WNY Peace Center Whistleblower Fund

THE WNY PEACE CENTER WHISTLEBLOWER FUND

The Western New York Peace Center has created a fund for the purpose of supporting police officers who face reprisals from their department from choosing to strictly uphold their oath to protect and serve the community.  The Peace Center originally named this fund after Cariol Horne who saved the life of a citizen, but was fired just prior to earning her 20 year pension.  Our goal is to encourage good police officers in following their moral conscience if and when it conflicts with the infamous blue wall of silence (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_wall_of_silence).

The WNY Peace Center is committed to growing a culture of peace and reducing the levels of violence in our society. We hope to enlist the good will of citizens and police officials in transforming our justice system to make it more just and compassionate. One structural barrier to the culture of peace that we want to see is the blue wall of silence. Too many of our police officers choose silence instead of truth telling to maintain their livelihood. This fund is an attempt to encourage officers to speak truth to power. Please give generously!

Two conditions must be met to be considered for the fund: 1) The officer must have acted for the public good (to uphold the human rights or civil rights of citizens) and 2) The officer must be able to show that they have faced reprisals that have caused financial harm.

In 1988, Cariol Horne took an oath to Protect and Serve the community in which she was born and raised. On November 1, 2006 she did just that when she stopped a fellow officer from choking a man who was already in handcuffs.  Cariol prevented an Eric Garner incident from happening in Buffalo almost 8 before that famous case (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner). The man she saved is David Neal Mack who lives today because Cariol stopped an incident of police brutality.

Today no one disputes the correctness of Cariol's action, and after the swell of protest following the killing of George Floyd.  Cariol has been vindicated.  Many of the individuals who caused Cariol's firing have been exposed for corruption or incompetence.
*In 2009 Supreme Court Judge Joseph G. Makowski was forced to resign for giving a false affadavit. 
*Early in 2010, the police commissoner who fired Cariol, H. McCarthy Gipson, was himself fired by the mayor who characterized Gipson as being soft on discipline. (http://buffalonews.com/2014/05/24/culture-of-misconduct-in-buffalo-police-department-has-existed-for-years/)
*City attorney Diane T. O'Gorman,  was fired in the same year with a curiously vague rationale. (http://buffalonews.com/2010/04/23/city-attorney-for-police-issues-is-fired/)
*Officer Ann Vanyo was fired in 2014 for threatening to kill a woman she suspected of having an affair with her husband. (http://buffalonews.com/2014/10/18/buffalo-police-officer-fired-for-allegedly-threatening-to-kill-woman/)
*Officer Anthony Porzio was suspended for 30 days for assaulting a handcuffed suspect; he is still on the force.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei_y8C0vBTA)
*Officer Gregory Kwiatkowski has pleaded guilty to violating the rights of several juvenile boys. (http://wivb.com/2016/12/01/former-buffalo-cop-pleads-guilty-to-federal-civil-rights-charge/)

Anyone can give to the fund, but only officers working in WNY can apply to recieve funds.  Dispursals must be approved by the WNY Peace Center's Board of Directors and the amount given is determined by the size of the fund at the time of request.  A grant is good for one year and funds will be dispursed monthly.  An officer can apply to the fund again after a year.