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As the lead federal law enforcement stakeholder organization opposing the imposition of mandatory fitness standards against incumbents, FLEOA commends IRS-CID leadership for announcing that it is rescinding its mandatory testing.  FLEOA has strongly opposed the implementation of absolute fitness testing standards against IRS-CID incumbents.  While it’s important that all law enforcement officers maintain a functional level of fitness, it is entirely unfair for any agency to adopt testing categories and score thresholds that have not been scientifically validated.  Read More...


On July 21st, 2010, FLEOA National President Jon Adler appeared before the House Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service and the District of Columbia to testify on behalf of the FLEOA membership.  He was accompanied and supported by FLEOA Officers Duncan Templeton and Don Mihalek.  His purpose in appearing was to provide testimony in response to the subcommittee topic/question of “how well the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act is meeting the needs of injured workers in high-risk occupations” (Chairman Lynch July 7, 2010).  In this year’s issues of the Eighteen Eleven, there have been articles on how FLEOA has been working diligently with the Department of Labor’s Office of Worker’s Compensation and Federal Employee Compensation to initiate much needed reform.  As President Adler stated in his testimony, “From all the pain these noble warriors (FLEOA members) have endured, the pain that hurts them the most is their negative experiences dealing with the OWCP.”  To illustrate the myriad of problems that confront an injured federal law enforcement officer, President Adler referenced five member cases during my testimony (see testimony on www.fleoa.org under Legislative).  Read More...
 

On July 29th Congress was asked to vote on a motion to suspend the rules and pass as amended H.R. 847, the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. The motion did not pass with 255 yeas, 159 nays and 18 not voting. 290 votes were needed to suspend the rules and bring H.R. 847 to the floor for a vote.  How did your representative vote? Click here to see if your representative supported this important piece of legislation.


FLEOA Requests Passage of Stalled LEOSA Bills


Read LEOSA's Letter to The Honorable John Conyers Jr., Chairman, House Judiciary Committee

Read LEOSA's Letter to The Honorable Bobby Scott, Chairman, House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security

Dear FLEOA Members,

In support of Will Clark, Representative Lee has introduced his resolution calling for Congress to recognize Will for his heroic actions.

Please email the below release to your Representative ASAP. In your email message, please ask them to do two things:

1. Support Rep Lee's resolution honoring ATF Special Agent Will Clark;

2. Contact Virgin Islands Rep Christensen, and tell her that we will not tolerate them circumventing the rule of law and prosecuting hero Will Clark.

This is an absolute priority, so please take a few moments to forward Rep Lee's resolution to your Congressman/Congresswoman. The stakes are too high, and we can't let our FLEOA member and hero, Will Clark, Go It Alone.

Please stay safe,
-Jon



For Immediate Release: Tuesday, July 20, 2010
 
Contact: Matthew Harakal
202-225-5265 (office)/202-591-5533 (cell)

Congressman Lee Introduces Resolution to Honor Local Hero
Lawmaker’s Resolution Praises Rochester Native and ATF Special Agent William G. Clark
 
WASHINGTON – Congressman Chris Lee (NY-26) last night introduced a resolution honoring ATF Special Agent William G. Clark of Rochester. Congressman Lee’s resolution honors Special Agent Clark for his “heroic actions, exemplary service, and selfless acts to protect the lives of others.” The bipartisan resolution follows a letter Congressman Lee recently sent to House colleagues to inform them of the injustice being perpetuated against Special Agent Clark (to watch Congressman Lee speak about Special Agent Clark on the House Floor click HERE, to read the resolution click HERE, and to read Congressman Lee’s Dear Colleague letter click HERE).

In September 2008, Special Agent Clark was stationed in the U.S. Virgin Islands to combat rising gun violence. One morning he came across a domestic dispute between a neighbor and her boyfriend, who was drunk and on drugs. Special Agent Clark’s neighbor was being threatened and pleaded for his assistance. While protecting his female neighbor from being beaten, Special Agent Clark was charged by her boyfriend, who was swinging a large metal flashlight after he threatened to retrieve a gun. Special Agent Clark fired in self defense. The man subsequently died from his injuries and Special Agent Clark is now being charged with second degree murder as well as additional charges.

“Will was protecting the life of an innocent neighbor, and he acted in accordance with his training and law enforcement responsibility to serve and protect those in danger,” said Congressman Chris Lee. “Law enforcement personnel put their lives on the line every day, and they deserve to know that they can perform their necessary duties while protecting our communities. Will is a hero and he and law enforcement officers everywhere shouldn’t need to worry about consulting with their lawyers before doing what they’ve been trained to do.”
 
A Justice Department incident review panel, which included law enforcement agencies apart from ATF, has cleared Special Agent Clark, who remains on active duty. The panel unanimously found that Special Agent Clark “was acting within his scope of employment and authority. [His] actions were in compliance with ATF policies and procedures including whether the use of deadly force was necessary. [Lastly,] there was no evidence of misconduct or inappropriate action” on the part of Special Agent Clark. The Justice Department is bearing the costs of Clark’s legal defense.

Despite being cleared by a Justice Department review panel and Special Agent Clark’s federal immunity as a result of the Supremacy Clause of the U
.S. Constitution, the U.S. Virgin Islands has proceeded with a criminal trial against Special Agent Clark, with a trial date set for October of this year.

FLEOA National President Jon Adler was invited to testify at the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about OWCP issues faced by federal law enforcement officers. The invitation was offered by Chairman Lynch of the Sub-committee on Oversight, the Federal Workforce and Postal Service. President Adler was joined by FLEOA Legislative VP Duncan Templeton and USSS Agency President Donald Mihalek. At the hearing, President Adler highlighted the critical nature of the injuries endured by federal law enforcement officers and the inequities suffered under the current OWCP system, including the financial strain placed on them by an unsupportive OWCP system. FLEOA would like to commend Chairman Lynch for holding this hearing, and for his responsiveness to the issues we raised.

Read the Hearing Invitation

Read the OWCP Hearing

Read the Hearing Statement

On July 14th, 2010, Virgin Island Congresswoman Christensen released a Dear Colleague letter attacking both Congressman Lee and hero ATF Special Agent Will Clark. While her letter amounts to an ineffective attempt to defend the Virgin Islands broken judicial system, she demonstrates her contempt for following proper legal procedure.

Additionally, her letter was a biased, unprofessional attack on Will Clark. Her comments will undoubtedly taint the mindset of the Virgin Island citizenry and  be prejudicial to the Virgin Island jury pool. The net effect of her biased statements, in conjunction with the Criminal Information that was filed with material omissions, will inevitably deny Will Clark a fair trial.

Given the Information's material omissions and the Congresswoman's accusatory remarks, the prosecution should be immediately deferred, pending an independent review. If the Virgin Island government had respect for the American rule of law, they would request that the Department of Justice, Office of Inspector General, be brought in to conduct a thorough, impartial investigation.

Unfortunately, they have opted to ignore the reasonable option, and instead continue to enjoy the American taxpayer dollars that fund their self-serving senseless legal system.  Read FLEOA's Press Release...


President Adler Defends Hero Will Clark on the Smerconish Radio Show - 7/11/10 (click here to download MP3)


Congressional Badge Of Bravery