The D.C. auditor is investigating whether any Metropolitan Police Department officers are white supremacists and how the department deals with incidents of racism by asking them take part in an anonymous survey.
The audit comes as a former D.C. police intelligence officer, Shane Lamond, stands charged with aiding Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio before Tarrio was convicted for his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“I think that probably was a big part of the motivation to know if there is one officer or two officers or whatever the small number may be that are publicly charged coming out of those events,” D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson said. “I think that does raise the question of how pervasive might this be.”
In 2022, the D.C. Council passed legislation requiring the D.C. auditor to assess whether there are police officers or staff with ties to hate groups and how the police department deals with those situations.
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As part of the assessment, a 36-question survey asks officers to identify other employees who are members of hate groups, have tattoos or clothing affiliated with hate groups, or make statements or social media posts supporting hate groups.
“We wanted to be as comprehensive as we could in terms of looking at potential ties, potential reflections of bias, even in one's clothing or one's language,” Patterson said. “And the reason for including those questions on the survey is obviously the best sources of information would be folks who actually are within the department. So, that's the reason for asking those kinds of questions. And I want to emphasize this is not just looking at any potential ties, it's looking at how the department handles the issue.”
Patterson insists the survey is anonymous, but News4 obtained an email sent from an MPD lieutenant to officers under his command writing, “I can assure you it’s NOT anonymous.”
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“I am deeply disheartened to learn about an email like this from a member of our department, especially a member in a leadership role,” Chief Pamela Smith said in a statement. “This survey is not a Metropolitan Police Department product, and taking it is optional. We encourage our members who are looking to complete it to do so without concern.”
Smith would not say whether she has taken the survey.
While the auditor’s report is not complete, Patterson said there’s been no indication of wrongdoing so far.
“When we do an audit, if we come across something that is criminal or any other kind of wrongdoing, we issue what we call a ‘management alert’ before the audit's finished,” she said. “You let the agency know they need to pay attention to something. We haven't done any management alerts.”
The lieutenant who sent the email claiming the survey was not anonymous did not reply to an email from News4.
The former D.C. police officer accused of aiding Proud Boys leader Tarrio maintains his innocence and is expected back in federal court in December.
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