Chambers

Teresa Chambers was the Chief of the United States Park Police from February 2002 until December 2003. She was fired after speaking with a Washington Post reporter in detail about her concerns that new requirements instituted by the United States Congress to double the number of stationary guards at Washington DC monuments, together with budget shortfalls in the Park Police budget were increasing risk.

The Park Police administration and the force's union have said they fear that the stationary posts on the Mall have hurt anti-terrorism efforts, because fewer officers are able to patrol in the area. Chambers said that she does not disagree with having four officers outside the monuments but that she would also want to have officers in plainclothes or able to patrol rather than simply standing guard in uniform.

"My greatest fear is that harm or death will come to a visitor or employee at one of our parks, or that we're going to miss a key thing at one of our icons," Chambers said. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/10/park.police.chief/index.html CNN.com - Ex-chief of Park Police denounces firing - Jul 10, 2004 ] ]

The story has been discussed in a larger context as an example of how whistleblowers in US federal agencies are silenced. As Tom Shoop wrote in Govexec.com, a business news site for US Federal managers and executives,

...a shoot-the-messenger attitude is beginning to prevail when it comes to [career federal service employees] challenging the conventional wisdom. [ [http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0204/020204ff.htm Speak No Evil (2/2/04) - www.GovernmentExecutive.com ] ]

Chambers currently works as the police chief of Riverdale Park, Maryland.

References

External links

* [http://www.honestchief.com/ HonestChief.com] : Teresa Chambers' support page
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A26818-2003Dec1 Original Washington Post article] "Park Police Duties Exceed Staffing: Anti-Terror Demands Have Led Chief to Curtail Patrols Away From Mall"

ources

* CNN: [http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/10/park.police.chief/index.html Ex-chief of Park Police denounces firing]
* Washington Post: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39354-2004Jul9.html Park Police Chief Fired After Dispute, Suspension]
* Govexec.com [http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=27552&printerfriendlyVers=1& "Speak No Evil"]
* About.com [http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/whistler.htm The Plight of Whistleblowers: Terminated Parks Police Chief tells her own story]