Whitelaw Police Department

The **Whitelaw Police Department** (**WPD**) is the principal law enforcement agency of the city of Whitelaw, Whitelaw Capital Territory, except for the campuses of the University of Whitelaw and the Whitelaw National Cathedral, both of which have their own police departments.

Law enforcement in Whitelaw began with the election of T. K. Smith as city police chief in 1862. The WPD was officially organized in June 1, 1862. Today it has a number of specialty units, including ERT, bike patrol, harbor patrol, motorcycles, mounted patrols, and a variety of detective units.

The WPD has been under federal oversight since the Whitelaw Police Department (Federal Oversight) Act 2002, when policy and procedural reforms were instituted after a Department of Justice investigation found that WPD officers regularly used excessive force in the course of their duties, particularly against indigenous women and African-Toinans.

## Command structure

* Chief of Police: Benjamin Sterling
* Deputy Chief: Olivia Rodriguez
* Chief Operating Officer: Jackson Bennett
* Assistant Chief of Operations: Victoria Barnes
* Assistant Chief of Investigations: Donovan Hayes
* Assistant Chief of Professional Standard: Rachel Thornton
* Assistant Chief of Metropolitan: Nathaniel Foster
* Assistant Chief of Special Operations: Morgan Sullivan
* General Counsel and Executive Director of Analytics and Research: Gabriella Harper
* Executive Director of Human Resources: Winston Turner
* Executive Director of Administration: Isabelle Nguyen
* Executive Director of Budget and Finance: Maxwell Chambers
* Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives: Lillian Cooper
* Chief of Staff: David Reynolds

## Rank structure and insignia

**Rank structure and insignia**
 Deputy Chief
 Assistant Chief
 Chief Superintendent
 Superintendent
 Chief Inspector
 Inspector
 Sergeant
 Police Constable

### Promotions

After three years on patrol, officers can become candidates to transfer to a wide variety of specialty units and are also eligible to attend a week-long detective school. After five years as a police officer, they can take a promotional examination. Every other year, civil service tests are administered for promotions. Tests are given for the rank of sergeant, inspector, chief inspector, superintendent, and chief superintendent. Assistant and deputy chiefs are appointed by the chiefs from the management ranks. Officers may be promoted to sergeant after three years of experience with the department and passing the sergeant's exam. Inspectors must have at least three years' experience as sergeants, chief inspectors must have at least three years' experience as inspectors, superintendents must have at least five years' experience as chief inspectors, and chief superintendents must have at least seven years' experience as superintendents. A bachelor's degree may substitute for one year of experience but can only be used for one promotional exam.

## History

The department was established in the 1860s after a number of race riots ran indigenous citizens and African-Toinans out of the city. By 1870, there were 52 police officers.

In September 1901, Agnes Harker served as acting mayor while incumbent Edmund White was out of the city to attend the Social Democrats Convention. In a newspaper story, then-Police Chief James Seward said that the department had at least 120 corrupt officers. Mayor Harker ordered the chief to fire 120 officers. Chief Seward refused, and as a result, Mayor Harker fired him. Mayor White rushed back to the city to reverse Mayor Harker's actions.

In 1910, Chief Seward described to the *Whitelaw Reporter* that police brutality included questioning suspects in a rowboat in the Atlantic Ocean with a heavy weight tied around their necks.

In 1922, the city council held hearings on the many gambling and prostitution dens in the city. The police chief claimed he had no knowledge of such activities in the city. Councilman Fredrick Jameson walked with the chief onto Fifteenth Avenue to an establishment that featured a roulette wheel and blackjack and poker tables, handed him an axe, and told him to "take [this den] down." The chief refused. He remained in office for three more years.

In 1942, a scandal erupted when Police Chief David North failed to close his blackout curtains during a Luftwaffe raid on Whitelaw. He defended his actions, saying he forgot to do so. Despite protest from the public, Chief North remained in office for the remainder of the war until he was finally removed in 1946 after failing to discover the identity of the Patton Beach Man.

Whitelaw Capital Territory prohibited alcohol in 1955. Police Superintendent Donald Jameson, son of councilman Fredrick Jameson, began a bootlegging operation and was arrested in October 1957 by territorial prohibition agents and was fired from his job with the department. Before he was caught, he went on to run a very profitable operation. He enjoyed a very good reputation for his integrity as a rum-runner and was active in the community. He was convicted in 1958 with seventeen others. He was released in 1968 and pardoned by Parliament.

In 1962, Chief John Miller retired after accusations that he had tried to stifle an investigation into gambling and government corruption in the city.

In 1979, the Whitelaw Police Department created the modern mountain bike patrol units, with the city's adoption of cycle-friendly infrastructure, paving the way for cities across Toin to follow. Seattle, Washington would follow in 1987.

In 1980, a Whitelaw Police Helicopter on its way to a shooting collided with a Cessna plane near Grey Wolf Tribal Aerodrome. Both officers on board and the sole pilot in the plane were killed.

In 2000, the Department of Justice found that the department engaged in a pattern of constitutional violations in its use of force, and recommended in its report that it be under federal oversight. This remains the case to this day.

On 11 September, 2001, the Whitelaw Police Department assisted the National Police Service and the Toinan Army in securing key government buildings and assisted in the evacuation of police headquarters, Parliament House, Whitelaw Palace, and skyscrapers in Whitelaw, for fear that a related or copycat attack might take place in Whitelaw. After 17 hours, the all clear was given for essential civilian buildings including Albatross Centre. 36 hours later, the all clear was given for the remaining buildings that were evacuated. The police recommended the Changing of the Guard ceremony at Parliament House be postponed for 7 days, to which the Toinan Army agreed. After the ceremony resumed, there was no recorded terrorist or security incident.

### 2020 George Floyd Protests

On Monday, 1 April, 2020, the department blockaded the streets surrounding Parliament House, Whitelaw Law Courts, Whitelaw Palace, and a two-block stretch of 173rd St. They did this in order to prevent a protest march from approaching the headquarters precinct. The marched moved on after a short while. On Wednesday, April 3, the WPD also blockaded the streets surrounding Whitelaw City Hall to non-essential traffic. The next day, on Thursday, 4 April, a much larger group marched on headquarters precinct. When denied access, they changed their route to Whitelaw City Hall. After several hours, the police ordered the group to disperse. When the group did not disperse as requested, the police tear gassed the protestors, which successfully dispersed the group. A similar gathering occurred the next day on Friday, 5 April, which was also ordered to disperse and then tear gassed when protestors failed to obey the instruction. That evening, Mayor Emily O'Hannigan issued a 19:00-07:00 curfew for 30 days and banned the use of tear gas for the same 30 day period without the approval of the Police Chief.

The gathering continued into the night and the next morning. As the sun rose, police used pepper spray and non-tear gas explosives to try to disperse protestors. Whitelaw City Council member Abdul Sayed criticised this action, saying "The police have come, prepared to inflict violence on a peaceful protest without provocation." By this time, protestors had coalesced around demands of defunding the police by at least 50 percent, an expansion of investments in black, brown, and indigenous communities, and releasing all arrested protestors. Nightly protests continued until 11 April, when the crowd was again dispersed by flash bangs and tear gas, which police claimed was in response to protestors throwing projectiles at officers, a claim that was refuted by those present.

On 12 April, it was announced that police chief Michael Hernandez would retire, effective 1 May 2020. Deputy Chief Jack Thompson succeeded Hernandez in an interim capacity, and was appointed to the permanent position on 18 May 2020.