Profiling Report Leads to a Clash and a Demotion

[Rose Siding]

The Bush administration is replacing the director of a small but critical branch of the Justice Department, months after he complained that senior political officials at the department were seeking to play down newly compiled data on the aggressive police treatment of black and Hispanic drivers.
....
The flashpoint in the tensions between Mr. Greenfeld and his political supervisors came four months ago, when statisticians at the agency were preparing to announce the results of a major study on traffic stops and racial profiling, which found disparities in how racial groups were treated once they were stopped by the police.

Political supervisors within the Office of Justice Programs ordered Mr. Greenfeld to delete certain references to the disparities from a news release that was drafted to announce the findings, according to more than a half-dozen Justice Department officials with knowledge of the situation. The officials, most of whom said they were supporters of Mr. Greenfeld, spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel matters.

Mr. Greenfeld refused to delete the racial references, arguing to his supervisors that the omissions would make the public announcement incomplete and misleading. Instead, the Justice Department opted not to issue a news release on the findings and posted the report online.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/politics/24profiling.html?hp&ex=1124856000&en=0086b75bdf314140&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[Southpaw Bookworm]

1. Wow

I used to work as a contractor for OJP (Justice's research and grantee branch, which includes offices dealing with juvenile justice issues, victims of crime, law enforcement, in addition to one agency that handles research on a variety of topics) and I find this fascinating and disturbing. The folks at BJS were always considered rather boring number-crunchers who stayed to themselves, and OJP in general was rather straighforward in dealing with political issues and not hiding unpopular results. When I was there, an uproar ensued over a controversial research report dealing with domestic violence rates. The research was published nonetheless. I wonder who leaked this draft, though, since it's obviously a markup copy.

I left that job in the summer of 2000, mainly because the federal government treats contractors like those in the Untouchable caste and the work stress was becoming dangerous to my health. But in the back of my mind, I was concerned about what would happen if the Repukes took office. It seems my niggling fears were borne out. But not just in DOJ: The Web sites of Education, Health and Human Services, and other agencies were all purged after the 2001 inauguration of information that did not fit the party line. As a librarian, I avoid recommending government research to my students: I no longer consider them a credible source.

[Hekate]

2. Political supervisors...it just seems so (how do you say it?)

"Political supervisors within the Office of Justice Programs ordered Mr. Greenfeld to delete certain references..."

Somehow seems so Soviet -- so USSR -- so China. Political supervisors checking your reports, making changes to facts they don't like, then demoting you if you make a fuss. Betcha this guy's career stops right there.

Dubya says we should all pray more. Well, he's driven me to it again. As it says in the Bible that he likes to thump: "How long, o Lord, how long?" and "Make haste, o God, to deliver me."

Hekate
:banghead: