Editor's note: Earlier this year the Traveler reviewed this book. The following review, which offers a somewhat different perspective, comes from Rick Smith, a long-time Park Service employee who rose up through the ranks to become one of its top managers.
This is a very difficult book for me to review for a couple reasons. The first is the case itself. It involves Billy Malone, the last real Indian Trader employed at Hubbell Trading Post for 24 years.
Malone was among a small group of traders who ran their posts according to the old ways of doing things, probably in much the same manner as did John Lorenzo Hubbell and his family when they were still active. He bought and sold jewelry and rugs without the kind of accounting accuracy that one would expect at a souvenir shop at Grand Canyon or Yellowstone.
He accepted things on consignment and because many of his customers were unable to read or write, especially English, he often forged their signatures on the checks he cashed so that he could give them real money; most did not have bank accounts. Although he worked closely with the NPS at Hubbell, he was an employee of the old Southwest Parks and Monuments Association, later to become the Western National Parks Association. He was also, as were most of the old traders, a serious collector of Indian baskets, rugs, and jewelry.
It is not difficult to imagine what happens when the new management team of WNPA is selected. They begin a series of audits to try to determine what belongs to Billy and what belongs to the Trading Post. Despite his sterling reputation among other traders and the inhabitants of the Navajo Reservation, they become convinced that Billy is guilty of defrauding the Trading Post. They convince the NPS to open a criminal investigation into Billy’s activities. He was also terminated from his job. Everything goes downhill from there.
The criminal investigator assigned to the case makes a series of errors that would make a rookie protection ranger blanch. During the raid on Billy’s house, he seizes far more (rugs, blankets, jewelry) than the search warrant authorizes.
He does not maintain an adequate chain of custody of the seized property, even allowing the Executive Director of WNPA to drive one of the vans that contains a portion of the seized property. When the criminal investigator in Tucson who has control of the property at WACC (Western Archaeological and Conservation Center) is on leave, he authorizes a locksmith to cut the lock on the storage room so that people can see what has been seized. He withholds information that could be exculpatory from the Assistant US Attorney. These and many other errors of omission or commission make this case a nightmare.
What is even harder to accept is that the investigator seems to be operating with the full consent and support of the senior managers of the Intermountain region, so much so, in fact, that when the second investigator assigned to the case, Paul Berkowitz, the author of this book, submits his final report he submits it not to the NPS, but directly to the Office of the Inspector General.
Paul’s exhaustive investigation finally leads to the return of the seized property to Malone and a decision by the US Attorney to drop all criminal charges that had been filed against Malone. In turn, Malone has filed a civil complaint in Federal District Court against many of the NPS personnel involved in the case.
What also makes this book hard to review is Berkowitz’ unflattering analysis of NPS culture, its law enforcement program and its senior management. While he admits that there are lots of good NPS employees, he is relentless in his criticism of what he sees as corruption, cronyism, and lack of respect for law and policy within the ranks of NPS leadership.
To give you an idea of what I mean, here is his take on the Yosemite Mafia, “…"the humorous title proudly invoked by the group belies a darker side exhibited by many of its more powerful and influential members, lending altogether different meaning to the much- touted image of the NPS as a 'family.' Over time several of these powerful figures have variously been implicated in illegal activities ranging from trespassing and molestation, electronic eavesdropping and attempted blackmail, the use of government funds to pay off extortion attempts, the theft of government firearms, to even kidnapping and rape." (To be absolutely fair, I am sure that I would be considered a member of the Yosemite Mafia. Maybe that’s why that statement provoked such a strong reaction in me.)
Paul’s description of NPS culture and leadership does not square up with mine. I went to dozens of superintendent’s meetings, worked in 7 parks, WASO and two Regional Offices. The vast majority of the people with whom I came in contact were honest, hard-working, dedicated employees who wouldn’t think of using their positions to unfairly advance their careers or condone sloppy, incomplete law enforcement work.
Oh sure, we can all think of exceptions to that rule, but Paul seems to make the exceptions the rule. He is right about one thing, though. The NPS is super resistant to change. One only has to think of all the task force reports and committee deliberations that are gathering dust on shelves to confirm his assertion that the NPS culture is highly resistant to change and tends to ignore or punish different points of view. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons that the agency ranks so low in the “best places to work in the Federal Government” surveys, especially in leadership.
I never worked with Paul so I cannot comment on his attitudes toward the NPS and his fellow employees except to say that I have always heard the rumor that he was sour on the NPS, especially its law enforcement profile, and his colleagues.
But, this book is provocative and will make you think about the NPS and how it conducts itself, not only in this investigation, but also in its other activities. I read it in two days; that’s how interesting I found it. There are lessons to be learned here. It will take me a couple days to figure out exactly what they are.
Comments
To be fair I found this to be a balanced and well considered review.
Berkowitz is an enigma. Certainly he is someone who took on himself the personal mission to take what he felt to be a poor culture of law enforcement in the agency and make it better. Sometimes being the fly in the ointment is the cure after all.
One only has to read a previous book of his, the title of which escapes me at the moment, to practically feel the hurt and anger as he details years of dangerous law enforcement contacts - many of which reulted in the injury of the ranger or worse - made by NPS and other federal land management officers with poor agency support and with inadequate equipment and training. Yes, Paul is and has always been on a mission. But he was always professional about it and it was always FOR the NPS not in spite of it.
It's great to have a discussion with someone like Rick and it's a shame there isn't a process for current employees to connect with management without fear. Ultimately, it's about making the NPS a better agency. It has the world class people- just needs a 21st Century structure to utilize them. Berkowitz's book is a vehicle for discussion. I run a site for retired lawmen from the NPS, USFS and BLM. we share the commraderie and discuss problems in our old agencies etc. I don't have a dog in the race but have always identified with the NPS and I have a perspective of working for multiple Federal Law Enforcement agencies. Paul is no enigma. Doing the right thing should never "puzzle" people. The point is Paul had no choice but to go outside the management because it would have been tabled and covered up. Paul is one brave dude guys and he saved Billy Malone from unwarranted prosecution. He deserves a medal guys. I just wish the NPS managers could use it as a learning experience rather than the "bunker mentality" that is typical. They ignored the OIG report and wish this would go away... and that folks says it all! Rick- thanks for engaging. I wish you were the "typical manager" and not the exception.
Examples abound, if not made institutional, in the DC culture that transparency is the enemy. Can't really blame government agencies their operation model when the top attorneys at DOJ are the examples. Survival skill, really. Those with the transparent genes are hammered. That culture trickles down to the boots on the ground and is not encouraging for the human spirit. Tough living in the dark side so....don't do it:)!
After
reading this very good book, it is abundantly clear to me that the NPS demonstrates
a pattern of making bad situations worse, though arrogance, stubborn behavior
and poor judgment. It was clear at
several junctures in this case that the NPS should have reevaluated, changed course
and moved on. Instead, they repeated the
pattern of trying to win at all cost, which gave rise to a variety of
unintended outcomes. It amazes me that NPS
leadership allowed these case agents and managers to stubbornly cling to a wrongful
prosecution and expose the agency to increased liability. In this case, the NPS continued to allow a
bad situation to worsen, over and over again.
Instead of adapting when new information came to the fore, they just dug
in further – demonstrating clearly that they had a predetermined outcome. When that did not work, they just arranged to
get a new investigator. They then pressured / threatened the
investigator to make a case against Billy Malone or he would not be able to
live with his wife. As the case
unraveled, the NPS continued to just dig in, refusing to reevaluate and cut
their losses. This bad judgment and
behavior, and failure to manage the investigator, led to the no other option reporting
to the DOI OIG. This action produced a
new unintended consequence, a somewhat independent DOI OIG investigation into
the whole matter. Of course, the NPS
does not reevaluate and change course, or admit mistakes and end it. Instead, they double down and pressure the
DOI OIG to write a favorable report, protecting the NPS principals, and stall
its release. When this goes bad and
Billy Malone sues, the NPS doubles down again, releasing information which conceals
and mischaracterizes the facts of the case.
The NPS then fails to manage the
whistle blower / investigator, which leads to a tell-all book, and much of the
sorted affair being released to the general public. Now that the book is on the street, the NPS
does not comment on the issue or take the high road and use the incident to
make reforms, and this failure in judgment gives rise and life to an old issue
- more unintended consequences. Any
manager worth his/her salt would have established an agency work place culture
which would not give rise to unethical behavior in the first place. However, admittedly that was asking a lot of
former NPS Director, Mainella; there is no excuse of Director Jarvis’
actions. In addition, a good leader
would have disciplined those who have allowed this case to balloon into this
fiasco, through poor judgment and management.
Unfortunately, this pattern of decision making is repeated
routinely. At some point, you have to
wonder about who is minding the store.
What kind of leadership allows bad situations to routinely go from bad
to worse, due to arrogance, stubbornness and a refusal to take responsibility
for organizational errors?
Rick, now that more than a "few days" have passed since you drafted the above book review, what do you think are the "lessons learned" from this situation?
Don't blame Berko for being a bit on the bitter side. You'd be bitter too if you spent your career trying to put bad people in jail, then see the NPS promote superintendents that grow pot in the park, superintendents that have porn on their computers, the list could go on for hours. All from an agency that gives lip service to high standards.
There's bitter, then there's bitter and doing something about it. Thanks to him and for those like him who take on the ANPR/Yosemite Mafia establishment, and their successors.
And Rick, come on. My wife works at a non-NPS office for a huge corporation. I can count the number of arrested co-workers there on one hand.
From the NPS head investigator, to the head of NPS law enforcement training, to Yosemites head prosecutor, to drunk driving rangers and law enforcement specialists -- the quality and quantity of crooks in the outfit is amazing.
Anon from August 6th--
1. I have learned that it is easy to post comments on NPT hiding under the cloak of anonymity.
2. I have learned that there are people whose experiences, either in the NPS or outside it, are different than mine were. I guess this should not be surprising to me, but the bitterness that some posters express is.
3. I have learned that the "Yosemite mafia", a term coined by a former Associate Director of the NPS I believe, refers to many people who were very successful in their careers and a few who committed crimes. Peole tend to remember the latter group more than the former, again not too surprising.
4. I have come to the conclusion that the NPS has to double down on its leadership training to make sure that the next generation of leaders will concentrate on the three goals that I think each park staff must accomplish: preserve and protect resources; provide high quality visitor services; and maintain productive relationships with park interest groups.
5. I have learned that there will be posters on NPT who will disagree with those three goals and that's ok because it promotes dialog as the above comments demonstrate about important issues.
Rick