TO: City of Dothan Mayor, City Manager, and City Commissioners

GOAL: IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF CITY OF DOTHAN POLICE CHIEF STEVE PARRISH & ADDITIONAL POLICE OFFICERS AFFILIATED WITH THE SONS OF CONFEDERATE VETERANS ORGANIZATION

We The People, residents of the city of Dothan, residents of the surrounding cities, and residents of other states, OPPOSE the hiring of persons and the continued employment of City of Dothan employees who are/were past or present members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization, a white supremacist neo-confederate organization with known historical and present affiliations to the hate group the Ku Klux Klan.

On December 2, 2015 Police Chief Steve Parrish held a news media press release where he publicly admitted to starting a charter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization in 1999. Chief Parrish also publicly admitted to recruiting ten other police officers from within the Dothan Police Department in order to form this charter in Henry County Alabama. Chief Parrish's admission came on the heels of leaked police documents that allege police corruption involving the illegal planting of weapons and drugs on black males in the community by Dothan police officers and the alleged cover-ups by police supervisors as reported by "blogger" and journalists Jon Carroll through his online news website The Henry County Report. Chief Parrish made a public admonishment of Jon Carroll stating, "It really burns my ass," in reference to Jon Carroll's article, then Chief Parrish publicly bullies and antagonizes Jon Carroll by challenging him to, "Put your money where your mouth is," calling Carroll a "loon," and telling Carroll to "bring it on, I'm a big boy." Chief Parrish's unprofessional conduct in admonishing, antagonizing, and bullying Jon Carroll while publicly addressing the media brings profound discredit upon the Dothan Police Department and the City of Dothan. We feel his actions to start an organization of this kind and his actions to recruit other police officers, namely Captain Carlton "Bubba" Ott, Sergeant Clark Rice, Sergeant Stephen Hamm, Officer Mike Magrino, Captain David Jay, Assistant Director of Alabama Department of Homeland Security Andy Hughes, Sergeant Gary Coleman, Sergeant Scott Smith, and Lieutenant Duane Herring, are in extreme contrast with the proclaimed professional, moral, and ethical standards of the City of Dothan. Chief Parrish and the above named officers are depicted in a photograph where said members are seen standing behind the Confederate Flag. Chief Parrish boldly stands in the center holding the organizations charter. Chief Parrish claimed to be a history enthusiast and genealogy researcher of his lineage making reference to his ancestors who fought for the South during the Civil War and stated, "I'm proud of that. If that makes me a demon, I'm sorry." Chief Parrish's pride in his ancestors role in the Civil War and his complete disregard for how his ancestors role in that war grossly affected the lives of African Americans shows his complete disillusion for the true historical and fundamental reason for the South’s continued efforts to secede not for state’s rights, but more so for the South’s underlying interest in preserving slavery. Chief Parrish’s distorted views of Confederate history demonstrates a gross inability to carry out the duties of a supervisor or law enforcement officer in an unbiased manner thereby greatly affecting his performance in his ability to uphold the 1976 federal consent decree, the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Plan, the Personnel Rules and Regulations, and the policies of the police department.

Therefore, We The People urge and require equal application and enforcement of court orders, affirmative action plans, personnel rules and regulations, and department policies towards those employees affiliated with the Sons of Confederate Veterans as presented above.

The enumerated items below reflect certain applicable parts of the aforementioned court orders, affirmative action plans, personnel rules and regulations, and policies of the police department that must be applied to those employees identified above and the appropriate personnel disciplinary actions levied against them. They include but are not limited to the following:

1. 1976 Federal Consent Decree Civil Action No. 75-57-S issued by United States District Judge Frank M. Johnson's, which states:

"It is ORDERED, ADJUDGED AND DECREED that all of the Defendants, including the City of Dothan, the Citizen Supervisory Committee, the Personnel Board, and the City Commission, their agents, assigns, employees, successors in office, and all those acting in concert or participating with them, be and the same are hereby permanently enjoined from discriminating on the basis of race against the named Plaintiffs and the members of the class they represent in recruiting, hiring, promoting, assigning, and testing all job applicants and/or City employees."

2. Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Plan

3. City of Dothan Personnel Rules and Regulations

Regulation XI Section 11-80 Harassment, Threats, and Violence Policy paragraphs:

(1) Purpose: The purpose of this policy is to help assure a working environment where all employees can maximize productivity in their jobs by eliminating offensive or threatening conduct that might interfere with maximum productivity. There are several types of anti-social behavior that can interfere with this goal including: (1) sexual harassment; (2) racial, religious and other forms of harassment; and (3) Violence and threats of violence. All of these types of behavior can distract employees from their job-related duties, and it is the policy of the City of Dothan to prohibit and eliminate these types of behaviors.

(2) Definitions

(b) Racial, Religious, National Origin, Disability, or Age Harassment. These types include:

1. Any conduct based on race, religion, national origin, disability, or age that makes an employee uncomfortable at work or which interferes with an employee's ability to perform the job.

2. Jokes which refer to race, religion, national origin, disability, or which portray age in a negative light.

3. The posting or distribution of cartoons, drawings, or any other material which adversely reflects on a person's race, religion, national origin, disability, or age.

4. The use of "slurs" or other offensive language.

5. Practical jokes, horseplay, or teasing which tend to make fun of a person's race, religion, national origin, disability, or which reflect negatively on a person's age.

6. Retaliation for complaints of harassment.

(c) Violence and Threats of Violence. This type of anti-social behavior can include:Any conduct which involves the offensive touching of another employee.

1. Intimidating or threatening gestures or body posture that reflect possible violence or a threat of violence.

2. Verbal threats to "get even," "go postal," or similar statements that cause an employee to fear possible harm by another employee.

The combination of these violations warrant IMMEDIATE DISCHARGE under Personnel Rules and Regulations Schedule of Disciplinary Penalties, more specifically Sec. 3-42 (13) Major Offense: Misconduct, or any disgraceful conduct which reflects unfavorably on the City as an employer or public entity; Sec. 3-43. (18) Intolerable Offense: Gross Insubordination; and Sec. 3-43. (19) Intolerable Offense: Other - Violation of Consent Decree and Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action Plan.

By signing this petition, We The People, are telling the Mayor, City Manager, and City Commissioners that:

We The People will not tolerate the hiring of or continued employment of persons with affiliations to the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization, nor any hate group advocating for white supremacy, racial inferiority, segregation, or race discrimination.

We The People demand you do your job by representing and carrying out the Will of The People and immediately terminate all police officer employees who were or are members or affiliates of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, rather than accept Chief Parrish’s untruthful claims for the members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization that their purpose is in honoring the heritage of Confederate soldiers who fought for the South’s alleged state’s rights, rather than the South’s opposition to ending slavery of African Americans.

We The People demand that you make a request to the United States Attorney General’s Office of Honorable Loretta Lynch to have the United States Department of Justice conduct an independent federal investigation into all cases made by the past and present members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans against African Americans.