GRAND LODGE
FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE
309 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002

15 April 2002

Col Allen
Editor-in-Chief
New York Post
1211 Sixth Avenue
New York, NY 10036

Dear Editor:

I understand that, in the news business, it is important to be first. But what good is being first if you are also wrong?

I am writing on behalf of the Fraternal Order of Police to demand an apology for inaccurate statements made in your newspaper with respect to the "Public Safety Medal of Valor Act" and the role Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman of the Committee on the Judiciary, played and continues to play in our ongoing effort to honor the public safety officers who lost their lives on September 11. You obviously wrote that piece to get people angry – and it worked – only it’s our nation’s law enforcement officer’s who are angry.

To use the fallen officers of September 11 and the families they left behind to make a political attack is reprehensible in the extreme. I can only hope you did so out of ignorance and sloppy reporting, rather than by intent.

The F.O.P. originally conceived the idea of a medal awarded by the President in the name of Congress, and worked closely with Senator Leahy and his staff to draft and ultimately pass, the "Public Safety Officers’ Medal of Valor Act." Without Senator Leahy’s leadership on this issue, President Bush would not have had the opportunity to sign the bill into law.

The Post chose to ignore this fact and erroneously reported that Senator Leahy is blocking efforts to award the men and women who lost their lives in the attacks of September 11 the Medal of Valor. This is completely wrong. Our goal – and Senator Leahy’s goal – when drafting the "Medal of Valor Act," was to make sure the legislation eliminated politics from the process. The Post seems determined to make political hay and big headlines by inaccurately describing a law we worked hard to pass and the process by which public safety officers – not politicians – honor their own.

There was never any question that the men and women of September 11 would be honored – the question is how. I know this to be a fact because, since the attacks, Senator Leahy has involved the F.O.P. at every point in the decision- and policy-making process.

While the F.O.P. deeply appreciates numerous resolutions before the Congress urging that the Medal of Valor be awarded to all those public safety officers who lost their lives in the attack on the United States last September, all such resolutions are nonbinding. Action or inaction on these resolutions has absolutely no impact on whether or not the officers of September 11 will be honored with the Medal of Valor. Whether the Post failed to understand this or just didn’t want to let the facts get in the way of a good story, is something only you can answer.

Had your reporter read the "Medal of Valor Act" or contacted the F.O.P., he would have known that the statute specifically allows the U.S. Attorney General to waive the statutory limitation on recipients in extraordinary situations. Senator Leahy knows this, the F.O.P. knows this, but, apparently, the Post does not know it or did not care to place a simple phone call in an effort to find out.

I believe the Post has a responsibility to find out and report the facts. You failed to do this, and I believe you owe the law enforcement community an apology.

Sincerely,

Steve Young
National President