There's a special group of Corrections Officers that are specially trained to handle riots and problem inmates where were they during this altercation?
SCHENECTADY Funds sought for policeman who lost wife Officers hope to aid colleague
OK, I understand a community coming together at a time like this. Here's the thing. If they're looking outside the police force, then why? They all double their salaries (if not more) in overtime each year. Why not just work a few extra hours and donate them to Officer McCabe?
That's what most unions do when tragedy strikes, everyone who wants to help donates a few bucks each week to help out the family. Why is the PBA different?
I can see and even expect the unions reaching out to help their own. But I don't think they should expect anyone 'outside' of the 'club' to do the same. I think it is just exploitation at it's best!
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
I dont think it is exploitation.....I think exploitation is the 9/11 memorial,,,,, when there are folks all over the country that die in fires,car accidents and from cancer etc......
person to person donation--sure.....if I know ya, you live in my community and the like......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
SCHENECTADY Rules could protect police Bennett looks at hurt suspects BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
The city police department will be able to defend itself better against lawsuits under new regulations being prepared, Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said Wednesday. Bennett, who has instituted a series of reforms since taking office, has now set his sights on how the d e p a r t m e n t responds when suspects are injured during an arrest or have pre-existing injuries. At present, a report is taken. Soon, photos, along with statements and other documentation will be mandated, he said. “You have to investigate all these things, take pictures when it happens and take statements when it occurs,” he said. “If you have to go back 90 days later, two years later, five years, people are gone, they’ve lost their memory.” Bennett made the comments as the featured speaker at a Chamber of Schenectady County breakfast Wednesday morning at Mallozzi’s in Rotterdam. He touched on a series of reforms enacted since taking the job earlier this year amid a drug scandal that saw one detective arrested and a sergeant reduced in rank to offi cer. The detective, Jeffrey Curtis, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday to four years in state prison after admitting that he stole drugs from the vice squad safe. He has resigned. Bennett has already instituted several changes that will help prevent another theft. The number of officers who have access to evidence has been slashed. Cameras were being installed. Old drug evidence is being destroyed. He has now turned his interest to other areas, including potential lawsuits, response times and officer discipline. He said he spends 12- to 13-hour days at the department, getting in early before the night shift leaves and leaving after the evening shift begins. In doing so, he said he gets to see almost every officer. He also has a scanner in his office, following up on calls that he has questions about, including questions on response times. The department is already down more than a dozen officers. Help is on the way: 10 officers are in the academy now, and seven more are to go in the spring. Until then, he said, officers must deal with current staffing levels. He said he takes response times seriously. “If I hear or think a delayed response time was not justified, I ask questions and they know that,” Bennett said. “That’s a very important function I serve.”
SCHENECTADY Inmate now accused of punching nurse BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
The Schenectady County Jail inmate accused of putting four corrections officers out on injury leave has now been accused of punching a jail nurse, authorities said. Jail officials are now working with mental health workers to get Christopher Ingalls a psychiatric evaluation. The latest incident happened late Monday afternoon as the male nurse attempted to give him medication through his jail cell bars, according to papers filed in court. He did so, Sheriff Harry Buffardi said, in the presence of a social worker. “He got less than a full-force swing in, but it was still enough to strike the guy,” Buffardi said of the 5-foot-9, 260-pound Ingalls. “This is a powerfully strong man. In a couple of inches, he could deliver a punch that can hurt someone.” The nurse, identified as Glenn Cummins, suffered bruising, swelling and neck pain as a result. He received treatment from jail medical staff. The incident is the second involving Ingalls since a Thursday evening melee, Buffardi said. He also could be charged in a weekend spitting incident in which a lieutenant was hit. Ingalls now faces multiple counts of felony second-degree assault, accused of hitting seven corrections officers Thursday and the nurse Monday. Ingalls went after officers while being booked on a misdemeanor menacing charge out of Scotia, authorities said. The seven offi cers were injured in a total of three incidents that night. He is accused of lunging at two officers later during a medical examination, then punching another officer after agreeing to be fingerprinted. Four of the seven officers were injured seriously enough to be hospitalized. Only one of the four has been able to return to work, Buffardi said. Deputy Eric Fluty, who was punched in the ear and received 17 sutures, has returned. Officials have now begun the process of having Ingalls sent to the Central New York Psychiatric Center at Marcy for evaluation. In the meantime, Ingalls remains alone in a cell under suicide watch, Buffardi said. The jail has a high-security cell called “the bubble,” Buffardi said. But that can’t be used because of the need for constant supervision. Ingalls’ attorney Steve Signore welcomed the move toward evaluation. Signore said he was preparing to submit his own request in court for an evaluation.
SCHENECTADY City police contract is hot topic at debate BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
At the first debate between Schenectady City Council candidates, Republican candidate and retired police officer Richard DiCaprio found an unexpected ally. That was Democratic candidate Thomas Della Sala, who defended the police contract and said police shouldn’t be forced to agree to givebacks in the current negotiations. “Once something’s in a contract, the only way it comes out is if the employer is willing to give something to get something,” said Della Sala, who helped the city teachers union negotiate every school contract from 1978 to 1992. DiCaprio, the only Republican running against the four Democrats for the four open seats on the council this year, agreed and said he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to change the contract. The moderator of the debate, hosted by the Bellevue Preservation Association, explained that it has been blamed for allowing benefits that make it difficult to staff the department during peak periods. “The contract’s been in existence for well over 40 years. Many city councils and mayors have OK’d it. Why did they OK it if everyone’s so angry with it?” DiCaprio asked. “I thanked God I had that contract. I’ve been choked unconscious, I’ve been hit over the head, I’ve been in an accident I almost died, how many guns pointed in my face … If you had to go through that, you need a union. It’s a brotherhood.” Democratic candidates Councilwoman Denise Brucker and Councilman Joseph Allen said the contract needs to change — although they acknowledged the difficulty of getting police to agree. But when Allen explained his stance, he offered the second major surprise of the evening. He said he might not have been serious when he proposed, early this year, that the police department be abolished. At the time, he said abolition might be the only way to free the city from the police contract. “I don’t know if I was being legitimate or devil’s advocate when I said that,” he said. “I was concerned about response times.” Allen also didn’t take the opportunity to criticize the police department. In fact, the only candidate to criticize the police at all was DiCaprio. ‘BAD THINGS’ He said that “a lot of bad things have happened” in the police department, adding that he wants to mend fences if elected. “As a beat cop you really learn the city and I walked everywhere. I really got to know the people and I think that’s gone,” he said. “I want to bring that back, the bonding of the police department and the people. I think it can be done.” He wants to use the city’s surplus to institute more walking beats, arguing it would be the best way to reduce crime. His Democratic opponents quickly noted that although they too want to add walking beats, the problem isn’t one of money but of personnel. Even though the department has 16 vacancies, it was only able to find 10 qualifi ed applicants in this year’s round of hiring. Councilwoman Margaret King was the only candidate to offer a specific proposal regarding the issue. She said she wants to consider Councilman Gary McCarthy’s idea of funding a staffer who would watch the security cameras now in place throughout the city. “That would allow us to be more proactive,” she said. In other topics, Brucker said she has changed her position on whether to broadcast the council’s committee meetings. She had been adamantly opposed to it before resident Pat Zollinger began taping the meetings and putting them on public access television without council approval. “I have to say, a lot of what I thought would happen, hasn’t happened,” Brucker said. “I don’t have a problem at this point with taping committee meetings.” Every other candidate except Allen said they are in favor of broadcasting the meetings. Allen said he still won’t support the idea because some residents want anonymity to report crack houses and code violations. In response to questions from the audience, every candidate also said they support the creation of a senior center, although Allen and Della Sala said they had not been aware that the Annie Schaffer Senior Center closed nearly four years ago. The two candidates who are not currently on the council also offered several promises to the crowd. If elected, DiCaprio said he would create a system similar to New York City’s 311 line, which callers use to report code violations and other minor problems. Della Sala said he would focus on neighborhood improvements. “One of my goals if I’m elected is to make Schenectady the cleanest, safest city in the Capital District,” he said. “If we clean it up, it will make it safer.”
“The contract’s been in existence for well over 40 years. Many city councils and mayors have OK’d it. Why did they OK it if everyone’s so angry with it?” DiCaprio asked. “I thanked God I had that contract. I’ve been choked unconscious, I’ve been hit over the head, I’ve been in an accident I almost died, how many guns pointed in my face … If you had to go through that, you need a union. It’s a brotherhood.”
I have great respect for our law enforcement .... HOWEVER....If you are a cop you chose this profession. These are the things that happen when you're in law enforcement. Did ya think you'd be riding around all day in a cop car with pit stops to Dunkin Donuts?
The job is the job! Surely every cop knew that they would be dealing with the scum of the earth. Did they think this was going to be a walk in the park, with a nice uniform and a car to drive with great tax paid benefits? If iti's too dangerous...then get out! And a union is need for.....???????
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 cop gets 4 years Jeffrey Curtis stole crack cocaine from evidence locker
By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer Friday, September 14, 2007
SCHENECTADY - A former city narcotics officer was sentenced to four years in prison today for stealing crack cocaine from a vice squad evidence locker.
Jeffrey Curtis, who stole the drugs to fuel his own addiction, sparked a scandal that surfaced when Schenectady County prosecutors dropped charges against a reputed drug dealer because the evidence was gone.
Facing Judge Karen Drago today, Curtis questioned why police arrested and charged him without ever trying to intervene to assist him with his problem.
Curtis, who was arrested in March, pleaded guilty to felony drug possession and evidence tampering in June.
In addition to prison and a year's post-release supervision, he agreed to cooperate with a State Police investigation into the disappearance of seized drugs.
“The contract’s been in existence for well over 40 years. Many city councils and mayors have OK’d it. Why did they OK it if everyone’s so angry with it?” DiCaprio asked. “I thanked God I had that contract. I’ve been choked unconscious, I’ve been hit over the head, I’ve been in an accident I almost died, how many guns pointed in my face … If you had to go through that, you need a union. It’s a brotherhood.”
If it's a brotherhood,,who was helping Mr.Curtis get on the right track??? Are we our brothers keeper??
I could never be a police officer---I would just beat the tar out of ya.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Good point senders. I can't believe even for one minute that not even ONE cop from the 'brotherhood' didn't take notice that Curtis wasn't high most of the time.
Sure the slogan is 'don't let friends drive drunk'. But we can let cops drive at high speeds and carry a gun while high!!! Now that is a brotherhood I'd like to belong to!
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 Police see link to shootings Witnesses not cooperating in investigations, officials say BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
With two men shot dead within 13 hours Thursday and early Friday and two others wounded before that, police now suspect the shootings are all connected. “It appears the mentality is the best way to take care of these things is to take the law into their own hands,” Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said. “There’s information we have that points to that.” But police still have little to go on, even though both homicides occurred amid dozens of witnesses. “There’s a great number of people who in our opinion have not been altogether candid with us,” Bennett said. “At this point we need the help of the public. They have a responsibility as human beings to come forward.” The most recent shooting was about 3 a.m. Friday in the Shanghai Bistro, a nightclub at 2035 State St.; no one would describe the shooter for police, although 100 to 150 customers were inside the place at the time. In the fatal shooting at about 2 p.m. Thursday on Duane Avenue, many onlookers refused to speak to police, saying they wouldn’t snitch. Most of the bar customers ran from police. Three men even tried to stop officers from investigating, lunging at them and shoving them, police said. They were arrested and charged with obstructing justice. Neighbors on State Street described a scene of utter chaos early Friday as customers bolted out the back door of the bar and fled down the nearby residential streets to avoid police. Some even hid in residents’ backyards, waiting for police to leave. An offi - cer was eventually stationed on Linda Lane and remained on duty all night. At noon Friday, police were still trying to sort out what had happened. They released the identities of both of the slain men but said they did not know what prompted either shooting. Friday’s victim was John W. Johnson, 39, of Hattie Street in Schenectady. Thursday’s victim was Hassan Rainey, 29, of Queens Drive, Schenectady. They probably knew each other, Bennett said. “If my theory is correct, these are targeted incidents among people who know each other,” he said. “The residents of Schenectady are not in danger unless they hang out with this group of people.” He said police have reviewed security camera footage of Thursday’s homicide, but he declined to discuss it. He also said he’s changing the weekend police patrols to try to stop the violence. “People are taking revenge into their own hands for minor transgressions,” he said. “We need to close this out.” Bennett said two officers were at the nightclub when the shooting occurred and tried to corral all of the customers in hopes of catching the shooter and keeping everyone else safe. “Police tried to get everyone on the floor. You can imagine the panic going on at the time,” Bennett said. “A great number of people fled when the shot was fired. Obviously the police were not in a position to detain them.” The officers had been sent to the club in response to a call about two men arguing in the parking lot. When they got there, the argument was over, but they decided to check on the club as well. They heard the gunshot as they walked inside, Bennett said. CHAOTIC SCENE In a written report, officer Wesley McGhee said 20 to 30 people ran out the front door of the club immediately. He and his partner tried to stop the rush, ordering everyone to the ground, but had to draw their guns to stop several people from getting past them, he wrote. Many others slipped out the back. Every customer still in the club was told to stay on the floor until they were identified, Mc-Ghee wrote. He found three witnesses, but no one gave a description of the shooter. One man said he saw “a bunch of guys fighting” but didn’t hear any gunshots. A second witness said she didn’t see what happened but saw the victim on the floor, McGhee wrote. The third witness was Jeffrey Hartley, the club bouncer, who led McGhee to the victim. Johnson was lying on the floor in the back room of the club, which serves as a dancing area, Bennett said. McGhee wrote that he tried to interview Johnson, but he was unresponsive. He was taken to Ellis Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. Johnson earlier this year was the victim of a gunshot wound. According to records, police charged Eric Earl Martin, 24, with shooting Johnson in the leg on Jan. 24. The status of the case against Martin could not be determined Friday. Friday was a shocking night for the Woodlawn neighborhood, where there has not been a shooting death in recent memory. The last similar incident was a stabbing in 1999 at Ballers, another popular nightclub. The homicide closed that club. Neighbors hope this incident will close the Shanghai Bistro as well. “It’s just too bad to allow that kind of crap to come into a nice neighborhood. This is supposed to be a nice part of Schenectady,” said Jill Broderick, who moved onto Linda Lane just a few months ago. The club is less than a block from her home and about a block from the Niskayuna town line. Many of her neighbors have campaigned to close the club this summer, citing loud music and frequent fights. Bennett said police have received 30 noise complaints and handled five fights and two reports of shots fired at the club since the beginning of the year. There were so many complaints about the club that even before the shooting, city officials had asked the state Liquor Authority to pull Shanghai’s liquor license. Until that happens, Broderick said, her husband wants her to drive to the CVS, just three doors away, rather than walk down the sidewalk. “My husband said I shouldn’t walk there anymore. Something might happen. Flying bullets or something,” she said. But neighbor Janice Farrell said the shooting is an aberration that’s unlikely to be repeated in Woodlawn. “This is a quiet neighborhood,” she said. “I don’t feel unsafe. Nothing happens here.” POLITICAL TOPIC Republican mayoral candidate Michael Cuevas took a different tack. In a press release, he said the incidents of the past week prove that crime has spread to every part of the city. He noted that the two nonfatal shootings from Tuesday and Wednesday occurred in the city’s North Side and Mont Pleasant neighborhoods, followed by the fatalities in Hamilton Hill and Woodlawn. “The mayor needs to recognize that there is a serious crime problem in this city. We cannot sugarcoat it,” Cuevas said. Stratton said he is already focusing on public safety. In addition to the two homicides, police said they are still working on the two nonfatal shootings from early in the week. On Tuesday, a man said he was shot on Van Vranken Avenue. On Wednesday, another man was shot on Santa Fe Street. Both shootings occurred at night. Police still have not publicly identified the victims. The men arrested at the bar early Friday were: Omar Shariff Lyons, 25, charged with resisting arrest, obstructing governmental administration, harassment and disorderly conduct; Joel U. Hart, 23, charged with obstructing governmental administration; Augustus Green, 34, charged with obstructing governmental administration. PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Patrol cars from several area police agencies surround the Shanghai Bistro at 2035 State St. in Schenectady after a man was fatally shot early Friday
They probably knew each other, Bennett said. “If my theory is correct, these are targeted incidents among people who know each other,” he said. “The residents of Schenectady are not in danger unless they hang out with this group of people.”
Hatfields and McCoys---aka gang related???
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Shootings put a city on edge 2 slain in Schenectady
By DAVID FILKINS, Staff writer First published: Saturday, September 15, 2007
SCHENECTADY -- Four shootings in the past four days -- including two killings within a 13-hour period Thursday and Friday -- have officials scrambling to calm the public's fear as they try to quell the violence. The latest shooting occurred around 3 a.m. Friday at the Shanghai Bistro at 2035 State St. where police said John W. Johnson, 39, of Hattie Street, was gunned down.
The shooting happened just 13 hours after Hassan Rainey, 29, of Queens Drive, was fatally shot as he sat in his car near the corner of Craig Street and Grant Avenue around 2 p.m. on Thursday.
That incident was preceded by a shooting Wednesday night when a man was shot in the shoulder on Sante Fe Street. Tuesday night an 18-year-old man suffered a gunshot wound to the leg while standing on the corner of Hattie Street and Van Vranken Avenue.
Investigators are looking into whether the violence is related. The spree has also prompted Mayor Brian U. Stratton to address the public.
"We want to reassure the public that we're doing everything we can," Stratton said during a news conference held in front of police headquarters. "Four shootings is four too many. Two deadly shootings is two too many. We want it down to zero. We're making use of every resource we possibly can."
That means great cooperation with State Police, the district attorney, sheriffs, the ATF and the state Liquor Authority, he added.
Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said residents should not necessarily fear for their safety since the incidents appear to be linked rather than random acts of violence. He declined to give specifics but said police have reason to believe each shooting is retaliation for the previous one.
"If our theory is correct, those involved in these incidents had a definitive knowledge of each other," Bennett said. "There is no increased danger unless, of course, you're someone who hangs with those involved in these situations."
Residents who walked along State Street near the Shanghai Bistro Friday afternoon, however, weren't so confident. Three women, who agreed to talk to reporters on the condition their identities were not revealed, said the recent rash of shootings have made their neighborhood feel unsafe.
Colleen Dawson-Williams, who said her son, Omar Lyons, was at the Shanghai Bistro during the shooting, was among those at the police station Friday. Lyons was one of at least five people at the restaurant charged with obstruction for not cooperating with police on the scene.
Dawson-Williams said she fears for the safety of all Schenectady residents.
"I don't feel like we can always rely on the police," she said. "I have three sons, I'm a homeowner and I have a business. I don't know if this is best place for a young black man to live."
Police had originally responded to the bistro for a fight in the parking lot. When the altercation was broken up, two officers entered the restaurant to further investigate. Moments later a shot rang out from a rear dance area, killing Johnson and sending more than 100 patrons into a panic, authorities said.
Police said they have no suspects in the shootings despite a number of witnesses. Bennett said an apparent code of silence has contributed to the lack of information. Those close to the shooting victims often retaliate rather than call police, he said. It's part of the culture of people who act in this manner," Bennett said. "They have a code amongst themselves where they don't pursue charges and don't cooperate with police even if they know the person who has been victimized. They take revenge into their own hands even for minor transgressions." Bennett pleaded for assistance from the public.
"There were 100-150 people in (the Shanghai Bistro) and a great number of them fled without being detained," he said. "This was a homicide. Those who were there have a responsibility as human beings to come forward."
But that code of silence was evident Friday in the area where Johnson supposedly lived. Six residents standing on a nearby corner scattered when approached by a reporter, denied knowing the shooting occurred, and said they didn't know Johnson, though one man muttered, "We're not saying anything."
Police said the Shanghai Bistro has become a popular after-hours hangout in the past year. More than 30 calls have been received complaining of loud music, and police have responded to the restaurant seven times in the past nine months. Five times to break up fights; twice for reports of shots fired. Residents who live nearby said the establishment has recently marketed itself as a nightclub as much as a restaurant.
Bennett said police are considering altering their tactics but wouldn't say how. "Making that public would render any changes totally ineffective," he said. "The problem is that the incidents have not occurred in the same part of the city."
He called the shootings an "aberration" and said crime in the city is down this year, but didn't provide numbers to substantiate the claim. Stratton defended the police claims while calling the events of the previous four days "unacceptable."
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