On a different front allow me to express my gratitude to Gov. Eliot Spitzer for vetoing a bill that would have prevented the city of Schenectady from disciplining its police officers. This was a bill pusillanimously passed by our state legislators without debate or discussion, almost certainly at the instigation of the police unions of the state. It negated a Court of Appeals decision from last year that would allow some few cities and towns with particular laws on their books to discipline police officers without recourse to outside arbitrators. Schenectady’s new public safety commissioner, Wayne Bennett, formerly superintendent of the state police, seized on it and declared there would be no more outside arbitration of disciplinary matters on his watch. Without consulting either him or Mayor Stratton, Schenectady’s three representatives in the Legislature — Sen. Hugh Farley and Assemblymen Jim Tedisco and Paul Tonko — voted in favor of this high-handed bill. It fell to the governor to stand up for the interests of the people of Schenectady, and he did it.
Gee, I guess everyone in the world knew it except Brian Stratton. I'm sure he was told, but perhaps he has a hearing impedement?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
When there is a job to be done every technician needs the proper tools to complete the task. A mechanic needs a wrench, a carpenter needs a hammer, a doctor needs a stethoscope, and supervisors need the power to discipline employees as needed. Thank you Gov. [Eliot] Spitzer for listening to the people and vetoing the police arbitration bill and giving the tool most needed to Schenectady’s Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett and the city, the sole power to discipline officers who misbehave [Aug. 2 Gazette]. It is disappointing to me that our elected legislators chose to acquiesce to this powerful lobby, the police unions, but it is equally enlightening to see the governor do the right thing — while maybe not politically correct, certainly responsibly correct. Commissioner Bennett now has all that is needed to do his job to the best of his ability, and his department and all city residents will be better off for it. VINCE RIGGI Schenectady
So tell me...what the heck DOES Stratton do except wine and dine at the resturants that have benefited from the Metroplex? Isn't it clearly HIS respnsibility to handle HIS police dept? The only thing good about having Bennet is that he will get the job done. But Stratton is surely afraid of the police unions and wants to stay clear of them. BUT always on the good side of them for their potential votes!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
SCHENECTADY Grants fund crime-fighting efforts City police department nets money for overtime, detectives BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
Law enforcement in Schenectady will get a boost of $865,854 through the state Division of Criminal Justice Service’s Operation IMPACT program, officials announced, the largest such award received locally since the program started in 2004. Mayor Brian U. Stratton said the grant comes on the heels of a drop in violent crime throughout the city. “It’s absolutely critical for us to mount a cooperative effort to fight crime in the city,” he said Tuesday. In the year fiscal period that ended June 30, the city and county received $790,000. The award was cited during City Council committee meetings Monday. The Schenectady Police Department received the greatest allotment with $502,468, which will provide up to $90,000 for patrol overtime and more than $100,000 for police detectives. The Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office was awarded $234,344 of the grant, which will continue funding for a grand jury bureau chief and a chief investigator. “We are retaining the essence of what we started last year and they’re letting us build on that,” District Attorney Robert Carney said of the funding. State authorities have used the program to target the 17 counties upstate and on Long Island that report more than 80 percent of the crime outside New York City, including Schenectady, Albany, and Rensselaer. Initial estimates showed crime declined by 8 percent during the first quarter of 2007, with violent crime down nearly 15 percent. Among the largest jurisdictions in the targeted counties, Schenectady had the second greatest drop in violent crime between January and May, at 18 percent. Carney said these results likely factored into the increase in funding this year. “Our crime statistics are good for this year,” he said. “There’s been quite a downturn.” Albany County received the largest award among Capital Region counties with more than $1.2 million, Rensselaer County was granted $583,370. Schenectady will use the funding for a period starting July 1 and running through June 2008. Schenectady County law enforcement agencies had initially requested more than $1.5 million. The difference would have funded a wireless network for city police surveillance cameras, laptops and an extra prosecutor for gun crimes, among other things. But Stratton said the grant money is enough to keep both police officers on the street and provide a boost for the city’s neighborhood surveillance camera program. This initiative also received the bulk of a recent $165,000 state grant from Sen. Hugh T. Farley, R-Niskayuna. Last month, county and city leaders announced an additional 30 cameras would be added to downtown Schenectady, joining 10 already operating primarily in the Hamilton Hill and Vale neighborhoods. Eight of these cameras are now being mounted on light poles within parking lots owned by the Metroplex Development Authority, while the remaining 22 will be affixed to utility poles. “These are very critical components and we’re very excited this is going to continue,” Stratton said. “We wouldn’t be funded anywhere near this level if we weren’t producing tangible results.”
By MIKE GOODWIN, Staff writer Wednesday, August 8, 2007
SCHENECTADY -- Daniel Diamond, the Schenectady police officer who supervised the vice squad when an underling was stealing crack cocaine evidence to fuel his drug habit, has been stripped of his rank as a sergeant and sent back to uniform patrol, officials said Wednesday.
Diamond, an 18-year veteran and the highest ranking officer ensnared in the missing evidence scandal, was returned to the payroll on Sunday after he and police brass settled disciplinary charges leveled against him last month.
"It's been resolved," said Capt. Peter Frisoni, who, citing privacy rules, declined to discuss the punishment Diamond faced.
However, other police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Diamond was demoted and stripped of his status as a plain-clothes officer.
The 46-year-old Diamond, who never faced criminal charges, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
He had been off the job since last winter, when police and prosecutors discovered drugs were missing from the vice squad. He was on paid leave for most of the time, but was put on unpaid suspension when the disciplinary charges were filed in July.
The latest development comes less than two months after former narcotics investigator Jeffrey D. Curtis, 46, pleaded guilty on June 25 to charges of felony drug possession and evidence tampering. He is expected to be sentenced to four years in prison on Sept. 14.
State troopers were called to investigate the missing evidence in January after drug charges against a suspect were dismissed because the district attorney's office couldn't produce the evidence against him. Curtis pleaded guilty to taking evidence only in that case.
The handling of vice squad evidence was at the heart of the investigation into the missing cocaine. The police department's own audit of drug evidence, carried out in the early stages of the investigation, exposed problems of sloppy evidence management, storage and record-keeping, law enforcement officials said.
Investigators eventually determined drugs were missing from evidence in 16 cases. Though Curtis admitted he took narcotics from evidence, but said he couldn't recall if he snatched all of the cocaine the District Attorney's office said eventually went missing.
The investigation exposed significant flaws in how the Police Department handled storage of drug evidence and called Diamond's leadership into question. He also was faulted after he discovered he had inadvertently lost crack cocaine bound for an evidence lab inside his car.
Hired in the wake of the scandal, Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett implemented a series of reforms aimed at making it impossible for someone to steal evidence. Bennett is a former State Police superintendent.
Officer tied to scandal returns to work Diamond now a patrolman BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Daniel Diamond, the one-time head of the city police vice squad who was caught up in a department drug scandal, has returned to work but has been demoted from sergeant to patrolman, department officials confirmed Wednesday. Diamond, a 19-year veteran of the department, returned to work Sunday after spending 30 days suspended without pay. He had spent the previous five months out on paid administrative leave. Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett announced the return in a statement Wednesday, saying Diamond did not commit any criminal acts, “nor were his failures related in any manner to the misconduct of former detective Jeffrey Curtis.” Curtis, formerly a vice squad detective, admitted in June to stealing cocaine from the squad evidence locker. Investigators focused on Curtis after a hair sample indicated that he had used drugs. Curtis was debriefed by state police investigators for a second time Monday, detailing what he recalled of the thefts and how they were done, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said. Curtis had already spent a lengthy day being debriefed the day of his plea. Carney said he was not made aware of anything new coming from the recent meeting. No other officers have been implicated. Curtis faces four years in state prison at his September sentencing. Bennett on Wednesday did not detail the administrative charges against Diamond, saying only they involved failure to comply with policies and procedures regarding evidence management. Diamond supervised the vice squad’s day shift, overseeing four detectives, according to officials. Also among his duties were handling evidence and taking part in undercover operations. “Officer Diamond has taken responsibility for his actions, which did not rise to a level that warranted termination proceedings,” Bennett wrote. “He is genuinely apologetic for the negative attention his actions brought on the department and is fully cognizant of his professional obligations as a police officer in the future.” The result came after the two sides resolved their differences a couple of weeks ago, Diamond attorney James Tuttle said. Tuttle said Diamond was eager to return to duty. “He’s glad the appropriate result was reached so he could get back to work and finish out his career,” Tuttle said. Diamond will apparently finish out that career as a patrolman. Bennett’s statement characterized the move as permanent, lasting until the end of his career with the department. It was unclear exactly what effect the reduction in rank will have on Diamond’s pay. As a sergeant, he has been consistently among the city’s top earners, his numbers helped by overtime. Diamond’s nearly six months spent off the job had already reduced his overtime pay for the year. While on administrative leave, he was not receiving any overtime, and while suspended, he was not getting paid. In 2006, he was fifth on the city’s earnings list at $115,155. His base salary was $59,252. Police union president Lt. Robert Hamilton did not return a call for comment Wednesday. Diamond was promoted to sergeant in 2001. He was the first public casualty of the scandal, placed on paid administrative leave in February, just over two weeks after the scandal broke with the discovery of missing drugs. Diamond, however, passed all drug tests, authorities said previously. At the time Diamond was placed on leave, officials downplayed the significance. The leave was administrative, not punitive. There have been allegations since, however, that Diamond found drug evidence from at least one case in the trunk of his own personal car. He came forward with the evidence himself, Carney said earlier. Carney has said a preliminary state police report found no grounds for prosecution. The scandal has prompted several reforms in the department, from better evidence handling procedures to the re-establishment of the commissioner position itself in late April, with the appointment of Bennett, a former state police superintendent. Bennett has slashed the number of offi cers who have access to evidence. Cameras are also to be installed in the secure area. In June, Bennett threw out a major piece of the city police contract, saying arbitrators will no longer decide whether Schenectady police officers are fired or disciplined, and that he as commissioner will assume that authority. Diamond, however, was disciplined under the old rules, Bennett said earlier.
I am very disappointed in this decision. Bennett has obviously turned a blind eye with this issue. So he puts Diamond back on the streets and had him sign a paper that he can never get promoted. Well, what the hell, this guy has what, 18-19 years of service in? So they gave Diamond the ability to contintinue his employment so he can still receive his retirement. And that is what this is all about. Bennett states that Diamond was apologetic. Guess what..there are tons of people in prison that are apologetic, but are clearly still doing their time. There are drug dealers out in society because of the lost evidence that Mr. Diamond was responsible for.
Bennett went soft...plan and simple.
So nothing has changed at the SPD.
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
SCHENECTADY Man charged in drug raid opts for trial Defendant hopes conduct of ex-officer will help his case BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
When police raided a Seneca Avenue home in December, they quickly found a laundry list of incriminating items: drugs, weapons and cash. Three people were arrested and two pleaded guilty. The third is pressing his case to trial, expected to begin with jury selection on Monday. What James Outlaw and his attorney are staking much of their case on is what is not there — 15 baggies of crack cocaine and two bags of powder cocaine. Those drugs are gone, possibly taken by disgraced former Schenectady Police Vice Squad detective and admitted thief Jeffrey Curtis. Prosecutors in Outlaw’s drug and weapons case say they don’t expect to call Curtis in their case. They don’t need him, as others can testify to the same facts. But Outlaw attorney James Davis says he would have no choice but to call Curtis to the stand, as a witness for the defense. “If they’re not going to call him, the defense will call him,” Davis said last week. “He’s part of the chain of custody. It certainly calls into question the rest of it.” Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said he doesn’t see Curtis standing in the way of a conviction. Curtis could say nothing about the evidence that remains. But an Albany Law School professor and defense attorney, Laurie Shanks, said Curtis’ actions leave an opening for the defense to not only question his work, but the work and testimony of his former colleagues. That’s even with nothing directly suggesting they did anything wrong. Curtis, 47, of Guilderland, pleaded guilty in June to felony counts of drug possession and tampering with physical evidence. Curtis admitted in court to taking 85 units of crack cocaine from the department’s evidence locker. Missing drug evidence forced the dismissal of charges against one man who faced years in prison, and touched off a scandal that shook the entire department. An investigation found a total of 16 cases — involving 17 defendants — with drug evidence missing, mostly cocaine or crack cocaine. Authorities have said they do not have evidence of anyone but Curtis taking the drugs. Three of those defendants came from the December Seneca Avenue raid. Charged were Ryan Jordan, 20, and James L. Outlaw, 36, both of 535 Seneca St., and Si-Asia Maynor, 27, of 4-6 Jefferson St. All three were charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, among other counts. Jordan and Maynor have since pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Outlaw rejected a weapons plea offer that would have included a six-year sentence, his attorney said. The door to any plea deal is expected to close Monday morning as proceedings begin. SCANDAL WRAPS UP Outlaw’s case is the last of the missing drug cases still open. He would also be just the second to take his case to trial. Outlaw could face 15 years in prison if he loses. About half the suspects had already pleaded by the time the scandal broke, their attorneys apparently never checking the drug evidence. The district attorney’s office has given favorable plea deals to others since. But Davis said the plea offers in Outlaw’s case haven’t gone far enough. In particular, Outlaw has vehemently denied possession of the guns. The other case to go to trial was Anthony Best, whose case touched off the scandal in January when the drugs allegedly linked to him could not be found. Best was freed and the internal police investigation began. But Outlaw would appear to have much more to overcome than his unfortunate last name. The Dec. 13 raid at 535 Seneca St. uncovered 2.5 ounces of suspected crack cocaine, 6.86 grams of suspected powder cocaine, 17 small bags of marijuana and 21 Ecstasy pills, according to papers filed in court then. Police also seized two handguns, a .380-caliber Bryco and a 9mm Jennings. Missing, however, is a portion of the crack cocaine and powder cocaine — 15 baggies of crack and two bags of powder. And Curtis’ name is all over paperwork filed in the case. But what remains is a lot to explain away, Carney said. “That’s an argument that the defense can try to make,” he said. “But counter to that, Curtis just explains the absence of evidence. He doesn’t explain away the evidence that’s still there.” Prosecutor Amy Burock is to try the case. Given the opportunity to consider Curtis’ testimony, the jury would have the option of discounting it entirely, or casting doubt on the other detective testimony, said law professor Shanks. “The defense can not only demonstrate to the jury that this particular police officer is a liar and a criminal, but can also suggest to the jury that he might not be the only bad apple in the barrel,” Shanks said. Curtis’ attorney, Stephen Coffey, did not return a call for comment. But whether Curtis would even give testimony could be in question, another local attorney said. Steve Kouray, who represented Outlaw’s one-time co-defendant Jordan, said that because Curtis has yet to be sentenced in his own case, he could see Curtis on the witness stand pleading the Fifth Amendment against self incrimination.
Curtis is going to be responsible for a number of drug users and dealers being released due to tainted evidence b4 this is all said and done. If you were on the jury would you feel right about the way the police handled the cases?
I would not only feel right the way the police handled the cases, I would also not feel right the way the Commissioner or the Police Union handled the cops!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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