Note to Special Agents and the U.S. Department of State
As one of David Scharlat’s victims, I want to reach out to special agents of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service.
First, I have all of the faith in the world that this one agent is an anomaly. I appreciate every one of you who reaches out or just pops over here to check things out. All of this activity has certainly helped me recover. I do not feel so alone, knowing you see the problem with this offender.
Second, I do believe that the U.S. Department of State failed me. I see its policies, ways and means do not provide effective relief to internal or external victims like myself. This is what we seek to change in the future, both as the film Escaping Fed and as a group of humans. We hope to take these matters as a failing directly to criminal justice programs and schools, so tomorrow’s leaders in law enforcement will have the insights we have unfortunately gained.
To the U.S. Department of State, I have to say I am ready to call “truce.” I realize you were not at war with me, but I have been completely immersed in war with you. Now beyond conviction, I feel victorious in many regards and ready to look to the future. I know I have not been a major annoyance, as you certainly have bigger fish to fry. But you have to know as a law enforcement body and government organization, you have approached every part of this in the wrong manner. Your detached, cold and secretive approach to these matters does no one any good. You just made me bite down harder, as a survivor of hell who refuses to be a victim to my country. I will not accept that this is acceptable “status quo.” My victories in the Justice System are not your victories, nor did you facilitate them.
I believe wholeheartedly that you fail the government, law enforcement in general, your internal victims of sexual assault/harassment and the American public by handling citizens as you have handled me. While I call truce on the bigger fight, I am dedicating the rest of my life to change. As you have noted, I am a tenacious individual. So I will see you at the rodeo…the horse has not bucked me yet. But here forward, it is about being concise, vocal, productive and effective toward change that needed to happen at least 30 or 40 years ago.
To get started, you need to acknowledge gaps in your hiring and retention processes. Special agents should go through a deeper vetting process, including:
- Rigorous localized and regionalized searches for past offenses and uncharged (“hidden”) police reports – as this offender, your agent possessed three offenses prior to hiring
- Polygraph testing consisting of highly targeted questioning – as a talent for tactical manipulation with purpose is one thing, but compulsive dishonesty is another
- Psychiatric examination consisting of multiple “visits” over a span of time – as this offender is perceived to possibly possess rampant psychiatric issues, including anger management problems, lack of impulse control, obsessive compulsive disorder, sociopathy or narcissism, and mood disorders, at the very minimum
As a former military wife and daughter of a Navy doctor, I know one thing to be true: Your organization is only as strong as your weakest link. You need to make changes. Your people deserve that, for their own honor and dignity, as well as worldwide security. I also know that by having lax policies and lacking these stringent checks and balances, you put your own citizens at extreme and unnecessary risk.
You have not seen the last of this yet,
C. Kimberly Toms
American Citizen and Special Agent Survivor