- Other Schenectady Corruption Cases -
ofr...@hotmail.com
Drugs found in lockers of two officers, sources say
By MATTHEW ROY and MIKE GOODWIN Gazette Reporters
SCHENECTADY - Numerous pending criminal cases are being scrutinized in
light of corruption charges swirling around city police.
Schenectady County Public Defender Elbert H. Watrous Jr. said his office
on Monday began conducting a case-by-case review of all of its pending
criminal charges brought by city police, prompted by ongoing allegations
of police wrongdoing.
And District Attorney Robert M. Carney said county prosecutors are
internally reviewing cases that "might bear some scrutiny as it relates
to the police investigation."
Police are investigating brutality and corruption allegations that have
gradually come to light over the past two weeks.
On Tuesday, sources said police had discovered drugs in the lockers of
two officers central to the probe - Richard Barnett and Michael Siler.
Their lockers had been sealed as part of an ongoing probe. Police
Department officials opened the lockers last Thursday night. Union
representatives for the two officers were present. The search yielded an
unspecified amount of heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana, sources said.
Sources were uncertain what came from which locker. A scale for
measuring drugs was also found in one of the officers' lockers, sources
said.
Both officers were suspended without pay, officials announced Sunday.
They also face allegations that they drove a city man to Glenville,
tossed his boots into the woods, and left him on an isolated road. That
man, 27-year-old David Sampson, has filed a federal civil rights suit
naming the officers and the city as defendants.
Meanwhile, prosecutors and defense lawyers are re-examining criminal
cases involving city police.
"This investigation has potential impacts on pending prosecutions and
past prosecutions," said Carney. "It's fair to say we're doing an
internal review of cases." The office is considering cases that "might
bear some scru= tiny as it relates to the police investigation," he
said.
Watrous, whose office is charged with defending indigent clients charged
with criminal offenses, said his employees are reviewing all of their
live cases involving city police.
"We're looking at all the cases to make sure we adequately and
effectively represented our clients," he said.
That review, involving all city police cases, began Monday, Watrous
said. He declined to say if any clients are making claims about police
conduct.
Several private attorneys said that lawyers will likely pore over their
files to consider potential impacts of the investigation. Having drugs
found in lockers hurts police credibility in drug cases, defense
attorney Steven X. Kouray pointed out.
Whether any officers are charged or convicted following the probe will
likely determine any legal impact. The allegations against Siler and
Barnett could call into question the validity of past arrests they've
made, one legal expert said Tuesday.
"If they are charged and if they are convicted, then people with
previous cases are likely to challenge them," said Eli Silverman, a
professor of police studies at John Jay College in New York City and
author of the book "NYPD Battles Crime."
In past cases of police corruption, suspects have successfully
challenged their convictions when their arresting officers were later
convicted of crimes, he said.
Drug dealers often will claim the evidence was planted or that an
officer stole drugs or money, Silverman said. "But if the police
officers do have a history, then it is a problem," he said.
Police Chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek has said that he wants to fire Siler
and Barnett, and that criminal charges are a likelihood.
"Until we know the parameters of this problem, we don't know how many
pending or past prosecutions will be impacted," said Carney.
To date, no judges have been asked to reconsider any cases in light of
the investigation, both Carney and Watrous said.
The recent round of accusations against police began when sisters
Jessica and Rebecca DiSorbo filed a federal lawsuit July 22 claiming
they were brutalized and falsely arrested after Rebecca rejected an
off-duty officer's advances in a downtown bar.
In the ensuing days and weeks, other allegations of improper behavior
and brutality surfaced. And the NAACP charged that officers were ripping
off drug dealers on the street.
The Police Department began an investigation into Siler and Barnett's
on-duty conduct earlier this spring when several officers raised
concerns about how they did their jobs, police sources said Tuesday.
The officers did not make specific allegations about any wrongdoing they
had witnessed, sources said. "It was more like, `I don't want to work
with this guy. I don't like the way he does things,' " one source said
Tuesday.
Albany attorney Kevin Luibrand filed suit on behalf of the DiSorbos and
Sampson.
Luibrand said he has heard other complaints about the city's police. He
said he is actively investigating seven cases - not including the
DiSorbos' or Sampson's - and has for various reasons rejected 10 others.
Kaczmarek said he welcomed Luibrand's efforts. "If his efforts here, if
his cases are things we can use to get rid of bad cops, God bless him,"
he said.
"We've been asking the community for over a year to give us something
more than allegations and whispers. Apparently, they've given that to
Kevin,"
Kaczmarek said. "I don't care how we get it and if it means Kevin
Luibrand is the vehicle, let's take him for a ride."
--
- Outlaw Frog Raper -
Schenectady Copwatch
(518) 356-4238
news:alt.thebird.copwatch
news:alt.law-enforcement
news:nyc.general
ofr...@hotmail.com
Witness: Fellow officer hit suspect
By MORGAN LYLE and MATTHEW ROY Gazette Reporters
SCHENECTADY - A police officer testified Friday afternoon that another
officer punched a handcuffed sus- pect in a
holding area at the city Police Department.
Officer Richard Barnett - since suspended after accusations of
misconduct in unrelated incidents - punched Gerald Tanner after he was
arrested last summer for alleged drug
offenses, assaulting an officer and resisting arrest, according to
Officer Eric Peters.
The testimony was elicited by Tanner's attorney, Michael A. Feit,
during a pretrial hearing involving Tanner's criminal
charges. County Court Judge Michael C. Eidens was presiding.
Feit asked Peters:
"Let me ask you this, Officer Peters. Do you recall Officer Barnett
with a clenched fist, taking back his arm and
moving it forward and striking Gerald Tanner while Gerald was still
handcuffed? Do you recall Officer Barnett striking
Tanner there in the holding area?"
"Yes," Peters answered.
Assistant District Attorney Mark Caruso had objected to the question on
the grounds of relevance, but Eidens allowed
it. The line of questioning ended there.
Feit said in an interview that he has also obtained a police
surveillance video tape of Barnett punching Tanner. The district
attorney's office has asked the court to order Feit not
to show the tape to the media, he said.
"Certainly, it is very clear. It's awful, what it shows," he said.
Feit also said he has obtained previously withheld mug shots showing
Tanner's eye swollen nearly shut. "We certainly
substantiated the fact that Gerald was beaten," Feit said.
Barnett himself did not show up for the hearing, and will face a
subpoena for the day it continues - March 10, Caruso
said.
Drug arrest Barnett and Peters were patrolling together on June 24,
1999, when, according to Barnett, he saw Tanner
interacting with occupants of a vehicle, then pedaling away on a
bicycle. At Steuben Street near State Street, Barnett
says he saw Tanner throw a plastic bag to the ground.
Barnett tried to arrest him, and got a cuff on one hand. Then Tanner
allegedly punched him and continued to struggle
with both officers. Back-up officers arrived and Tanner was cuffed and
taken to the police station.
He faces counts of third-degree and fifth-degree criminal possession of
a controlled substance, second-degree assault,
criminally using drug paraphernalia and resisting arrest in that
incident.
Tanner also faces two counts each of third-degree criminal possession
and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled
substance, and
seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance for
alleged drug sales to an undercover police officer in
December 1998.
Barnett and Officer Michael Siler have been on paid suspension since
last summer. They have been accused in a
lawsuit of snatching a man named David Sampson off a Hamilton Hill
street in July, driving him to a remote area of
Glenville, punching him, taking his boots and leaving him to fend for
himself in the dead of night.
Barnett's lawyer, William J. Dreyer, could not be reached for comment.
Another attorney representing Barnett and
Siler in the Sampson lawsuit predicted that the two men ultimately will
be cleared.
"l will say that Rick Barnett has not done anything illegal, improper,
unethical or unprofessional in any of these cases,
and when the air is cleared with regard to Barnett and Siler, people
are going to owe those two men a big apology,"
said attorney Michael Koenig.
Sampson was charged last month with eight felony and five misdemeanor
drug charges, plus endangering the welfare of
a child, after a drug raid at his Schenectady home.
The city is facing four lawsuits alleging misconduct by police. Besides
the Sampson case, they include:
Rebecca and Jessica DiSorbo's claim that they were beaten and falsely
arrested after a barroom incident last winter.
Along with the city, individual defendants are Officers Ronald
Pedersen, Matthew Hoy and Kenneth Hill.
Charles DeJesus's claim that he was beaten by police during his arrest.
The defendants are the city and Officers Siler
and Erik Gandrow.
Lawrence Brooks's claim that he was beaten and falsely charged with
possessing marijuana. Defendants are the city,
Siler, Gandrow and Andrew Zophy.
ofr...@hotmail.com
Date: 08/25/1999
Author: - OFR - <outlaw_f...@dejanews.com>
Police brutality probe widens
Schenectady -- Complaint was lodged in February citing one of 2 officers
named in misconduct allegations
As early as February, city police had received a brutality complaint
about Patrolman Richard Barnett, one of two officers at the center of a
widening probe into police brutality and drugs.
Sheriff Harry C. Buffardi on Tuesday said Carlos "Charlie'' DeJesus
arrived at the county jail Feb. 11 so badly injured that medical staff
feared he had a fractured skull, though that apparently was not the
case. The man's lawyer claims that before arriving at the jail, DeJesus
had been kept at the city police station for 18 hours without receiving
medical help.
DeJesus, 30, of Summit Avenue, told Buffardi city police beat him after
arresting him on a street corner. "He said it was Barnett and other
officers were present,'' said the sheriff, who reported the complaint to
city police.
DeJesus filed a notice of claim May 5, preserving his right to sue the
city. The city denied the allegation and Barnett remained on the job
until the latest allegations, officials said.
DeJesus' complaint is the latest in a series of incidents involving
misconduct and the Schenectady police that have begun to surface in
recent days.
Barnett and Patrolman Michael Siler, who are white, stand accused of
abducting a black man on July 28, dropping him on a rural road and
taking his boots. As part of an investigation into that incident, police
found drugs in the lockers of both Barnett and Siler, official sources
told the Times Union Monday.
In other related developments, District Attorney Robert Carney
acknowledged there may be potential conflict
ofr...@hotmail.com
2 officers facing charges of misconduct, chief says
By MIKE GOODWIN
Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY - Two police officers suspected of driving
a black man from Hamilton Hill to a
secluded road in Glenville and then leaving him there
face misconduct charges and unpaid
suspension, Police Chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek
announced Sunday.
"Knowing what I know, with the mayor's permission,
we'll do everything we can to fire these guys,"
said Kaczmarek as he announced the actions taken
against officers Richard Barnett and Michael
Siler.
"They can resign, anybody can resign at anytime,
but we are going to do whatever we can to fire
them."
Barnett and Siler are under internal investigation
for allegedly snatching a black man from a Hamilton
Hill street and then leaving him without shoes on a
rural road in Glenville, sources said.
"I believe that our investigations have developed
to the point where we can substantiate and prove
the case," Kaczmarek said.
The two officers were placed on 30 days unpaid
suspension and notified of their misconduct
charges during a Saturday night meeting at police
headquarters, the chief said. Barnett and Siler
attended the meeting as did Kaczmarek and a member
of the Police Benevolent Association. Both
officers had been on paid leave since Aug. 13.
"They were both suspended relative to the
charges of taking a man to Glenville," Kaczmarek said.
"Officer Barnett was additionally charged with
regards to the mistreatment of Gerald Tanner at
police headquarters."
Tanner, a 33-year-old inmate at the Schenectady
County Correctional Facility with a history of
petty arrests, claims Barnett brutalized him after
a June 24 arrest in Hamilton Hill.
Kaczmarek refused to discuss any of the evidence
uncovered during investigations of the two
incidents, but said he believed the department
is building a case that would clear the way for the two
officers' termination.
Neither officer has been interviewed by investigators,
a move that preserves the department's right
to file criminal charges against them. "Therefore,
they don't have immunity from criminal charges,"
Kaczmarek said.
"That's why they weren't interviewed. It leaves the
option open for potential criminal charges."
The union has eight days to respond to the charges.
"The PBA is going to be fighting them," union
president Robert Hamilton said Sunday night.
The Police Department has been scrutinizing Barnett
and Siler's job conduct since the spring, when
other officers raised concerns about how they were
doing their jobs, Kaczmarek said.
He declined to discuss the allegations specifically,
saying only that they were "things that officers told
us on the inside. . . . Issues that our own people
brought to our attention."
Barnett is an eight-year veteran of the Police Department.
Siler, the son of decorated city police
Investigator William Siler, has been with the department
for approximately five years. Kaczmarek
said both officers' personnel files show no prior
discipline problems.
The allegations against the two officers are the latest
in an astonishing string of charges made against
the 160-member department over the past three weeks.
The controversy started with the Aug. 4 publication
of a Daily Gazette article that detailed a federal
civil rights lawsuit filed by Jessica DiSorbo, 26,
and her 23-year-old sister Rebecca DiSorbo. The
two women claimed they were falsely arrested outside
the Union Inn tavern on Dec. 27 and beaten
at police headquarters.
Officer Ronald Pedersen, one of three officers named
in the lawsuit, was later placed on paid leave
by the Police Department. The city attorney announced
the city would not pay any judgment
ultimately leveled against him because he failed to
cooperate with the attorney's investigation.
But, Kaczmarek said, an internal probe of the DiSorbos'
allegations cast serious doubts on their
recollection of events. Police have interviewed eight
people, including four civilians, about the
incident and none support the charges made by the
DiSorbos, he said. Pedersen will return to
on-duty status this week, he said.
On Aug. 7, a second case surfaced of alleged improper
behavior by another off-duty officer at the
Union Inn, a case that also involved two young women.
But the most serious allegations against the department
came last week. Sources said police leaders
have reason to suspect officers were stealing money
from drug dealers.
Kaczmarek and Mayor Albert P. Jurczynski will only say
"very serious" civil rights abuses have
been alleged. They have asked the FBI to "monitor"
the internal probe and the district attorney's
office has been kept abreast of the investigations.
ofr...@hotmail.com
By Carl Strock
Welcome to the modern-day fortress of unaccountable
government, by which I mean the
modern-day police department, and specifically the
Schenectady Police Department.
You could have seen it for yourself if you had
been on Liberty Street yesterday, in front of the
Schenectady station, where Chief Greg Kaczmarek
was conducting a press conference to respond
to charges that a couple of his officers had
administered a severe beating to a low-level criminal a
couple of months ago.
The chief assured a group of us newshounds that
not only was he aware of the charges but that he
had already investigated them, and what's more he
had already reached a conclusion as to whether
or not his officers had been in the wrong.
Very well, you might say, and what is the conclusion?
What did your investigation find?
That's where you encounter the fortress.
"I'm not going to comment on personnel matters," quoth the chief.
Of course not. Remember the great egg-throwing case.
The highest court in the state found that the
law means what it says, to wit, that anything in the
personnel records of cops, firefighters and jail
guards that might be used to evaluate their performance
"shall be considered confidential."
We wanted to find out the names of the cops who were
disciplined for pelting cars with eggs and
the mayor and the police chief said no. They figured
if they disclosed the names the cops would sue
them for violating their rights, and they were right.
Now you would like to know, perhaps, if the cops
whose salaries you are paying beat people up,
but unless the matter winds up in a criminal court
and becomes public that way, you cannot find out.
It would be part of their personnel records, and
therefore it's confidential, per Section 50-a of the
state Civil Rights Law.
Isn't that wonderful? Allegations are pouring forth
about Schenectady cops - beatings, shakedowns,
even an abduction - and the chief assures us he is
investigating like the dickens. He has brought in
the FBI to lend the operation credibility, since
there is no one left who would trust the cops to
investigate themselves, but we are not allowed to
know the results of the investigation!
Things have reached such a level of absurdity
that the chief actually had to apologize to the cop who
was involved in the hitting of a woman in a bar.
The chief had said on a radio talk show that the
officer would be suspended, meaning he would lose
some vacation time, and that was an improper
revelation, as we now know. So the chief hung his
head and said he was sorry. He's probably
keeping his fingers crossed that he doesn't get sued.
It's the world turned upside down, ladies and gentlemen.
Just imagine catching your own
law-enforcement officers committing vandalism and
then being afraid they will sue you.
I had a little example myself of the degree to
which the cops are insulated when I got a couple of
bum traffic tickets a while back.
The chief said he was embarrassed. The mayor said
he was furious. But do you know what they
were able to do? Nothing.
So please keep that in mind when you hear the FBI
is joining the investigation of the Schenectady
Police Department. In the first place, the FBI is
not exactly a divinely sanctioned outfit, but more
importantly, the FBI cannot violate the precious
rights of the Schenectady cops anymore than the
police chief or the mayor or anyone else can. And
they can't violate the cops' labor contract
anymore than anyone else can.
The chief cannot even call one of his supposed
subordinates on the carpet and demand to know if
the guy did or did not commit some heinous act, or
else he forfeits the right to use the information in
a criminal proceeding. (The Garrity Rule.)
True, the chief did fire an officer for using an
offensive racial epithet, but a state arbitrator has just
ruled the punishment was too harsh and the officer must
be reinstated.
How can you manage a police department like that?
I think Schenectady makes clear that you can't.
ofr...@hotmail.com
Schenectady - Two cops in misconduct probe are suspended without pay
while investigation of allegations continues
Police Chief Gregory Kaczmarek said Sunday he has suspended without pay
two officers at the center of a misconduct probe.
Patrolmen Richard Barnett and Michael Siler have now been suspended
without pay for 30 days while an investigation continues into
allegations they took a Hamilton Hill man to Glenville against his will
and left him there without his shoes, Kaczmarek said.
The announcement comes two days after investigators searched the lockers
of the two officers, although Kaczmarek would not reveal details of what
was found during the search.
The two were suspended -- with pay -- last week, but since then
departmental charges have been filed against the two officers and they
have been taken off the payroll pending further investigation, the chief
said.
"We have taken this decisive step to suspend without pay with the intent
of doing everything we can to fire these two officers,'' Kaczmarek said.
Kaczmarek declined to go into details concerning the case but said the
move against the officers was made in the wake of published reports last
week about an incident allegedly involving city police officers.
Sources last week told the Times Union the man was beaten, robbed,
stripped of his boots and left on a dark Glenville highway. The man
allegedly told Glenville police he was taken to the town by city police
officers.
"Our own investigation has developed to the point where we can prove our
case,'' Kaczmarek said. "Neither officer has been interviewed by us so
they don't have immunity. This leaves the option open for potential
criminal charges.''
"I know the public would like us to move at a quicker pace, but it is
more important for us to put together a case that can be prosecuted,''
Kaczmarek said. "We first and foremost are proceeding with this as a
criminal investigation,'' he said, noting that the district attorney's
office has been briefed about the situation.
The police chief and Mayor Albert Jurczynski met with reporters Sunday
at the mayor's home as they made efforts to stay on top of a police
scandal that has grown over the past few weeks.
Jurczynski said the investigation may result in criminal charges and
termination. "During my 3 /2 years as mayor, I've made it clear to
officers if they act within the scope of their duties they have nothing
to worry about, but if they perform outside the scope, I would come down
on them like a ton of bricks,'' the mayor said.
In a separate incident, the chief said Barnett is also facing additional
charges of mistreatment of Gerald Tanner at the police station after
Tanner was arrested June 24 on Hamilton Hill on a State Police warrant
charging him with a felony drug sale.
Last week, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People filed a brutality complaint with police on behalf of Tanner
alleging that Barnett punched him in the face and kicked him in the
groin during the arrest. The chief said he could not discuss details
concerning the mistreatment charge following the arrest.
Also last week, Kaczmarek announced he had requested FBI assistance
regarding departmental misconduct cases.
Kaczmarek said an internal investigation into allegations concerning
Barnett and Siler was started in March because some members of the
department had brought concerns to the attention of police brass.
"Several weeks ago, some members of the NAACP gave us further
information that allowed us to focus our investigation,'' he said.
Barnett, with the department since 1991, and Siler, a five-year police
officer, are often partners on the 4 p.m.-to-midnight shift. The chief
said that previously, neither officer had been subject of any
disciplinary action.
Meanwhile, Kaczmarek said Patrolman Ronald Pederson, put on
administrative leave with pay by the chief last week, will return to
duty Tuesday.
In a civil suit filed in U.S. District Court in Albany Aug. 3, two
Rotterdam sisters accused Pederson of false arrest and brutality in
connection with a December altercation at a downtown tavern.
"We've interviewed eight witnesses -- including four civilians -- and
we've found nothing to substantiate the two sisters' charges,''
Kaczmarek said. "While this investigation is not complete, it would be
irresponsible for us to continue keeping Pederson off the job.''
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Abduction is claimed; police sued
Schenectady also subject of lawsuit
By MIKE GOODWIN Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY - A man who says two city police officers abducted him from
a Lincoln Avenue porch and left him without shoes on an isolated
Glenville road is suing the officers and the city of Schenectady.
David Sampson, 27, is seeking an undisclosed amount over allegations
officers Michael Siler and Richard Barnett violated his civil rights
when they took him from the front porch of 816 Lincoln Ave. on July 28
and drove him to Rector Road in rural Glenville.
Sampson, who was charged with no crime, feared for his life, according
to the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Albany. Sampson's
terror only increased when the police cruiser crossed the city line and
headed toward Glenville, his attorney said.
"He hasn't done anything wrong. It's dark out and he's going away from
the city," said attorney Kevin A. Luibrand of Albany. "He thinks he's
going to be killed."
The lawsuit charges that Siler parked the car on the darkened road while
Barnett ordered Sampson to place his feet outside the vehicle. Barnett
allegedly removed the shoes and threw them into a densely wooded area
nearby.
Barnett then struck Sampson in the head, pulled him from the vehicle and
pushed him to the roadside, the lawsuit said. The two officers then
drove away, leaving Sampson barefoot and alone on Rector Road, it said.
"David Sampson's only offense was that he was a black man," Luibrand
said. The two officers allegedly involved are white.
The lawsuit accuses the city of failing to act on past allegations of
police abuse. The city is also accused of creating an environment where
officers feel free to unlawfully search, detain and brutalize citizens.
First details Police have already confirmed that they are investigating
allegations Siler and Barnett abandoned a man on a rural Glenville Road,
but Sampson's lawsuit provides the first in-depth details of what may
have happened to him on the evening of July 28.
Siler and Barnett, who on Saturday were suspended without pay and
charged with misconduct in the line of duty, are the subject of a
criminal investigation by the Police Department.
"There is a likelihood we will arrest them," Police Chief Gregory T.
Kaczmarek said.
Police officials have interviewed several possible witnesses in the
case, but have not questioned Sampson or the two officers, Kaczmarek
said.
Luibrand said he has moved Sampson to an undisclosed location in Albany
and is not permitting him to speak with the media or police. The city
has not interviewed Siler or Barnett during an internal affairs
investigation because such questioning would give the officers immunity
from criminal prosecution, the chief said.
However, he said he expects the Police Department will attempt to
question the two officers as part of the criminal probe.
The allegations against Siler and Barnett are the most recent in a
monthlong string of abuse allegations that have rocked the Police
Department.
Two sisters filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city on Aug. 3,
charging that three officers falsely arrested them on Dec. 27 after an
incident at the Union Inn, a Union Street bar popular with police
officers. Luibrand also represents the two complainants in that case,
Jessica DiSorbo, 26, and her 23-year-old sister Rebecca DiSorbo.
(Luibrand is the lawyer who represented John C. Rodick, the man who won
a record $2.8 million judgment against the city after being beaten by
police in 1989. The award was later reduced to $1.8 million.)
Police have also investigated a separate complaint of police misconduct
at the Union Inn that is expected to result in internal disciplinary
action against Officer Kevin Kilcullen, the officer allegedly involved.
The Police Department has also looked into allegations that various
officers have beaten suspects, including a Schenectady County
Correctional Facility inmate's contention that Barnett beat him after an
arrest in Hamilton Hill.
Corruption allegations Most recently, police began investigating
allegations of corruption made by members of the Schenectady chapter of
the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. NAACP
officials said they have received more than 20 complaints from drug
dealers who claim police officers routinely steal money from them.
Sampson's alleged abduction drew the attention of Glenville police, who
were summoned to Rector Road at roughly 9:30 p.m. on July 28 after a
motorist reported seeing a man in the roadway shouting for help.
Officer Keith McKenna did not initially find the unidentified
individual, but learned from another motorist that a man had also asked
him for a ride, Deputy Police Chief Dominick Masherone said Monday.
In the meantime, Sampson convinced a Rector Road resident to call him a
taxi cab and then awaited its arrival on the resident's porch.
Masherone said McKenna stopped the taxi and questioned the driver when
it passed him on Rector Road. But at that point, the vehicle had no fare
and McKenna had no reason to believe it was tied to reports of a man in
distress, he said.
Soon after, the taxi again passed McKenna, this time with a passenger
matching the description of the man looking for help earlier.
McKenna followed the taxi to I-890 where he stopped it and questioned
the passenger, who identified himself as David Sampson.
"He said the police dropped him off on Rector Road and took his shoes,"
Masherone said.
McKenna said Sampson spoke somewhat irrationally and rejected his offer
to be taken to Ellis Hospital's mental health facility, he said.
Report filed Sampson simply said he wanted to return to his Schenectady
home, so McKenna sent him on his way and filed a police incident report,
Masherone said.
The curious incident remained little more than a one-page report filed
in the town police station until the department received a vague Freedom
of Information request about the incident earlier this month, he said.
Masherone said he examined several police reports from July 28. He
contacted the Schenectady police after finding Sampson's complaint and
determining it was most likely the target of the Freedom of Information
request.
City police, already investigating allegations of other misconduct by
officers, sent Assistant Police Chief Michael Seber to Glenville to
interview McKenna.
Luibrand has taken swore statements from several people who were on
Lincoln Avenue at the time of Sampson's alleged abduction. One of them
is Susan McGrew, a 48-year-old woman who has lived at 816 Lincoln Ave.
for the past 15 years.
During an interview on Monday with The Daily Gazette, McGrew said she
arrived home on July 28 to find two police officers questioning a man
she later learned was Sampson.
"When I pulled up, the cops had him sitting right here," the 48-year-old
woman said, pointing to a fold-up chair on her porch.
McGrew said the officers made a vague reference to her about suspicions
that Sampson planned to burglarize her home and then placed him in the
squad car. However, there was no further investigation into the burglary
allegation after the officers drove off, she said.
Sampson later claimed he was searching for McGrew's daughter, hoping to
bum a car ride, McGrew said. At the time, the daughter did not know
Sampson, but has since met him through a friend, she said.
Sampson appeared to cooperate with the officers and made no provocative
statements, she said.
"When they were putting him in the car, he said, `What did I do?' "
McGrew recalled. "They just said, `Get in the car.' "
ofr...@hotmail.com
Date:08/12/1999
Sch'dy patrolman faces suspension
Kevin Kilcullen admits wrongdoing at Union Inn
By MORGAN LYLE Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY - A patrolman will probably be suspended for his role in an
off-duty, late-night altercation July 3 at the Union Inn, Police Chief
Gregory T. Kaczmarek said Wednesday.
Kevin Kilcullen has acknowledged wrongdoing in the incident, the chief
said. Two young women, one of them the daughter of a high-level county
government official, had accused Kilcullen of punching one of them and
backhanding the other.
"He admits that there was some contact," Kaczmarek said. "Whether it
rises to a skirmish or not is subject to some debate. But he's admitted
that what he did caused embarrassment to the department, and we're going
to deal with it."
Carrie Ann Davidson and Victoria Long said Kilcullen struck them after
midnight in the 517 Union St. bar, a police hangout. Davidson is the
daughter of county Finance Commissioner George Davidson.
Kaczmarek said the suspension would likely mean losing accrued vacation
time, rather than sitting out shifts without pay. No action will be
taken until the Police Benevolent Association attorney returns from
vacation, because the chief wants both sides to agree to the terms.
The chief also said he has at least one more person to interview about
the incident.
Meanwhile, city attorney Michael T. Brockbank, in a broadcast interview,
disputed the contention of two other young women that they were beaten
by police at the police station; that allegation stemmed from a separate
incident in December that began in the same bar.
Rebecca and Jessica DiSorbo have sued the city in federal court,
claiming they were falsely arrested and brutalized in the police lockup.
Their attorney contends the alleged attack was caught on videotape, but
Brockbank disagreed on the Paul Vandenburgh Show on WROW radio Wednesday
morning.
"I have looked at [the tape]," he said. "I don't see any officers
banging any heads."
Rather, he repeated his assertion that Rebecca DiSorbo, 23, injured
herself by banging her own head against jail cell bars. A female
corrections officer called paramedics and an ambulance for DiSorbo "not
because of her condition when she got into the cell [after being booked
by the officers since accused of brutality], but because of her
activities in the cell," Brockbank said.
The DiSorbos' attorney, Kevin Luibrand, has vigorously disputed that
Rebecca DiSorbo injured herself.
He said she will testify that police slammed her head into the floor
while she was handcuffed and lying on her stomach.
The sisters' lawsuit alleges that Patrolman Ronald Pedersen, an off-duty
patron of the Union Inn at the time, arrested Rebecca DiSorbo for no
good reason after she rejected his advances, and that Jessica DiSorbo,
25, was subsequently arrested when she protested.
Pedersen charged that Rebecca DiSorbo "was creating a disturbance" in
the bar, and when told to produce identification, "became verbally
abusive, using profanity and continuing to actually strike" the officer.
Luibrand denied Wednesday that his client was abusive or struck the
officer.
City Court records examined last week showed one charge of second-degree
harassment, a violation, against Rebecca DiSorbo, alleging she kicked an
officer at the police station. Brockbank revealed Wednesday that she had
also been charged with harassment at the Union Inn, for the alleged
striking and abusive language.
Jessica DiSorbo was charged with three counts of harassment, for
allegedly kicking an officer three times at the police station;
disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, allegedly at the bar; and false
impersonation.
The district attorney's office offered to drop the charges if the
sisters stay out of trouble for six months, a disposition known as
adjournment in contemplation of dismissal. City Court Judge Karen Drago
approved the ACOD June 28, Luibrand said.
Brockbank said the ACOD is not the same as an acquittal, and would rule
out any complaint of malicious prosecution by police. Luibrand said his
suit does not claim malicious prosecution, but does claim false arrest,
malicious abuse of process and excessive force.
The DiSorbos' lawsuit, filed July 22 in U.S. District Court in Albany,
names the city, Pedersen and officers Kenneth Hill and Matthew Hoy as
defendants. It seeks unspecified punitive and compensatory damages.
Luibrand is the lawyer who represented John C. Rodick, the man who won a
record $2.8 million judgment against the city after being beaten by
police in 1989. The award was later reduced to $1.8 million.
The city has until Aug. 19 to decide whether to defend Pedersen, Hill
and Hoy, Brockbank said. Whether to indemnify them will depend on
whether city officials believe they were acting within their duties as
officers.
Kaczmarek, also appearing on WROW on Wednesday, said he had reason to
believe that Luibrand is considering representing others with complaints
against the Police Department - complaints the department itself is
looking into.
He was not specific.
ofr...@hotmail.com
police tapes
By MATTHEW ROY
Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY - The law firm representing a city
man who claims city police officers dumped
him on a dark and remote road in Glenville
filed a legal petition Thursday seeking town police
recordings of radio and telephone calls.
Town police have declined attorney Kevin Luibrand's
requests under the state Freedom of
Information Law for access to tapes of radio
and telephone transmissions and a radio transmission
log. A legal petition was filed Thursday by
Adrienne Kerwin, another attorney with Luibrand's firm,
Tobin and Dempf of Albany.
Luibrand represents David Sampson, a 27-year-old
Schenectady man who alleges in a federal civil
rights suit that two city police officers picked
him up on Hamilton Hill, drove him to Glenville,
punched him, tossed his boots into the woods and
left him on remote Rector Road.
The officers, Richard Barnett and Michael Siler,
have been suspended without pay and police are
investigating the claim. Siler's attorney, Michael
Koenig, has denied any wrongdoing.
City Corporation Counsel Michael Brockbank said
interviews with both officers are scheduled for
Monday, to determine whether the city will
indemnify them in the suit.
According to Luibrand, Sampson drew the attention
of town police on July 28 in Glenville. Luibrand
has said a passing driver called police and reported
a black man yelling for help on Rector Road.
Luibrand contends that by the time town police arrived,
Sampson had gone to a home where
residents called him a cab. A Glenville officer
later pulled the cab over as it was heading for
Schenectady, questioned Sampson, and let him go,
Luibrand says.
In papers filed Thursday in state Supreme Court in
Schenectady County, Tobin and Dempf seeks a
court order allowing the firm access to the radio log.
The firm's requests for records - both in their
initial letters to the department under the Freedom of
Information Law, and in their petition - do not
mention the Sampson case directly. However, they
seek records of calls and transmissions made the
evening of July 28, the night Sampson claims he
was dropped off.
Deputy Glenville Police Chief Dominick G. Macherone
denied the request, contending it did not
"reasonably describe the record being requested."
In the petition filed Thursday, Kerwin asserted
that description was sufficient, since it specifies
the dates and times of transmissions.
Neither Macherone nor Luibrand were available for
comment late Thursday afternoon.
ofr...@hotmail.com
By MIKE GOODWIN Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY - In the wake of allegations of police brutality and
misconduct, a city councilman on Thursday suggested city leaders meet to
discuss possibly implementing policy and procedural changes at the
Police Department.
The Police Department should contemplate several changes to "save the
credibility of the 98 percent of our officers that are professionals and
ensure the safety and well-being of our residents," Democrat David L.
Bouck wrote in a Thursday memorandum to Mayor Albert P. Jurczynski.
The city is facing several lawsuits for a host of allegations, including
charges that citizens were falsely arrested, beaten and in one case,
driven to a country road in Glenville and left without shoes. Two
officers are currently the focus of a criminal investigation.
Bouck recommended that the Police Department install additional video
cameras in the police station as well and begin installing them in squad
cars. Further videotaping of police interaction with the public could
protect the city and police from bogus abuse allegations, Bouck said.
A state corrections officer, Bouck also suggested the department make
detailed records and take photographs in instances where a suspect is
injured during an arrest.
"It will protect us. It will protect the citizens and it will instill a
sense of confidence in the Police Department," Bouck said.
Police Chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek said, "I'm willing to listen. I'm
always willing to listen."
But he said some of Bouck's proposals could be financially unworkable.
Squad-car cameras and the film they require carry a prohibitive cost, he
said.
"We're fighting to keep adequate manpower on the street," he said.
Jurczynski said he gave Bouck's memo to the city's Law Department and
expects the issues raised in it to be addressed at a council meeting.
"I'm always willing to listen to anybody," Jurczynski said. "If they
want to bring things before the public safety committee, we're aways
there."
Meanwhile, members of the Schenectady chapter of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People held a forum Thursday
night to address the police issue.
The city police are now investigating several complaints of police
misconduct, including allegations that officers robbed drug dealers. The
FBI is "monitoring" the investigation and taking statements from
witnesses.
The NAACP has brought numerous allegations to the attention of the
police and the federal agents and are continuing to compile complaints,
according to NAACP secretary Rebecca Chaires.
At the meeting, some people alleged instances of police brutality and
illegal police searches. One man criticized the Police Department for
failing to act on past complaints until the NAACP aired misconduct
complaints to the FBI.
"It never should have gotten this out of hand," he said.
But others simply spoke of a rudeness by police that underscores the
mistrust between members of the public and the officers.
"It's the little stuff," said Hughes Williams, a black 53-year-old man.
Williams recalled waiting for his girlfriend's bus at the downtown
Greyhound bus terminal one evening two weeks ago when a police car
stopped near him. He said an officer eyed him suspiciously and asked him
what he was doing there.
"I said, `I'm waiting for a bus.' What are you supposed to be doing at a
bus stop?" Williams said.
He said the officers told him that Greyhound doesn't want people hanging
around the bus station and told him to "move along."
"I'm waiting for a bus and I get hassled," he said.
Assistant Police Chief Michael Seber attended Thursday night's meeting.
Seber is leading the city's internal investigation.
He told the audience the investigation could last six months or more.
"We're looking at everything," he said. "This is not going to be a
two-week investigation that we close out."
ofr...@hotmail.com
City will defy ruling by arbitrator
By MORGAN LYLE Gazette Reporter
SCHENECTADY - Despite an arbitrator's ruling, a policeman fired for
using a racial slur will not be put back on the force today, city
officials said.
Patrolman John W. Lewis, fired in November but ordered reinstated last
month by a Public Employment Relations Board arbitrator, will be turned
away if he shows up for his old 4-to-midnight shift, they said.
"John Lewis will not be put on the payroll and his status will remain
terminated until such time as a court tells us otherwise," said Elayne
G. Gold, a labor lawyer for the city.
On Wednesday, a judge refused the city's request for an injunction
keeping Lewis off the force while the arbitrator's ruling is appealed.
Acting state Supreme Court Justice Barry D. Kramer did, however,
schedule a hearing next week on whether the ruling should ultimately be
overturned.
But Gold said the injunction was not necessary because the ruling is not
official until approved by the courts. "An arbitration award has no
force and effect of law" by itself, she said.
Lewis' attorney, James B. Tuttle of Albany, declined comment.
In his report, the arbitrator, Michael S. Lewandowski, said the city was
"unduly harsh" in firing the policeman for using the racial slur in the
presence of a black civilian police employee while off-duty in February
1998.
Lewandowski acknowledged that the slur was "serious misconduct" that
merited a lengthy suspension and sensitivity training.
But he said Lewis, hired in April 1994, had only one other serious
blemish on his record, an unspecified incident that brought him a 24-day
suspension in late 1995.
As for alleged misbehavior while in the police academy, the city could
have fired him then, or during his probationary period upon joining the
force, Lewandowski said.
"It must be presumed that his conduct and performance were satisfactory
to the city during that period," the arbitrator wrote.
Mayor Albert P. Jurczynski, in papers filed Wednesday, said the ruling
"attempts to bind my hands" in disciplining his employees.
"Despite his early record of insubordination, he was given a chance to
mature and grow into his job as a police officer," the mayor said in an
affidavit filed Wednesday.
"Nevertheless, John Lewis continued to be arrogant and insubordinate;
his culminating act was to use a racial slur. . . . It is appalling to
me, as mayor and a citizen of the city of Schenectady, that John Lewis
would still be allowed to work in our Police Department."
Police Chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek this week asked the Schenectady branch
of the NAACP to support the continued effort to fire Lewis. Rebecca
Chaires, the branch secretary, agreed.
"We are supporting them on their decision to try not to reinstate this
officer," Chaires said. "Chief Kaczmarek doesn't want this officer
brought back and the city doesn't want him brought back, so we support
them in whatever they can do."
Gold said in court papers that the arbitrator should have recognized the
academy matters, the 1995 suspension and the slur as a pattern of
misbehavior.
If previous incidents were supposed to be exempt from consideration, the
city's contract with the Police Benevolent Association would say so,
Gold contended.
Lewandowski's ruling effectively "rewrites" the PBA contract, which
violates state public policy and exceeds the arbitrator's authority, she
said; both are legal grounds for overturning an arbitrator's ruling.
In addition, the arbitrator's finding that Lewis' previous
transgressions were of a different nature suggest that only "like-kind"
offenses can add up to grounds for termination, Gold argued. No such
provision exists in the law or the PBA contract, she said.
Finally, the ruling "negates all respect for the Police Department" and
will "demoralize" the rest of the force if allowed to stand, the city
said.
ofr...@hotmail.com
By CARL STROCK
Now we know. The fellow that two Schenectady cops are accused of
abducting and dumping on a dark road in Glenville is David Sampson, age
27, black, with a previous arrest for disorderly conduct by the same two
cops, Richard Barnett and Michael Siler.
(The cops have been suspended and face possible criminal charges not
only for this incident but also for allegedly shaking down drug
dealers.)
Sampson is suing the city over his encounter with the pair, alleging
that his rights were violated, which they undoubtedly were if his story
is anywhere near true.
His lawyer, Kevin Luibrand, provides the following account of what
happened:
Sampson and two friends went to call on another friend in the Hamilton
Hill area of Schenectady on the evening of Wednesday, July 28. Not
finding the person home, he and one friend sat down on the porch, while
the third went to call a taxi.
Soon a police car stopped in front of them and two cops, Barnett and
Siler, approached them. According to the complaint, the cops "detained
and searched David Sampson's person, reached inside David Sampson's
pants, shined flashlights into his mouth, and falsely and illegally
alleged that David Sampson had engaged in unspecified criminal
activity." Then they bundled him into the back seat of their car and
drove off with him.
From Hamilton Hill they went to I-890 and drove west out of Schenectady,
connecting with Rt. 5 beyond the Scotia Industrial Park. There they
turned up Rector Road, which is a long steep hill, densely wooded but
punctuated with upscale housing plots.
Near the end of the road, in the vicinity of the Guan-Ho-Ha Fish and
Game Club, eight miles from Hamilton Hill, they stopped. Patrolman
Barnett opened the back door and told Sampson to put his feet up. He
pulled off Sampson's shoes and threw them into the woods, then hit
Sampson in the head and dragged him out of the car. Then the two cops
drove off and left him there.
There are no street lights on Rector Road, so by 9:30 at night, when
this occurred, it must have been as dark as the inside of a cow up
there.
Sampson tried to flag down a car. A woman driver who saw him called the
Glenville police and reported a black male in the road yelling for help
and frantically waving.
By the time Glenville Officer Keith McKenna got there, Sampson had gone
to the nearest house, a modest two-story colonial at 1183 Rector Road,
the home of John Keating and Gina Schuhl, where he appeared "nervous but
very polite," according to Ms. Schuhl. They called a cab for him.
Still looking for a mysterious black male, Officer McKenna caught up
with the cab at the bottom of Rector Road, stopped it and inquired what
was going on. (This is according to Glenville Deputy Chief Nick
Macherone.)
McKenna noted that Sampson was "irrational" - he was claiming he had
been dumped by city police officers who had taken his shoes, which I
suppose might sound irrational to someone in Glenville.
McKenna called the Glenville police dispatcher, who called the
Schenectady police dispatcher, who said he (or she) had no knowledge of
any such incident, which I'm willing to bet was true.
Sampson returned to Schenectady in the cab, and now here we are.
Luibrand, by the way, the lawyer, says Sampson pleaded guilty to the
earlier disorderly conduct charge sometime in the last six months, and
also had another arrest for disorderly conduct and possession of
marijuana, but those charges were dismissed. He asserts that Sampson is
not a drug dealer and has no other criminal record.
He declined my request to interview Sampson, who is in hiding.
Anyway, isn't that a jolly story? Doesn't it just sound like the Deep
South before the civil rights movement? Except that it doesn't end with
a flogging or a lynching.
But picking up a black guy and leaving him barefoot on a dark road eight
miles out of town just for the deviltry of it? Without any pretense of
criminal charges?
Well, the cops have been suspended, so you can take some comfort from
that
ofr...@hotmail.com
By Carl Strock The Daily Gazette
Last month we praised the Schenectady Police Department for helping to
make the city part of a national trend toward reduced crime. It was
encouraging that serious crime in Schenectady has been steadily dropping
and arrests have been increasing - at the same time that citizen
complaints have been decreasing.
But some allegations made last week are less than encouraging. If true,
the department has at least one bad cop, as well as some colleagues who
are willing to abet him and an administration that is unwilling to take
needed action.
The cop in question is Patrolman Ronald Pederson, who has been on the
force five years. According to Rebecca DiSorbo, who has filed a police
brutality lawsuit against the city, Pederson came on to her at a bar
last December while he was off-duty. When she rejected his advances,
according to her lawyer, Pederson twisted DiSorbo's arm behind her back
and arrested her along with her sister, who had protested.
After being driven to the station in a waiting police car, the sisters
say, they were handcuffed and knocked around by Pederson and two other
officers, and Pederson choked Rebecca DiSorbo and slammed her head
against the floor. She was later taken by ambulance to the hospital to
be treated for injuries.
The charges against the sisters had nothing to do with their behavior at
the bar - i.e., that might have justified their arrest. Rebecca DiSorbo
was charged with harassment, and her sister with harassment, disorderly
conduct and resisting arrest in connection with their purported conduct
at the station - and in June those charges were essentially dropped.
If the allegations are true - and the available evidence from this and
another recently revealed incident involving Pederson gives little
reason to think they aren't - the man shouldn't be wearing a badge. If
he acts this way, he is abusing his authority as a police officer and is
unable to control himself. This isn't a question of a cop dealing with a
bad guy and getting carried away, but someone misusing the criminal
justice system and physically harming a totally innocent citizen, and a
handcuffed one at that. If a private citizen had done what Pederson is
alleged to have done, he would be charged with assault.
Bad cops happen, and that's bad enough. What's even more disturbing is
that some of Pederson's fellow officers appear to have gone along with
mistreatment of people and the process, when they could have said,
before or at least after the arrests, "Hey, you can't do that."
And where are Police Chief Gregory Kaczmarek and Mayor Al Jurczynski?
They should be out front on this, as the chief and mayor in Albany were
when Patrolmen Sean McKenna and William Bonanni were quickly suspended
after being accused of beating up Jermaine Henderson at the station
after a bar fight. Even after acquittal, the officers are still not on
the street and are still facing disciplinary action, including possible
firing. Pederson should also be suspended, with pay if necessary, while
a serious investigation is conducted.
ofr...@hotmail.com
If ever there was an entire police department that deserves to be fired,
it would be Schenectady's.
All 160 of them. It's an outfit with zero credibility, a state of
affairs they've brought on themselves.
Which doesn't mean the vast majority of them wouldn't deserve to be
hired right back. But only under different terms and with new contracts
under which the city and the people would have some meaningful oversight
over this run-amok department. None exists now.
The current situation is absurd, where the union leadership has more
power of control over the rank and file than the commanders, and where
cops only investigate cops and don't tell us the outcome.
A system that obviously doesn't work since over and over again in recent
years the Schenectady Police Department makes headlines with allegations
of mischief, brutality, insensitivity, and now even shaking down drug
dealers.
A textbook example of what happens when a police union becomes insanely
powerful. The thin blue line stops answering to the people, they only
speak to each other. An armed force that has become insular and
insolent, closer to a definition of a police state than a police
department.
Can the bunch of them, Mr. Mayor. Declare them null and void.
It's gotten so bad that Mayor Al Jurczynski and Police Chief Greg
Kaczmarek have felt compelled to call in the FBI to conduct the sort of
investigation of shakedowns and brutality against just a few officers
that any other police department would rely on its internal affairs unit
to do. The mayor and police are right, though. The Schenectady Police
Department can't be trusted to do the job.
If there is a group who should be seriously irritated at their brothers,
it's the hard-working, honest cops in Schenectady who are now
inextricably lumped in with the few boneheads. Fair or not, it's come to
that. They're all tarred with the same brush -- the union contract
language has seen to that.
Sure, I know, they're not guilty until convicted, and most of the
accusers are not model citizens.
But this is not what it's about, guilt or innocence. It's about an open,
public process that you or I would have to go through if we faced the
same accusations. A process disastrously absent in Schenectady. And it's
about respect for the community that's dried up.
A symbolic tip-off was the egg-throwing incident of a couple years ago.
Not a high crime. Just infantile behavior demonstrating astounding
disrespect. For the uniform, for the people of Schenectady.
"Would I like to change things? Do away with all these contracts?'' says
an obviously anguished, angry mayor. "If we were in the private sector,
we'd be out of business. But the contracts are the contracts, and that
means I've got to be a little smarter as mayor otherwise we wind up with
hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawsuits.''
So the mayor has punted to the FBI, although it is by no means clear
whether the feds will field the ball or watch which way it bounces. The
principal investigator of all the various allegations is the police
chief, a man who came up through the ranks of this same outfit.
Do you have absolute faith in Greg Kaczmarek, Mr. Mayor? Are you lashed
to him? If he goes down, do you go down?
"Yes, I have total confidence in Greg. Yes, absolutely, if he goes down
so do I. This situation is the biggest test of my career. It's all on
the line. Former mayor Frank Duci said at one time that he wanted to be
mayor of Schenectady for life. I don't want to be, believe me, but I'm
not going to be chased out of here, either.
"I would rather not be dealing with any of this, that makes Schenectady
look bad, but I will deal with it. Sometimes it's no fun to be mayor.
Today, in fact, it sucks.''
ofr...@hotmail.com
Editorial printed on the editor's page of the Daily Gazette:
The civilian police review board established in Schenectady in 1991 was
better than nothing, which is what many other cities, including Albany,
have when it comes to an outside review of alleged police misconduct.
But some board members, such as City Council President Joe Allen, have
been saying all along that the review is too limited and that the board
needs more authority. They're right. Now, after the police department
has been hit with a string of allegations of police misconduct (none of
which, it should be remembered, has been proved yet), the city should
move to increase the board's powers.
The basic problem stems from having any institution, especially a
close-knit one like a police department, investigate itself. The review
board, officially known as the Police Objective Review Committee, was an
attempt to address that problem by having a group of outsiders study the
department's internal investigations to ensure they are thorough and
honest.
But the committee was handicapped by the ground rules, which allowed the
department to edit out the day, time and place of the incident, the name
of the officer and complainant, and the punishment, if any. Another
problem was the backlog of cases; the department took so long with its
investigations that sometimes the committee had no cases to review, and
those they had were often years old.
Some changes have already been made. For instance, the backlog has been
eliminated and cases are now going to the committee in timely fashion.
And back in July, before the recent allegations began, Police Chief
Gregory Kaczmarek agreed to stop deleting details from the report, with
the exception of the officer's name.
Kaczmarek maintains that it's not necessary to include the name of the
officer, because the committee members usually know it anyway, either
from the complainant or, in many cases, the arrest record. He also says
revealing the name may be illegal, as the state Court of Appeals ruled
in the infamous egg-throwing case. But the committee needs to know the
name of the officer, as well as the punishment, in order to get a full
picture of what happened and how the department handled it - and,
perhaps most important, to see if the officer has a pattern of
misconduct. If necessary, the committee can be made an official
investigatory body and its members sworn to secrecy.
A stronger review board can help restore public confidence in the police
department. Something else that would help is for the city to revive a
police-community relations board, which was created at the same time as
the review board but never really got started.
ofr...@hotmail.com
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Police brutality probe widens
acknowledged there may be potential conflict in prosecuting any case
against Barnett because his fiancee is Lara Andrews, an assistant
district attorney. The couple is to be married on Sept. 25.
Carney, when contacted Tuesday night regarding the matter, said he was
aware of the situation.
"If there is a future prosecution, this situation would create a
conflict that would prohibit us from handling the case,'' Carney said.
He said assigning a special prosecutor to the case would be a possible
solution to the problem.
Meanwhile, Brian Stratton, chairman of the City Council Public Safety
Committee, said Mayor Albert Jurczynski should ask the State
Investigation Commission to look into mounting allegations of wrongdoing
in the Schenectady Police Department.
"The SIC is a resource that should be used for the good of the city and
for the sake of restoring public confidence in the police,'' said
Stratton.
Jurczynski said he didn't think SIC involvement is warranted at present.
"We're dealing with the FBI right now, so I don't believe it's advisable
to bring in any other agency at this time,'' he said.
Over the years, the SIC has been involved in investigations of police
departments after receiving complaints from local government officials
or citizens, said commission member Joseph Dominelli of Rotterdam.
"However, I can't make any comment on the Schenectady case at all,''
said Dominelli, a former Rotterdam police chief and longtime executive
director of the New York State Association of Police Chiefs Inc.
Regarding the DeJesus matter, the city plans to schedule a hearing at
which city lawyers will question DeJesus about the incident, Corporation
Counsel Michael T. Brockbank said. The recent allegations about Barnett
make the city's job tougher, he said.
"All of his arrests will be questioned now because he has apparently
done something wrong,'' Brockbank said of Barnett. "There is a pile-on
effect.''
On Tuesday, the sheriff's office received a Freedom of Information Law
request from attorney Kevin A. Luibrand, seeking DeJesus' medical
records and photographs from the county jail. Luibrand also is
representing Sampson, the city man allegedly left without boots in
Glenville, and two sisters who claim they were falsely arrested and
brutalized by city police. He said he has not decided whether to file a
lawsuit on behalf of DeJesus.
DeJesus was arrested at 5:04 p.m. on Feb. 10 at Summit Avenue and
Hamilton Street in the city's Hamilton Hill section, according to
Luibrand and city police. Police said they had a bench warrant for
DeJesus' arrest because he had not shown up for a court date. Police
said his arrest record includes charges of aggravated unlicensed driving
and disorderly conduct.
DeJesus tried to run from police when they approached him on Feb. 10,
Luibrand said. He was charged with two counts of resisting arrest,
police said. The dispositions of those cases were unavailable late
Tuesday.
"One thing I'm not doing at this point is attacking the arrest,''
Luibrand said. "There's no question he ran.''
But he said he does have questions about how DeJesus received the
injuries. And the main issue, Luibrand said, is why DeJesus didn't
receive medical attention while at the city police station. Police said
they could not comment immediately on the matter.
The sheriff said DeJesus arrived at the jail with one eye swollen shut,
with cuts inside his lip and with bruises. Luibrand said DeJesus also
had chipped front teeth, and he said a county jail form described
DeJesus as "mortally unstable.''
"He was in the lockup in that condition for at least 18 hours in the
view of many people, including on videotape,'' Luibrand said. But
DeJesus only received medical attention after being transferred to the
county jail, he said.
Buffardi said he had DeJesus taken to Ellis Hospital, where he was
treated and released back to the jail.
Luibrand declined to comment on whether Barnett was involved in the
DeJesus incident. "I don't want to pile on the guy,'' he said.
Luibrand is the lawyer who represented John C. Rodick, a former city
resident who received $1.75 million in a police brutality suit. Rodick
was brutalized and maliciously prosecuted by Schenectady police after he
was mistaken for a Florida homicide suspect in February 1989.
Luibrand said he is now looking into seven complaints that allege
brutality by Schenectady police, including the complaint from DeJesus.
A 70-year-old local businessman told the Times Union this week that he
had a run-in recently with city police after he asked an officer to move
a car that was blocking his car at a gas station at Eastern Parkway and
McClellan Avenue.
A few minutes later, the man -- who did not want his name used -- said
he was stopped by police on Eastern Parkway for not wearing a seat belt.
He was taken to the police station and strip-searched down to his
underwear, according to the station's report.
Officials for the city police union could not be reached immediately for
comment.
- Outlaw Frog Raper -
news:alt.thebird.copwatch
news:alt.law-enforcement
news:nyc.general
(518)356-4238
n
Speaking of stonewalling ....
NYS Dept of Correctional Services had a person escape. His name is Robert
Sanders. Semiliterate people (for example, some press relations officers
of big law enforcement agencies) call escapers "escapees". Anyway, he
escaped.
In California, someone was picked up. He was extradited to New York as if
he were Robert Sanders. He was then incarcerated for 2 years. All along,
he complained that he was not the person wanted but NY state Dept. of
Correctional Services ("DCS") personnel ignored the evidence. Their
innocent prisoner had different fingerprints than the escaper, had a
different first name, and looked different. Also, medical records of the
escaper show that the innocent prisoner was not the escaper. DCS
personnel ignored all of this evidence despite many complaints from the
innocent prisoner. After two years of wrongful imprisonment, the innocent
person was released by DCS.
DCS has never admitted that it treated the innocent guy terribly. It
refuses to admit that it ought to pay him money to compensate him. These
refusals, too, are stonewalling.
BTW, DCS did not single out the innocent prisoner for special treatment.
DCS personnel normally did NOT check fingerprints or other identifying
evidence in extradition cases, AFAIK. The innocent person ahd the same
date of birth and the same last name. The innocent person kept insisting
truthfully that his first name was not Robert. He kept asking why they
had him locked up. DCS pretended that it was a competent law enforcement
agency but (at least in extradition matters) it seems to have been a
parody of a law enforcement agency. Unfortunately, no one running it
will go to prison as a prisoner.
....................
By the way, OFR, you did not make a post relevant to New York CITY but you
posted to a NYC newsgroup. I'll try to tie your post to New York City.
....................
Maybe perhaps possibly somehow Leal was driving from Texas all the way to
Rego Park neighborhood of Queens, New York City, zip 11374. On the
southwest corner of Queens Blvd and 63rd Avenue in Rego Park, there is an
apartment building (9354 Queens Blvd, across Queens Blvd from an AT&T
building) with a dentist's office which has a door openly directly to
Queens Blvd. I think that a male law enforcement officer lives near there,
maybe in an apartment above the dentist's office. If I have a chance, I'll
legally, ethically, properly check.
Al
M. Simon
Time to end soveriegn immunity.
M. Simon Space-Time Productions http://www.spacetimepro.com
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