Oath Keepers under scrutiny
Indictments in Capitol insurrection throw light on group and police membership
As members and associates of the Oath Keepers — militia group founded in 2009 that recruits current and former military, police and first responders — are charged in connection with the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol, local police look to background checks and training to keep extremism from their ranks.
Gary Police Chief Brian Evans said with everything occurring on the national stage regarding members of police departments participating in the Jan. 6 insurrection and being outed as members of the Oath Keepers, potential extremists can be found within the ranks of any organization.
“This has to be something we are constantly vigilant about,” Evans said. The hiring process is the best place to catch and eliminate extremist candidates before they even join the force.
In the last five years, the Gary Fire Department has moved to a complete background check, which discloses any information that has been scrubbed from an individual’s background. Questions used during voice stress analysis are designed to root out extremist candidates.
Evans said most local departments have a policy in place that prevents members from participating in events like the rally and subsequent riot Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C.
“It was surprising to a lot of us in law enforcement what happened Jan. 6. Going to a political rally to protest is one thing,” he said. “Storming the Capitol takes things in another direction. I just don’t get it.”
On Jan. 6, several Oath Keepers, wearing helmets and reinforced
vests, were seen on camera shouldering their way up the Capitol steps in a military-style stack formation.
So far 16 members and associates of the Oath Keepers have been charged with conspiring to block the certification of the vote. A member of the group was also the first to plead guilty for his involvement in the riot and is cooperating with prosecutors.
The group’s founder and leader, Stewart Rhodes, has said there were as many as 40,000 Oath Keepers at its peak, but one extremism expert estimates the group’s membership stands around 3,000 nationally. Rhodes was communicating that day with some Oath Keepers who entered the Capitol and was seen standing with several of the defendants outside the building after the riot, prosecutors say.
Schererville Deputy Police Chief Jeffrey Cook s a i d h i s d e p a r t me n t conducts in-depth background checks where the goal would be to find out if somebody is part of a group like the Oath Keepers or has tendencies to support those groups or views.
“Basically the hope is to eliminate them from the process,” Cook said. The department has policies in place prohibiting members from joining groups like the Oath Keepers.
“Officers get trained in bias-free policing basically to provide police services no matter what the classified characteristics of an individual are,’ Cook said.
Supervisors l ook for changes i n attitude or another other sign that would indicate an officer may have become an extremist. Officers also are required to have any exposed tattoo approved prior to getting it.
“Obviously, everything we see on a national level can happen at a local level. You count on your supervisors, leadership and administration to notice if somebody might be heading in that direction,” Cook said.
In Lake County, Sheriff Oscar Martinez Jr. said to his knowledge the department has not experienced issues with regard to the Oath Keepers organization.
“We do not restrict our employees’ freedom to join various groups or engage in peaceful parades or other gatherings during their personal time,” Martinez said, continuing “if we become aware of allegations that officers are participating in, supporting or affiliating with groups characterized as extremist, racist and/or violent, those cases will come under review.”
Martinez said as law enforcement officer they pledge to uphold the Constitution and laws of the State of Indiana and of this country and to serve the community without bias or prejudice. He said it is a matter of integrity. Police are held to a higher standard.
“I will not allow or tolerate any group that may threaten the safety, health or security of any of the citizens we serve,” Martinez said.
Attorney Christopher Cooper, who specializes in civil rights employment law representing members of law enforcement and others, said police departments who conduct thorough background checks are better able to weed out extremists before they are able to join the force.
“When we think about how police officers are hired in the U.S., it is still the case in many jurisdictions background checks are not very thorough,” Cooper said.
Some departments contract out the psychological part and what ends up happening is it’s a quick 15-minute test.
“That’s one part of the process in which the police agency can get some sense whether or not someone is tolerant of people of other races. You can basically see if a police officer will treat everyone fairly,” Cooper said.
He often cringes when he hears it’s all about training.
“As soon as we come into the world, we are given life lessons and are being socialized. Sometimes what we hear at the dinner table is terrible. Now I’m 22 and I want to be a police officer,” Cooper said. “Some people who commit the energy and diligence can change and not be a replica of their bigoted dad or mom. The reality is training doesn’t always get rid of what some people have been socialized to believe.”
Cooper, who is also a sociologist, said many times it comes down to appropriate screening and the most thorough background checks to get at someone’s sociological baggage. While some people can grow up in a place like the former Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago and not become a drug dealer or can grow up in a home with a father like television’s “Archie Bunker” and make a great police officer because they don’t see the world like their dad, others simply cannot.
He said police agencies have a duty to not necessarily monitor their officers’ online activity, but to be aware of what their officers are doing outside of work.
“It’s not an infringement on their rights,” Cooper said. Police, like the military, sacrifice some of their privacy when joining, he said. “We make necessary sacrifices. I want police officers to be given their constitutional rights, especially due process.”
Currently, there is a lot of gray area regarding whether or not police officers can join groups like the Oath Keepers. In many cases, it comes down to opinion. Court rulings so far have not been consistent.
Cooper said if he were writing legislation, he would make it clear while an officer has a right to free speech, a police officer also must be received as a representation of tolerance for all races and all sexual orientations.
“Therefore a police officer cannot always express his or her personal views,” Cooper said.
Lt. Steven Kellogg, public information officer with the Hammond Police department and Cpl. Benjamin McFalls, public information officer with the Porter County Sheriff ’s Department, agreed background checks before a recruit is hired helps weed out extremism.
In Hammond, that investigation includes an extensive search of references, known associates, social media and self-reporting questions.
“Another part of the process includes a voicestress analysis,” Kellogg said. During this part of the examination, applicants are asked if they have any affiliation with any militia-type organizations.
“Additionally, every officer swears upon their oath to the police department that they are not currently, nor ever have been, a member of any such organization,” Kellogg said.
McFalls said a third-party psychological exam also is conducted and a voice stress analysis also is completed by the department’s Investigations Division.
“We also check and monitor social media,” McFalls said. “We strive to keep any extremist group out of our department.”
Ellen Szarleta, director of the Center for Urban and Regional Excellence and a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Northwest, said the center has no firsthand knowledge of any of extremist activity within local police departments occurring in Northwest Indiana.
She said education can play an important role in understanding bias and helping to keep extremist views in check. Awareness these issues can exist has prompted many police departments to look to training.
“These issues are being discussed. Awareness has increased,” Szarleta said.
It is important for the public to remember while there have been extremists like the Oath Keepers found in police departments, there are many more officers who do not share those views.
“People realize there are bad actors,” she said. “We need to be sure we are not judging the institution by the individual.”
Szarleta said the center has been working with local police departments on the issue of bias, specifically implicit bias.
“One of the ways we engage with the police department is through partnership,” she said.
One of the partnership areas is in training. The center will work with police departments specifically at their request to provide training in implicit bias. When people are made aware the issue could exist, awareness helps them interact more effectively with the public and each other when it comes to bias, she said.
“It has been our role to support them as they have moved forward to take a look at some of the issues,” Szarleta said.