April 10, 2006   Open Letter to the Editor of the Washington Examiner  In the interest of accurate, complete, and unbiased reporting, we are compelled to point out errors in an article in the April 3, 2006, edition of your publication.  Having brought these mistakes to your attention in e-mails dated April 3 and April 5, we note that The Washington Examiner has not made any corrections. The article at issue is entitled, “Police Review Board Accused of Racism,” and it deals with unfair labor practice complaints that have been filed by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) labor union against our agency, the Office of Police Complaints (OPC), which is governed by the Police Complaints Board (PCB).  This “exclusive” piece was authored by your reporter, Bill Myers. Because these complaints are currently under review by the D.C. Public Employee Relations Board, an administrative agency that handles labor-management disputes, our letter focuses on your reporting on the complaints because it would not be appropriate to respond at this time to the specific claims made by the FOP. Your article stated that the FOP’s unfair labor practice complaints alleged that OPC “did not hold hearings before disciplining officers.”  This statement is simply false because the FOP did not make any such claim in an unfair labor practice complaint.  Moreover, it could not be true because OPC does not discipline officers.  That responsibility lies with the Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). Your article stated that the FOP alleged that OPC “wouldn’t allow stewards to sit in on interviews with union members.”  This statement also is false because the FOP has made no such claim. Your article stated that the FOP “has asked a city administrative board to bar the office from conducting any further investigations unless it abides by the union contract.”  Once again, this statement is false because the FOP had not asked for any such relief.  A simple reading of the complaints that someone had furnished to your reporter would have revealed all three of these errors. Page 1 of 2      1  2