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Haymarket Gone Wild, Again

Submitted by Webmaster on Sat, 04/14/2007 - 10:39pm. Other News Sources

Article from the website: Black Velvet Bruce Li

Haymarket Gone Wild, Again
(Click above link to read full article.)

By Greg L | 14 April 2007 | PWC Politics | 2 Comments

Chief Jim Roop of the Town of Haymarket Police Department has yet another crisis to manage. This time it’s a workplace sexual harassment complaint filed by officer Benjamin Ishmael. That’s right, a fellow male police officer. Now before your head starts to spin, this involves crude and unprofessional language used in the workplace that made the environment hostile to female officers, town employees and citizens, and not some sort of inappropriate physical contact with a fellow officer who is also male.

From the complaint letter:

“I have witnessed inappropriate sexual language being used on an almost daily workplace basis when both these two supervisor’s were working and on duty while in uniform. Such remarks as “Isn’t that woman just a c*nt” and remarks about people who work for the Town Of Haymarket’s sexual preference as being a lesbian.”

Although “hostile working environment” complaints can be abused, if what’s going on there is bad enough that it’s bothering some of the men on the police force, I would tend to believe that a complaint like this probably has some merit. This apparently is not the first time a complaint of this nature has been filed, either. Given some of Chief Roop’s other issues in the past year (see here, here and here), it might be time to consider having him move on.

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More Info

Submitted by B_Ishmael on Mon, 04/16/2007 - 9:42pm.

A letter was sent today to Gainesville Rep. John Stirrup about this situation to ask for help from Prince William County to assist with the investigation since I do not believe the mayor or town council will be able to make a fair and unbiased evaluation into this complaint. Since the last complaint was quickly dealt with and the two supervisor's are still running the department this very day, I have to assume that nothing has been officially done yet or discussed by the mayor or town council that would have indicated an investigation into my complaint has even been reviewed or started. If the town refuses to cooperate in a valid complaint then my only other step is to ask for help from Prince William County or the State Police to initiate an investigation into the Police Department and the Town for failing to respond to a complaint against a police department. It's not like my complaints are being reviewed because I have not been contacted by anyone as of today as to my intent with my complaint or what I would like to see happen within the department to make it better. I am still an employee of this agency and still feel as though the Police Department and Mayor owe me the satisfaction of investigating my claims even if they question if they are valid in their own personal opinions. I made sure to advise Representative Stirrup the reason this has not been brought out sooner is because of the relationship between Chief Roop and Sgt. Breeden with the mayor and members of the town council. It will only be time when every newspaper is going to follow this story to the end and I can assure everyone that it will shed a lot of light on what really goes on in a small town. Anyone wishing to discuss this with me may contact me at anytime as I am currently available for comments.

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Support

Submitted by Blondeegrl22 on Tue, 04/17/2007 - 10:57pm.

Officer Ishmael,

My family and I do, and have always, supported you. You make a genuine effort to know your citizens and show you care for their safety and well being. This whole witch hunt has gone too far. I will be at the next town meeting as well to voice my digust at our Mayor and Town Council who still refuse to face the issue at hand...the Chief.

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Thank You

Submitted by B_Ishmael on Wed, 04/18/2007 - 11:55am.

Blondeegrl22, Thank you and your family for the support. I am afraid though that the issues with me go way beyond just this one complaint that was posted. I actually submitted two. The second was a defamation complaint against the department for failing to keep an internal affairs investigation about me confidential. My name in the community has been tarnished by this and the department has made it very apparent that they do not want me to continue working for them. I have served the department and the community with every bit of respect that I have and I have done so without the support from my supervisors which I have three. It is odd for a department to have three supervisors when there are only 5 full time employees. Talk about micromanagement. Yes, I answer to three supervisors which makes my job even more difficult and makes it even more difficult to make a complaint against them and for anyone to take it serious. The town has let down many other officer's and citizens in the past and I don't know the reasons for that, but I will not let go of my fight. I did nothing wrong and the allegations against me initially that sparked my suspension are false and were completely and utterly embarassing to me and my family and the victim. The department handled the situation completely wrong and they also were aware I believe that my complaint against them were close to being heard. Now, I am still waiting to be terminated. I have been suspended without pay until this issue gets resolved and it is starting to affect my mortgage and everything that has happened has ended my marriage. Yes you heard right, all this stress and strain was the breaking point on my recent marriage and now I will soon be legally seperated due to this BS accusation from a girl that sparked all this in the first place. All I can say is thank you Haymarket for ruining my marriage, ruining my police career, and ruining my reputation and a victims reputation by not handling this situation better.

Please let the community know that I appreciate everyone's support and appreciate the kind words and gestures that they gave me when I drove by on my daily rounds to make sure their homes and families were kept safe.

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Yes

Submitted by B_Ishmael on Mon, 04/16/2007 - 1:55pm.

This is yet another issue for the town to discuss. Will they do what is right and place the entire department on suspension until this can be dealt with? Why doesnt VA state police just come in and take over or PWCPD until this gets dealt with. Something needs to happen and I don't mean in a few months. By that time other employees will continue to be harassed at work and this victim still needs to have her complaint dealt with in a timely manner.

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Thank you

Submitted by concerned citizen on Tue, 04/17/2007 - 8:20am.

I want to thank you officer Ishmael for your courage to come forward with this and I hope you are successful with your fight against a corrupt police department and corrupt town council. May you and your family and friends be watched over during this ordeal and I am very sorry for everything. I will support you and will voice my opinion at the next town hall meeting. We as citizens of Haymarket can not let this ccntinue. Please keep us all aware as to your status with the department. If you need any help from myself or others with legal advice or anything, dont hesitate to ask.

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