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City man accused of paddling child
   SCHENECTADY — A city man was arrested this week, accused of endangering a child by hitting him with a ping pong paddle in the buttocks until the paddle broke, authorities said.
   Amahad Danzy, 22, of Keyes Avenue, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor.
   Danzy is accused of paddling the child at a Jerry Street address July 16, according to papers fi led in court. The child suffered pain and bruises.

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General Honore
I think that Gen. Honore said something very important recently in his press conference. The only way to have had a more rapid federal response would have been to have emergency assets in the path of the Hurricane, where they could have gotten destroyed before being deployed. The usual drill is to have states and localities keep things under control for a few days until more help can arrive. They so proudly call themselves “first responders.” The fact that so many national guard and federal troops have arrived less than a week later is commendable and a better response than one could have expected.


I was shocked to learn Bush had to direct Gov. Blanco to order the mandatory evacuation on Sunday and that she failed to mobilize the Louisiana National Guard until a few days before the Hurricane hit, even after declaring a "disaster area." The Guard's presence, chiefly a state responsibility, could have and should have occurred earlier, while FEMA and military supplies and air assets could have come to the location from areas outside of the storm path. I think Katrina was bound to be a major mess--security-wise and otherwise--regardless. New Orleans had 1,500 police in a city of half a million. It had one of the highest crime rates in the nation. With 100,000 people left behind and many policemen abandoning their posts, this was a true recipe for mayhem.

In the face of this emerged General Honore. He is an impressive guy. He has great bearing and command presence in an arena full of excuse-makers, whiners, demagogues, and people that are simply overwhelmed. His toughness stands in sharp-contrast to the whining and finger-pointing of the New Orleans mayor. Honore understands the mission better than most. His forces are not in Fallujah and he directed his troops to keep their guns slung when they're among the people they're supposed to be helping. This is an important way to build trust and avoid traumatizing the true victims of Katrina. In press conferences, Honore explains the situation without passing the buck. And he seems to have a forward looking sense and a natural pragmatism. In short, he's a good leader which is exactly what New Orleans needs right now.

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Police seek to resolve talks
Union asks for arbitration after weeks of impasse with city over new contract  
  
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, October 9, 2007

SCHENECTADY -- The city's police union said it will file for arbitration this week in hopes of resolving an impasse in contract negotiations with the city.
Contract negotiations, which have been ongoing for two years, bogged down in the middle of the summer. Schenectady Police Benevolent Association President Lt. Robert Hamilton said a mediator has been working on the matter the past few months but talks remain stalled.

  
Hamilton said police want the same deal the Schenectady firefighters union got at the end of 2006 -- a five-year contract that calls for 4 percent raises each year. But Hamilton said the city has not committed to giving any raises in the next contract.

John Paolino, a city finance official, is working on the police union contract. But he declined to comment on the negotiations.

"If they have decided they're going to negotiate in the paper, so be it," Paolino said.

Paolino referred questions to Michael Smith, an attorney who is representing the city in the contract negotiations. Smith could not be reached for comment.

Schenectady police on average received 3 percent raises annually in their last contract, which expired in January 2006. Negotiations began in October 2005.

"You give firemen raises, but they don't want to do the same thing for us," Hamilton said. "They've left us no choice but to go to arbitration."

There has been tension between police and the city's administration at times after the recent scandal involving missing drug evidence from the department.

Former Schenectady police Detective Jeffrey Curtis was sentenced last month to four years in state prison for stealing drugs to feed a secret addiction. Earlier this year, Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton brought in former State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett to oversee both the police and fire departments.

The request for an arbitrator, who will listen to both sides and make a ruling on the contract, needs to be granted by the state Public Employment Relations Board.

The Fire Department avoided arbitration and settled its contract with a mediator at the end of 2006, also after about two years of negotiation. As a result of those talks, the city will have to include more than $1.5 million in its 2008 budget for retroactive raises for firefighters.

The city is currently setting aside money for retroactive raises it may owe the police union after the contract is settled.

In order to get the 4 percent raise, firefighters agreed to pay 5 percent of their health insurance costs. Previously, firefighters got their health insurance for free. Hamilton said the police union would also be willing to pay the same cost for health insurance to get the 4 percent raise.

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In order to get the 4 percent raise, firefighters agreed to pay 5 percent of their health insurance costs. Previously, firefighters got their health insurance for free. Hamilton said the police union would also be willing to pay the same cost for health insurance to get the 4 percent raise.

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Schenectady's Chief Geraci leaving
Police head hired by federal agency  
  
By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

SCHENECTADY - Police Chief Michael N. Geraci is resigning his post to take a job with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in Washington, D.C., Mayor Brian U. Stratton said this afternoon.
Geraci, a former deputy chief in Colonie who took the Schenectady post in 2002, will be in charge of safety programs as director in the Office of Traffic Safety Programs, Research and Program Development, in Traffic Injury Control.

"It is with considerable regret that I announce Chief Geraci's departure from theSchenectady Police Department today," Stratton said. "But it is also an announcement I make with considerable pride, respect and admiration for the outstanding job Mike Geraci has done in leading this department during a very critical time."

It was not immediately clear when the chief's resignation is effective or who would be selected to fill his post in the near or long term.

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SCHENECTADY
Chief of police is moving on
Geraci taking federal traffic safety position
BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter

Schenectady Police Chief Michael N. Geraci Sr. announced Wednesday he is resigning to take a high-level position with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. He is to stay in his current role through the end of the month.
He leaves after five years as police chief, a time of innovations like surveillance cameras, Operation IMPACT and Weed and Seed crime reduction programs. There also has been an encouraging drop in crime statistics.
   But he also leaves after a drug scandal that saw an honored detective sent to prison. A grand jury is also now investigating ways to prevent such a scandal from happening again.
   Mayor Brian U. Stratton Wednesday characterized Geraci’s departure as the result of the latest attempt by the federal government to recruit the chief.
   Geraci began an interest in traffic safety issues while with the Colonie Police Department in the early 1980s and he has continued that interest through several national traffic committees.
   Stratton praised Geraci’s work. He also noted that Geraci offered to step aside when Stratton took office in 2004.
   Stratton declined that offer, something the mayor said he did not regret.
   “My administration has been fortunate to hang on to him for the period of time that we have,” Stratton said. “He’s done a great deal to restore a sense of true professionalism and moral character to the department and to the position of police chief.”
   Geraci, 58, will now oversee traffic safety programs for the national administration. He is to receive a salary of about $130,000, Geraci said. That is up from his $106,000 salary as police chief.
   Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett, who was appointed to his post in the wake of the drug scandal, will now begin the process of choosing Geraci’s replacement.
   Geraci said Wednesday evening he has had other opportunities in the past, including earlier this year. But he chose to stick with the department.
   This position, however, came at the right time in his life, he said. “This kind of opportunity doesn’t happen that often, certainly at that level.”
   “What’s good for me is that I’ll still be working with law enforcement and a lot of the agencies and organizations I’ve worked with for several years,” he added later.
   Asked about his department’s recent troubles, Geraci said they did not factor in his decision.
   If they played a role, Geraci said, it was in keeping him here longer. He said opportunities came up for him during the investigation, opportunities that he declined.
   “I committed to staying through the whole investigation,” Geraci said. “I made the commitment to the mayor and the department not to leave during that.”
CRIME-RATE DROP
   Geraci’s departure comes as city officials herald new crime statistics, which showed a more than 16 percent drop in violent and property crimes during the first seven months of 2007, compared with the same period last year.
   The numbers mean the city topped the list of 17 Operation IMPACT cities in crime reduction, officials said.
   But those successes have been marred by the drug scandal that left one detective in prison.
   The scandal broke in January when Anthony Best, a man about ready to stand trial on drug possession charges, had to be let go when 85 bumpies of crack cocaine allegedly linked to him could not be found.
   Authorities would later learn that 15 other cases had been compromised, calling into question how evidence at the department was handled.
   A state police investigation ensued, resulting in the arrest of vice squad Detective Jeffrey Curtis on drug charges. Tests showed the 20-year-veteran Curtis had a heavy drug problem.
   Curtis later admitted to drug possession and evidence tampering, admitting he was the one who took the evidence in the Best case. Curtis is now serving four years in state prison.
   The department has also been marked by other scandals in the past year, including one detective accused of compromising a gambling investigation and another officer accused of running from an off-duty traffic accident in Albany County.
   Then there were the revelations of slow response times, blamed in part on a lack of staffing, and accusations that Geraci was too close to the police union to be effective.
   Union president Lt. Robert Hamilton did not return a call for comment Wednesday evening.
   Fred Clark, of the local chapter of the NAACP, wished Geraci well in his new job.
   But Clark was blunt about his assessment of Geraci’s tenure. “He hasn’t been able to realize what he was hired for, to clean up the image of the police department,” Clark said.
   “A lot of people were looking for a strong chief,” Clark added later. “It just wasn’t there for him.”
CLEANUP ROLE
   Geraci was brought on in 2002 at a time when the department was reeling from another drug scandal that sent four officers to federal prison.
   He promised significant changes and professionalism at all times. “Anything else is unacceptable,” he said then.
   The recent evidence-handling problems resulted in sweeping changes in how the department deals with drugs and other evidence. It also resulted in changes in the public safety management structure.
   Stratton reinstituted the public safety commissioner post, bringing in Bennett, the former state police superintendent.
   The appointment meant that Geraci’s five years as chief would be book-ended by commissioners. He came to the department under then-Commissioner Daniel Boyle. Geraci himself had been the No. 2 choice for the commissioner position.
   Boyle departed as Stratton came on, leaving Geraci the city’s top law enforcer for the next three years.
   Geraci’s immediate boss called Geraci a professional, someone for whom he has a great deal of respect.
   “He’s worked very cooperatively with me since I came here in May,” Bennett said. “He’s done everything I’ve asked him to do and more.”
   Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney called Geraci a very creative and collaborative leader.
   Carney cited Operation Impact, the new Office of Field Intelligence and the Weed and Seed crime reduction program as among the chief’s successes.
   “He was very interactive and collaborative,” Carney said. “There was nothing about him that was insular.”

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SCHENECTADY
Mediator aids in police contract
Negotiations at impasse, arbitration feared
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

   Police contract negotiations are at an impasse, and a state mediator has been assigned to help, according to the Public Employment Relations Board.
   A mediator has been working with Schenectady negotiators and the Police Benevolent Association for three months, according to Albany office Executive Director Anthony Zumbolo. The police filed a declaration of impasse at the end of June, he said.
   But PERB has not yet received any request for arbitration, according to the offi ce.
   “We’ve had a mediator working with them for a while,” Zumbolo said, “trying to suggest compromises, point out experiences elsewhere in the public employment arena.”
   PBA President Robert Hamilton did not return calls seeking comment. Neither did city officials, who have generally declined to answer questions about this issue.
   Mayor Brian U. Stratton has said he wants the police to pay part of their health insurance, a concession every other city union has agreed to in recent negotiations. He also said he wanted to rearrange benefits so that officers are on patrol more often.
   His chief negotiator, Finance Director John Paolino, wants to get rid of compensatory time altogether and just pay officers when they work overtime. Comp time is a major cause of short-staffing, particularly on weekends, according to a Gazette examination of the police payroll records. Paolino said the comp time also ends up costing the city more than straight overtime pay because the city usually has to pay another officer overtime to cover the officer who takes a comp day.
   In return for such concessions, Stratton has said he is willing to offer generous raises, particularly for new recruits. The starting pay in Schenectady is $29,717, less than every suburban police department in Schenectady County except for Niskayuna.
ARBITRATION WORRIES
   Salary incentives are a typical way for negotiators to buy a concession elsewhere. But there have been fears that the city is asking for so many concessions that negotiators would end up pushing the PBA to demand arbitration.
   Schenectady City Councilwom- an Margaret King, who was on the council when the last contract went to arbitration, warned last year that negotiators should rethink their strategy.
   “Last time, I thought we were asking for some reasonable compromises. The arbitrator totally sided with the police,” she said. “We lost everything.”
   So this time, she wants negotiators to bend a little more.
   “I’m just concerned it could happen again,” she said. “My preference would still be, if there was some way, to come to a compromise so we don’t have to go to arbitration.”
   The city has been negotiating the contract for nearly a year. It expired on Dec. 31, 2005.
   In the last negotiation, in 2000, the city spent a year trying to get serious concessions. The PBA didn’t budge, so the issue went to binding arbitration, but the arbitrator rejected all of the city’s requests. City negotiators refused to approve a contract without any concessions and went back to the table with the PBA. It took until March 2003 to get an agreement.
   Police officers agreed to be evaluated based on their performance, submit to random drug and alcohol tests, have limits on the use of compensatory time, and let management fill certain positions based on merit, not seniority. It is in these areas that Stratton is pressing further.
   The city had also wanted the department to track every time that officers used force on a suspect, give the chief greater authority to suspend officers without pay when they break departmental rules, reduce the amount of overtime officers receive when called into work while off-duty, and increase contributions for health insurance.  

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Sch’dy residents have little confidence in police department

   Re Sept. 24 article, “Carney addresses parents of murdered children”: I can’t help but think that the real problem escapes him.
   Yes, we have a social breakdown in Schenectady, and it’s been an obvious problem for years. One hundred people were at Shanghai Bistro when John Johnson was murdered [Sept. 15 Gazette]. By not cooperating with law enforcement, what the 100 people were saying is, “we do not trust you.” They do not trust law enforcement to protect them if they did cooperate, either anonymously or on the record.
   And why should they have trust in the Schenectady judicial system? Look at the history. We need more positive steps to improve the integrity of the Schenectady Police Department; then the general public will have the confidence that is needed to become cooperative witnesses in a Schenectady murder.
   The appointment of Commissioner Wayne Bennett is, in my opinion, a huge step in the right direction. I know offi cers on that force who are every bit as dedicated to police work as Commissioner Bennett is. But a few proud men in blue trying to change the way this police force has done business for so many years is not enough. The quest to increase public confidence has to be a mission embraced by the entire department.
   If this can be done, it would not only limit the number of violent crimes and murders in the city that go unsolved because of “reluctant witnesses,” it would also instill confidence, thus encouraging people to come to our city to live, work, invest and play. This would send a message to the rest of the state that the public servants and residents of the city have the strength, desire and determination to transform Schenectady into the great city it once was.
MICHAEL CASADEI
Galway  

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EDITORIALS Cut Geraci’s slot at SPD

   Nothing could have been more obvious from the day six months ago that Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton announced he was hiring Wayne Bennett that this job, despite its public safety commissioner title, was all about reforming and running the city police department. Bennett was brought in to do something Michael Geraci had failed to do as chief, and even though Geraci remained on the job in that position nominally, he hasn’t been running anything for months. So now he’s leaving, which is hardly a surprise. But the decision to replace him, which has apparently already been made, is — and a fairly disturbing one at that.
   The Schenectady Police Department doesn’t need two chiefs. It never has, although there have been two prior occasions since 1991 that a public safety commissioner’s position was created for the reason it was here: The chiefs weren’t getting the job done. Perhaps there was an argument for keeping a dead-wood chief on in this case, mostly to ease the new leader’s transition, but now that Bennett has been on the job for five months, the chief’s position seems superfluous, redundant and extravagant. Hardly what Schenectady’s department needs or its taxpayers can afford.
   Bennett has involved himself in the department’s day-to-day operations, so it’s not like he needs a second-in-command to handle the job’s more mundane responsibilities. And if he did, why couldn’t they be divvied up among the department’s three assistant chiefs, or its two new captains?
   The city charter may require that the department has a chief, but that mandate could easily be gotten around: Simply give the job title to Bennett. It doesn’t really matter what he’s called, of course, as long as he’s in charge and everyone knows it. That’s clearly the case.
   Not replacing Geraci would save the city roughly $150,000 (his $110,000 salary plus benefits). The money could be used for hiring additional patrol officers, beefing up code enforcement, improving street paving or providing additional tax relief. Another police administrator doesn’t seem necessary.  

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SCHENECTADY
Bennett plans search for next police chief
Job calls for experience and leadership
BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122 or scook@dailygazette.net.

   Schenectady’s next police chief should have experience with urban policing and have demonstrated leadership capabilities with past success, Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said Thursday.
   Bennett gave his assessment of his vision for the position Thursday, a day after Police Chief Michael N. Geraci Sr. announced that he was leaving for a national traffi c safety post.
   Mayor Brian U. Stratton has now given Bennett the task of formulating a procedure to find the new chief and then recommending a candidate.
   For now, however, Bennett must design the search for the position. He learned Thursday that there is no current civil service list. He was also still wading through the civil service rules to determine whether the search would be internal only or could include external candidates.
   If the last chief search is any guide, there wouldn’t be a shortage of internal candidates.
   That search, in 2002, generated interest from seven members of the department’s upper ranks. Many of those candidates are still with the department.
   Three remain assistant chiefs in the department: Jack Falvo, Michael Seber and Mark Chaires. Falvo said any decisions would be premature. The other two did not return calls Thursday.
   Falvo praised Geraci.
   “He’s a good man, an excellent man,” Falvo, 51, said, “smart and savvy. I learned a lot from him.”
   Falvo served as interim chief, while Chaires made the short list of three top candidates selected by then-Commissioner Daniel Boyle.
   Boyle, however, went with an outside candidate in Geraci, who had served as assistant chief in Colonie. Geraci was one of three finalists from outside the department.
   He was the second department head chosen that year from outside. Boyle was picked as commissioner after having served as deputy chief in Syracuse.
   That was a time when the department was still reeling from an FBI probe that ended with four offi cers in federal prison.
   Bennett, another outsider, was brought in earlier this year after another scandal. He had just retired as superintendent of the New York State Police.
   Asked Thursday if he preferred an internal or external candidate, Stratton said he couldn’t say. “I’m looking for the most qualifi ed individual,” he said.
   He noted that Bennett, with his years in law enforcement, has a large network from which to draw.
   Geraci announced Wednesday that he was leaving after fi ve years as chief. He is to become a director in the Office of Traffic Safety Programs for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Geraci has had an interest in traffic safety since the 1980s. He is scheduled to stay in Schenectady until the end of the month.
   What will happen after that is unclear. The last time around, Falvo served as acting chief until a new one was named.
   Then, however, there was no commissioner to take the reins.
   Stratton said he was unsure if an acting chief will be needed this time. “Maybe Commissioner Bennett could be acting chief,” Stratton said.  

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Nothing could have been more obvious from the day six months ago that Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton announced he was hiring Wayne Bennett that this job, despite its public safety commissioner title, was all about reforming and running the city police department. Bennett was brought in to do something Michael Geraci had failed to do as chief, and even though Geraci remained on the job in that position nominally, he hasn’t been running anything for months. So now he’s leaving, which is hardly a surprise. But the decision to replace him, which has apparently already been made, is — and a fairly disturbing one at that.