Senate Judiciary –Criminal Justice Committee
Colonel Thomas W. Rice (Ret)
February 24, 2010
Mr. Chairman and Distinguished Members of the Committee
Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear before you.
My name is Thomas W. Rice. I had the wonderful opportunity to serve with the Ohio State Highway Patrol for 33 years. I have served as a trooper on the road, an assistant post commander, post commander, district commander, academy commander, recruitment commander, personnel commander and as Superintendent for the last five years of my service. I hold an undergraduate degree in criminal justice, and two master degrees, one in public administration and the other in labor and human resources from The Ohio State University.
I retired from the Patrol in 1994, and have been retired for nearly 16 years. After my retirement from the Patrol, I served as the Safety Director for the City of Columbus for five years. After 9/11, I also served as the Federal Security Director for the Transportation Security Administration for five and one half years at Port Columbus until I retired in January of 2008. Please know that I fully recognize and accept our constitutional form of government and that all law enforcement agencies must report to civilian authorities.
During the years since my retirement from the Patrol, I have supported the Department of Public Safety and the Patrol organization in every way possible. I have supported each of the 5 Superintendents who followed me, spoken at Trooper graduation ceremonies, and participated in Patrol Awards Ceremonies. Most recently, Larry James, who headed the selection panel for the 16th Superintendent, asked me to provide comments and input to the panel. I have offered advice only when asked and have not interfered in any way with the internal affairs or direction being taken by the Patrol. The Superintendents since my retirement have worked hard to maintain the stellar reputation and integrity of the Patrol. They were given the authority and responsibility to lead without unwarranted outside interference, and they did so.
However, the continuing events of the past few years and more so during the last several months, have caused me great concern. These are events that the Patrol has not experienced in its 76 years of existence and threaten to significantly alter the organizational structure, authority and independence of the organization so it will never be the same.
As I watched these events unfold, I felt a great obligation to do something rather than stand by and allow this to happen. With this said, I would like to state I have no interest other than protecting the apolitical nature, reputation and integrity of the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
I also feel confident I represent the concerns and interests of the many current and retired members of the Patrol who love and respect this organization as I do and have given their working lives to the citizens of the State of Ohio. Furthermore, before bringing these concerns forward, I personally discussed them with the seven other former Superintendents of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. They all share the concerns and interests I will present to you today, and support the position I am taking to protect the heritage, reputation, apolitical nature and integrity of the Patrol.
I would like to present to you three major areas of concern which are:
1.The Patrol’s lack of an adequate funding source
2.Mission Review Task Force
3.Recent political interferences in Patrol administration, management and operations
REMOVAL OF THE PATROL FROM THE GAS TAX
It is a well-known fact that if you want to weaken or abolish an organization you must first reduce or eliminate the organization’s funding source. As Ted Wendling and T.C. Brown reported in the Plain Dealer on December 31, 2006:
“With little controversy, Ohio lawmakers raised the gas tax by 6 cents in 2003. The move launched a period of prosperity never before seen at the state Department of Transportation and turned the agency into a political powerhouse”…
…“ODOT's largesse has come at the expense of the State Highway Patrol, which watched helplessly in 2003 as (ODOT Gordon) Proctor and his supporters on the Ohio Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Task Force rammed through the 6-cent increase while also persuading legislators to gradually withdraw about $190 million a year in gas tax money from the patrol's budget”….
…“Jim Roberts, executive director of the Ohio State Troopers Association, the patrol's labor organization, watched in awe as fellow members of the Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Task Force powered the 6-cent tax increase through the legislature in 2002 and 2003. "Gordon Proctor and the contractors were all in lockstep," he recalled. "It was greased." Then a political novice, Roberts said a task force member pulled him aside and told him what would happen: "He told me that we [the patrol] were going to get steamrolled”…
While serving as the Superintendent of the Patrol, I remember “Mr. Speaker”, the late Vern Rife telling me “Colonel, never let them take the Patrol out of the gas tax”. Well, unfortunately for the Patrol, that has happened.
To close the budget gap as the Patrol was taken off the gas tax Governor Strickland established the Ohio State Highway Patrol Funding Task Force. The funding Task Force recommended increased costs for International Registration Plates, Vision Screening, Temporary tags, late renewal transaction fees for licenses and registrations, vehicle registrations (excluding commercial trucks) and vehicle registrations (including commercial trucks). These increases would have provided estimated total revenue of $106,366,448. However, in the FY 09-10 budget bill the $106.3 million was reduced to $86 million and language for the Ohio State Highway Patrol Mission Review Task Force was passed into law.
MISSION REVIEW TASK FORCE
Section 754.40 of the Ohio Revised Code established the Ohio State Highway Patrol Mission Review Task Force. This Task Force Committee is charged with reviewing the operations and functions of the State Highway Patrol:
1.To explore opportunities to improve operational efficiency
2.Identify overlapping services, and
3.Consolidate current operations.
I am not at all opposed to having a complete and objective review of the Patrol’s management, organizational structure and operations. At this time in our state’s history it would probably be a worthwhile effort to review all state departments as well as the divisions within those departments.
Although the Task Force has not completed its work, it has yet to hear any recommendations to eliminate overlapping services, any recommendations to improve operational efficiency, or suggestions to consolidate services. One has to wonder why the Patrol was singled out what recommendations the Task Force will present to the Governor and the leadership of the House and Senate?
Senator Stephen Buehrer who introduced the Task Force language was quoted in a Dispatch editorial on April 10, 2009, that he hears from sheriffs in his district, in sparsely populated, rural northwestern Ohio, that the patrol doesn’t communicate with other agencies and that troopers’ duties overlap too much with those of the deputies.
Governor Strickland weighed in on the Task Force by saying, …“he had been aware of what he described as this turf issue for 30 years. I have little patience for such competitive feelings…I think it is unseemly when it gets into a turf battle”…
Whether the Mission Review Task Force is a public display of, as the Governor points out; “a turf issue”, a legitimate attempt to improve statewide law enforcement efficiency or an effort to reduce the powers, duties and budget of the Patrol is yet to be determined.
RECENT POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN PATROL
ADMINISTRATION, MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS.
The two men who founded the Ohio State Highway Patrol early in the 20th century had a vision – one that transcended politics, one that showed compassion, courtesy, sincerity and integrity - one that promoted the safety and the welfare of all Ohioans. O.W. “Whitey” Merrell and Harry Neal, both employees of the Highway Department, worked diligently for passage of HB 270, which created the Patrol in 1933. Captain Lynn E. Black, a Hamilton County Deputy Sheriff, was Merrell’s choice for heading up the Patrol. Merrell’s policy of courteous and fair treatment of the public meshed well with Black’s emphasis on motorist assistance. Black and Merrell also felt strongly that the Patrol remain free from political influence. Their goal was to create a policing agency that would treat everyone fairly and equally, and not let influence or affluence allow some people better treatment than others.
Over the past seventy-six years their vision has become a reality. A serving Superintendent of the Patrol has never been asked to step down at the change of a political administration. This tradition of stability speaks volumes to the men and women of the division and to other law enforcement agencies throughout the nation. No other state police or highway patrol organization can make this claim.
The Patrol has earned the reputation as one of the most respected law enforcement agencies in the nation. The Patrol as an organization is known as an apolitical, nationally accredited law enforcement agency dedicated to ethical values and guiding principles designed to maintain a reputation of honorable service.
It should be noted that throughout our nation there are only: eight (8) State Police Agencies, seven (7) Highway Patrols and two (2) Department of Public Safety Agencies, accredited by the Commission on Law Enforcement Accreditation. The Ohio State Patrol has been accredited since 1989. As a point of reference there are five (5) Ohio county sheriffs departments and 36 city police departments accredited in our state.
I firmly believe the Ohio State Highway Patrol at this moment of its long and storied history, is in great peril. In my opinion the Patrol is on precipice in great danger of falling into the abyss of total political control.
In the area of the internal administration and management of the Patrol there has been a shift and consolidation of management functions. For the first time in the history of the State Highway Patrol, the primary human resources function has been taken away and moved to the Department of Public Safety under the control of a political appointee. The office has been removed from the organizational structure of the Patrol and no longer is administered and managed by the superintendent.
I don’t need to tell you that the Human Resources function oversees such things as hiring, training, establishing rules, discipline, promotions, etc. This major change represents unprecedented intrusion into the administration and management of critical internal functions of the Patrol by partisan political appointees. In addition to being contradictory to Chapter 5503, this opens the door for further intrusion into the internal functions of the Patrol and creates a “slippery slope” that will further politicize the Patrol if allowed to stand.
I believe it is only a small step between attempting to control the Patrol’s investigations and requiring a political endorsement to be hired as a Patrol employee, enter the Patrol Academy as a cadet or receive a promotion based on political inducements and contributions. The Patrol must have full responsibility for the selection, hiring, training and promotion of its employees if it is to remain apolitical and independent.
Another example of this shift and consolidation of internal management functions recently occurred in the Public Information Office. For the first time, the responsibility for communicating with the media about the activities of the State Highway Patrol has been taken away and moved to the Department of Public Safety. The superintendent or a designee is no longer speaking for the Patrol in matters relating to the organization that are of public interest. This is another unprecedented intrusion into the administration and management of a function that clearly belongs to the superintendent. It creates another “slippery slope” whereby political appointees will dictate not only whether the superintendent and Patrol officials may speak on behalf of the Patrol but also what will be said. This creates more political interference in the internal management of the Patrol.
In addition to internal interference, during the last two years, and particularly in the last 6 months, it has become increasingly apparent that the Patrol has been experiencing external meddling in the areas of operations and investigations that has never before been witnessed in its 76 year history.
One example is the Inspector General’s recent investigation of the Patrol’s failure to investigate allegations of fraud and evidence of criminal activity in a case (EDGE PROGRAM) referred to the Patrol by the Department of Administrative Services.
The Inspector General’s investigation on what has been called the EDGE Case, Encouraging Diversity, Growth and Equity, case # 2009069, is a perfect example of political interference and meddling with the Patrol’s authority and duty to conduct investigations within their jurisdiction. What makes this case even more appalling is that the Department of Administrative Services requested the Patrol to investigate allegations of falsified reporting of EDGE payments and falsified pay requests to the Department of Public Safety.
Another recent example of interference in the Patrol’s operations and investigations occurred with the inappropriate termination of a conveyance case at the Governor’s residence. My concerns on this case have already been addressed in a letter sent to the Governor on January 30, 2010.
As stated in my letter, it appeared to me that there may have been a violation of the obstruction of justice statutes when the Director of the Department of Public Safety and Superintendent of the Patrol allegedly ordered Patrol officers to “warn” a potential drug courier instead of allowing them to complete their lawful duties.
From a review of policy statements on handling allegations of criminal activity issued by the Governor’s Offices over the past decade, it appears they have become more restrictive and controlling with regard to the Patrol’s authority to independently investigate allegations of criminal wrongdoing.
The memorandums which are at times referred to as a policy, or a procedure, have grown in size and complexity from a page and one half document in 1984, to a seven page document in 1991. Today, there are two policies totaling 13 pages in length; one from the Governor and one from the Ohio Department of Public Safety.
I am certain the authors of these documents would argue that nothing contained in the policies or procedures for handling suspected illegal activities prohibit the Patrol from conducting investigations within their jurisdiction. However, recent examples of political interference would suggest otherwise.
Over the past year or so in the context of our financial institutions we have often heard the phrase, “too big to fail”.
I would state to this Committee that a non-partisan, apolitical, independent Ohio State Highway Patrol is: “too important to fail”. Too important to our citizens, too important for the Patrol’s role in Homeland Security, too important to the Governor’s office to respond to prison riots or other disturbances on state owned or leased property, too important for the safety and security of our highways. Too important for those among us yet to be a victim of an automobile crash caused by a person driving under the influence of alcohol.
I encourage this body to continue your work in holding sworn hearings on possible violations of law in the drug conveyance case at the Governor’s residence. I would also encourage you to review and examine the current Department of Public Safety’s controlling policy on handling allegations of suspected illegal activity. Furthermore, I would also encourage this committee to make recommendations that will satisfy the necessary management function of “Reporting” through the various state offices and elected officials while assuring the Patrol’s ability to determine the Scope and Management of the inquiry. And finally, ensure the Patrol’s ability to have unrestricted contact with the appropriate prosecutor’s offices as they follow their established procedures.
I am aware the Inspector General has recommended in his EDGE investigation the Department of Public Safety should develop and implement written policies and procedures that require the referral of all allegations of criminal conduct to the criminal investigative branch of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. I would recommend this committee review that new policy when it is completed.
I also encourage members of this committee and the full Senate and the House to find a stable and protected funding source for the Patrol even if it means returning the Patrol to the motor vehicle fuel tax. The Patrol’s previous access to a portion of the fuel tax was constitutionally protected by design to minimize the opportunity for the Patrol to be influenced by special interests or politics. Also, returning the Patrol to the fuel tax more appropriately spreads the costs to all users of our state’s transportation system and shifts the current funding source off the backs of Ohioans when they pay for their late fees for driver’s licenses and registrations, temporary tags and vision screening fees.
As Retired Colonel Bob Chiaramonte stated to Governors Rhodes and Gilligan and their staffs during his term as Superintendent, …“The Patrol is like the Swiss Guard. We don’t care who the Pope is; we do our jobs”.
I ask this committee to take the necessary steps, within your authority, to free the Patrol from the unnecessary political meddling that is ruining an organization that has performed so well for so many years.
I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
