Statement on Concerns Regarding The Troopers
Part of our journey to becoming MAASIN was agreeing we would desensationalize what we report because every organization should be given a chance to learn and make amends for situations reported through us. We have been pleased with the responses and actions from nearly everyone we have worked with. Unfortunately, that is not the case concerning a collection of reports we received regarding The Troopers Drum & Bugle Corps. We have decided to share the following because we think community members have the right to information that could empower them to draw conclusions about their safety.
Through August-September 2020, we received six (6) reports regarding events at the Troopers that allegedly occurred from 2017-2019. These reports are below. Some reporters were comfortable sharing their names to verify reports while others chose to remain anonymous. We ask that you support the well-being of reporters and do not bother anyone, named or anonymous.
We sent all reports on these alleged events to the Troopers board as well as DCI with a cover letter explaining who we were and why we received these reports. We did not hear back from DCI or the Troopers board but did hear from a lawyer who works for the Troopers, who said they would be investigating these claims. As you can imagine, we were happy to hear that. Weeks later we inquired with the legal counsel about the status of the investigation and they claimed that 1) everything had been thoroughly investigated and 2) the claims were all unsubstantiated. They then let us know the Troopers would not be making any more statements on these matters.
We checked in with all reporters the Troopers could have reasonably contacted because they were named and found not all had been contacted for an investigation. While we understand that there was no way to contact the anonymous reporters directly, neither the law firm nor Troopers board made any effort to obtain their contact information from us or contact the reporters in any way such as having MAASIN mediate to maintain anonymity. We replied asking to continue addressing these allegations and ensure there were protections in place to prevent events such as the alleged ones from happening in the future. We let them know we would be sharing our displeasure at the handling of these matters with the community if we could not continue discussing member safety.
It is now past the point where we feel confident we will receive any sort of response from the Troopers, their legal counsel, or DCI. While we take no pleasure in publicly shaming an organization, we exhausted every available option to directly rectify this issue with the Troopers prior to publishing this statement. It is our belief that the community should be aware of these alleged mishandlings. All organizations should take every step within their means to thoroughly investigate claims/reports and address their content regardless in order to improve member safety for the future. The Troopers lawyer merely spouted their mission statement at us and we did not hear from the board or Ms. Jackson herself regarding a zero-tolerance policy on sexual assault, steps taken since the alleged incident to improve education for admin staff on handling sexual assault, or addressing any of the multiple other alleged issues reported.
Like the reporters, we do not feel confident that the Troopers can provide a safe environment for members under the direction of Kristy Jackson at this time if voiced concerns will not be addressed. Safety and well-being are more important to the 2021 season than ever before and we want members and staff at Troopers to thrive. If you have questions about our process or these statements we encourage you to reach us at info@maasin.net. If you have anything you would like support/assistance in reporting our whistleblower support team can be reached at report@maasin.net. We are also accessible through DM on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Thank you for reading.
CORRECTION: Robert Blake has reached out to us regarding this situation and would like to clarify the following:
He did not discuss his issues or his firing with any of his students at the Troopers while they were active members.
He did not lose The Woodlands HS job due to his firing from the Troopers.
Every issue he brought forth was done so privately.
While the tech who openly questioned Robert's methods assumed the role of caption head once Robert was fired, Robert does not know if the tech actually went behind his back.
We would like to thank Robert for reaching out to hold us accountable and ensure we release accurate information.