[Peace-discuss] U of I and Blackwater Partnership Cancelled-Roger Epperson

[Roger Epperson]

In an exclusive, The Chicago Tribune reported today
that the U of I has cancelled the partnership with
Blackwater USA, citing conflict of interest with Tom
Dempsey the police institute director.(story follows)

TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE
U. of I., military company cut ties
Possible conflict cited in ending pact with Blackwater
By E.A. Torriero and Jodi S. Cohen | Tribune staff
reporters 
August 22, 2007 
The University of Illinois has canceled a partnership
between its prestigious police-training institute and
controversial military contractor Blackwater USA,
citing a possible conflict of interest.University
officials say the institute's director, Tom Dempsey,
was not upfront about a personal agreement he made to
work as a contractor for Blackwater, even as he
planned the official partnership. The university
continues to investigate the case while Dempsey
remains on leave, using accrued vacation time to work
for Blackwater in Afghanistan training local police in
drug enforcement.

University officials began investigating the ties with
Blackwater after a Tribune report in late July. Since
then, the Tribune has obtained e-mails between Dempsey
and other university employees showing he was
arranging Blackwater's partnership with the university
while putting a deal for himself into motion.

Dempsey also asked some of his employees at the
institute not to talk about his work for Blackwater,
according to e-mail printouts dating to April. 
In separate e-mail correspondence with the Tribune,
Dempsey said he does not see a conflict between his
work in Afghanistan and his role in executing the
partnership with Blackwater, a pact that allows the
state institute and private contractor to exchange
staff and students, share facilities and collaborate
on training.

He says he went through the proper channels to obtain
permission for each venture and did not try to deceive
anybody.

But in a pointed exchange with Dempsey, university
officials said that he did not meet his obligation to
tell ranking officials the whole story.

"The facts are that you were negotiating both the
[Blackwater partnership] and future employment with
Blackwater at the same time and no one above you was
informed of both of these relationships," Peg Rawles,
an associate chancellor, said in a recent e-mail to
Dempsey. "The chronology raises more questions than
answers."

Documents obtained by the Tribune also show that
Dempsey asked institute workers to cover up for him in
his absence.

"How about a party line if anyone even inquires,"
Dempsey wrote to a colleague in May. "If anyone pins
you down, not a problem being honest but I'd leave
Blackwater's name out of the conversation."

After the Tribune began inquiring about Blackwater,
Dempsey wrote to a colleague: "I am confident you did
not tell anyone ... I was working for [Blackwater]."

In the letter to Blackwater ending the agreement, U.
of. I. Chancellor Richard Herman said that it was
entered into "in a manner which was inconsistent with
university policy," without the knowledge or consent
of anyone in the police training institute's direct
reporting line.

University spokeswoman Robin Kaler said it was
problematic that university officials who approved the
training institute's agreement with Blackwater did not
know about Dempsey's consulting job. The Blackwater
agreement was executed through one branch of the
university system while the vacation request was put
in through another.

"When an administrator is asked to sign off on
something like this, he or she needs to have the
complete picture," Kaler said.

Kaler said university officials are reviewing ways to
tighten approval procedures. They also are considering
whether Dempsey, 58, will retain his $118,178 a year
job.

A Blackwater spokeswoman did not respond to a request
for comment.

No money has been exchanged between the university and
Blackwater, although Blackwater stood to gain prestige
by partnering with the highly-regarded institute,
located in Champaign.

Dempsey has claimed that the institute, which trains
state police officers, would benefit from Blackwater's
expertise in international law enforcement.

Dempsey's e-mails, obtained under the Freedom of
Information Act, suggest he does not believe he
withheld information from the university and he feels
betrayed by officials who have not defended him
publicly.

"If it wasn't for needing to support my family and
clear my name I would tell the university to
[expletive] themselves," Dempsey wrote in an Aug. 2
e-mail to three people, possibly colleagues or
personal friends.

Dempsey told the Tribune that his work for Blackwater
not only enhances the university's reputation in
police training, but also fulfills a national agenda
in protecting the country while helping U.S. allies. 
The University of Illinois has canceled a partnership
between its prestigious police-training institute and
controversial military contractor Blackwater USA,
citing a possible conflict of interest.University
officials say the institute's director, Tom Dempsey,
was not upfront about a personal agreement he made to
work as a contractor for Blackwater, even as he
planned the official partnership. The university
continues to investigate the case while Dempsey
remains on leave, using accrued vacation time to work
for Blackwater in Afghanistan training local police in
drug enforcement.

University officials began investigating the ties with
Blackwater after a Tribune report in late July. Since
then, the Tribune has obtained e-mails between Dempsey
and other university employees showing he was
arranging Blackwater's partnership with the university
while putting a deal for himself into motion.

Dempsey also asked some of his employees at the
institute not to talk about his work for Blackwater,
according to e-mail printouts dating to April. 
In separate e-mail correspondence with the Tribune,
Dempsey said he does not see a conflict between his
work in Afghanistan and his role in executing the
partnership with Blackwater, a pact that allows the
state institute and private contractor to exchange
staff and students, share facilities and collaborate
on training.

He says he went through the proper channels to obtain
permission for each venture and did not try to deceive
anybody.

But in a pointed exchange with Dempsey, university
officials said that he did not meet his obligation to
tell ranking officials the whole story.

"The facts are that you were negotiating both the
[Blackwater partnership] and future employment with
Blackwater at the same time and no one above you was
informed of both of these relationships," Peg Rawles,
an associate chancellor, said in a recent e-mail to
Dempsey. "The chronology raises more questions than
answers."

Documents obtained by the Tribune also show that
Dempsey asked institute workers to cover up for him in
his absence.

"How about a party line if anyone even inquires,"
Dempsey wrote to a colleague in May. "If anyone pins
you down, not a problem being honest but I'd leave
Blackwater's name out of the conversation."

After the Tribune began inquiring about Blackwater,
Dempsey wrote to a colleague: "I am confident you did
not tell anyone ... I was working for [Blackwater]."

In the letter to Blackwater ending the agreement, U.
of. I. Chancellor Richard Herman said that it was
entered into "in a manner which was inconsistent with
university policy," without the knowledge or consent
of anyone in the police training institute's direct
reporting line.

University spokeswoman Robin Kaler said it was
problematic that university officials who approved the
training institute's agreement with Blackwater did not
know about Dempsey's consulting job. The Blackwater
agreement was executed through one branch of the
university system while the vacation request was put
in through another.

"When an administrator is asked to sign off on
something like this, he or she needs to have the
complete picture," Kaler said.

Kaler said university officials are reviewing ways to
tighten approval procedures. They also are considering
whether Dempsey, 58, will retain his $118,178 a year
job.

A Blackwater spokeswoman did not respond to a request
for comment.

No money has been exchanged between the university and
Blackwater, although Blackwater stood to gain prestige
by partnering with the highly-regarded institute,
located in Champaign.

Dempsey has claimed that the institute, which trains
state police officers, would benefit from Blackwater's
expertise in international law enforcement.

Dempsey's e-mails, obtained under the Freedom of
Information Act, suggest he does not believe he
withheld information from the university and he feels
betrayed by officials who have not defended him
publicly.

"If it wasn't for needing to support my family and
clear my name I would tell the university to
[expletive] themselves," Dempsey wrote in an Aug. 2
e-mail to three people, possibly colleagues or
personal friends.

Dempsey told the Tribune that his work for Blackwater
not only enhances the university's reputation in
police training, but also fulfills a national agenda
in protecting the country while helping U.S. allies.
"This opportunity is a once in a lifetime chance to
play a small role in efforts to assist the Afghan
police in addressing the opium problem that plagues
their nation," he wrote.

Blackwater, which provides private paramilitary forces
for America's war on terror, has become a lightning
rod for anti-war passions. It is already facing
controversy surrounding a training facility opened
last spring in northwestern Illinois.

In May, Dempsey signed the partnership agreement
between his institute and Blackwater. The agreement
also was signed by representatives from the U. of I.
offices of the general counsel, comptroller and
secretary to the board of trustees. 
Also, in May and June, Dempsey took several days off
from the university to work with Blackwater, according
to e-mail communications between Dempsey and an office
assistant at the institute.

In July, he submitted a written request for an
extended leave to consult for Blackwater, saying that
he viewed it as "a once in a lifetime opportunity
similar to climbing Mt. Everest or exploring the
Amazon."

In July, Dempsey also signed the university's conflict
policy, which requires employees to disclose whether,
through an outside venture, they have a "significant
relationship" -- defined as $10,000 or more -- with a
company doing business with the university. Dempsey
indicated that he did not.

Dempsey told Rawles he is being paid $300 a day, and
told the Tribune that his compensation has been
"scaled" to meet campus requirements regarding
non-university employment.

But he wrote to colleagues on July 31 that because of
earnings limits he was not aware of, he might have to
return in late August, earlier than he had planned. "I
truly fear the university is going to terminate my
employment," he wrote Aug. 8 to a colleague. "I'm not
sure I want to work somewhere I am not wanted ... I am
saddened because we accomplished a lot and I like my
job."
 
 




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