Quoted from 147

the unions would NEVER allow this to happen, guaranteed

Quoted Text

Curtis case moves
to County Court
   SCHENECTADY — Former city police Det. Jeffrey Curtis appeared in City Court Monday, agreeing to have his case sent up to County Court, officials said. The move allows the city case to be considered at the felony level.
   Curtis faces one count of thirddegree criminal sale of a controlled substance in Schenectady. He also faces a possession charge in Princetown. He is still scheduled for a Wednesday appearance in Princetown Court.
   Curtis was arrested in March as part of an ongoing state police probe into drugs missing from the city police vice squad safe. Curtis was a member of the vice squad. He is not charged with taking the drugs.
   He has since retired from the department.

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Accused drug mule pleads not guilty
Gallo driving car stopped on Thruway
BY STEVE COOK Gazette Reporter

    Misty Gallo appeared calm in Schenectady County Court Wednesday, the first name of her boyfriend and co-defendant tattooed on her wrist. She was there to be arraigned on a high-level drug count, accused of being a drug mule in a large Schenectady-based drug ring.
    It was a demeanor in stark contrast to Feb. 20, when she allegedly realized she lost more than $23,000 in drugs, taken by officers during a planned traffic stop on the Thruway. A sobbing Gallo called her boss, Kerry Kirkem, then, attempting to explain where the drugs had gone.
    Gallo, 23, appeared before Schenectady County Court Judge Karen Drago, who arraigned her on an indictment charging her with first-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance.
    The charge is linked to the Thruway seizure, an incident that authorities say precipitated a meeting between Kirkem, Lisa Kaczmarek and former Schenectady police chief Greg Kaczmarek on what to do about the loss.
    Lisa Kaczmarek was among the 24 people indicted last week. Her husband has not been charged.
    Gallo was accompanied by her attorney, Stephen Rockmacher. He later added more details to the now-publicized trip to Long Island and how authorities tailed her.
    Rockmacher said he was told by investigators that she was tailed by airplane, so troopers knew where she was and if she took any side routes.
    At the traffic stop, Rockmacher said, the state police car blocked her view of her car. Troopers kept her busy with field sobriety tests, while another trooper entered the passenger compartment and took the shipment from behind a seat. All the while, her trunk was up, blocking her view of the inside of the car.
    Troopers then let her go without charging her. Wiretap transcripts indicate she didn’t realize the drugs were gone until 43 minutes later, when she made a panicked call to Kirkem.
    Rockmacher said she feared for her life at that point, after losing the entire shipment. He said she is still in fear, “very much so.” Her mother called him over the weekend with the same worries, Rockmacher said.
    At Wednesday’s arraignment, Rockmacher prompted Gallo when it came time to plead. “Not guilty,” she said.
    She appeared in a Schenectady County Jail orange jumpsuit. She has been in jail since her March arrest. She, along with Kirkem, were the first to be taken into custody.
    The most recent of the 24 indicted was the man whose first name is tattooed on the outside of her left wrist, Ron Hughes.
    Hughes was arrested Monday as he visited his girlfriend in jail, apparently unaware that he was wanted himself. He faces three drug possession counts.
    Wilfred Cordero, an alleged worker in the organization, and the alleged Long Island supplier Maximo Doe remain at large, officials said Wednesday.

Quoted Text

CAPITOL
State expected to help ailing police detective to retire
BY BOB CONNER Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Bob Conner at 462-2499 or bconner@dailygazette.net.

    Schenectady Police Detective Michael Kelly said Thursday that the reason he has been out of work for most of the past three years is because diabetes has resulted in infections and injuries to his feet, causing him to lose two toes.
    “My feet are starting to break down,” Kelly said. “I’m not some disability deadbeat.”
    A spokesman for Sen. Hugh Farley, R-Niskayuna, said the senator likely will introduce home rule legislation requested by the city of Schenectady to ease Kelly into retirement. Farley aide David Smingler said he was contacted this week about the issue by John Van Norden, Schenectady’s corporation counsel.
    The City Council on Monday passed a home rule message requesting legislation to make Kelly eligible for the state’s Optional Twenty Year Retirement Program. Kelly is currently not eligible to collect retirement benefits until he has served 30 years on the force, Van Norden said. He is currently credited for 27 years of service.
    Van Norden said the unlimited sick time available to Kelly is not available to police officers hired since the 1990s. The city does not blame Kelly for exercising his contractual rights, Van Norden said, and is not questioning that he is ill.
    “The police department is well aware of [Kelly’s] medical condition and it is very clear and not even arguable,” Van Norden said. Citing privacy laws, he declined to be more specifi c.
    Kelly has “a very common and very debilitating medical condition,” Van Norden said, but it is “not a work-related disability.” Kelly, Van Norden said, “was a respected, dedicated member of the police department” who “doesn’t want to suffer a huge financial loss” by resigning from the force. “We want him not to be destitute,” Van Norden said.
    Kelly declined to say whether he would take retirement if he were made eligible, saying he is not sure whether the city wants him to discuss it. “I’m really at the mercy of these people,” he said.
    But Van Norden said later about Kelly: “My understanding is he’s prepared to retire” if the state legislation makes him eligible.
    Kelly, who lives in the city of Schenectady, said he has been an insulin-dependent diabetic for 26 years. On Aug. 23, 2005, he got an infection in a toe that put him in St. Clare’s Hospital for 44 days and threatened his life, he said. He has been hospitalized more than a dozen times since then, often for a week or longer, and has had about a dozen operations. He said he has had no feeling in his feet for the past several years.
    Kelly said he returned to work for four days in September 2006, after consulting with a doctor hired by the city, but leg braces caused another blister that became infected.
    Kelly said he is not required to call in sick every day. He is on a sick list, and has periodically provided the city with medical verification of his continued illness.
    Smingler said it is not unusual for the Legislature to pass bills correcting mistakes that affect the retirement status of individuals. He said Farley’s office would need more information from the city before a bill can be crafted, but it is possible legislation could be passed by June 23, which is the last scheduled day of the legislative session.
    It is unclear why Kelly is not currently eligible for the 20-year retirement. Van Norden said he thought Kelly had not taken an opportunity to sign up for it. But Kelly said: “I never had a chance to retire. I didn’t decline the opportunity.”

Quoted Text

Schenectadians seem too tolerant of crime

    Being a new resident to Schenectady and the Northeast (one year), I’ve developed an opinion. In my time here I’ve seen improvements in every area. This is a beautiful, very historic, friendly town with one correctable flaw — an unchecked, look-the-otherway attitude on crime.
    However, I must say, a huge congratulations [is in order] for the recent, far-reaching drug bust [May 9 Gazette]. A job very well done! It must continue, as crime certainly will.
    In other areas of the country that I’ve been in, here are a few simple, workable ideas that are very effective:
    Roadblocks always find drugs and weapons.
Officers together on street beats are huge deterrents. Mandated curfews for teens. A planned direction for teens to be tried and sentenced as adults concerning violent crimes. A community either condones it or stops it.
L.T. DALY
Schenectady

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Man sues, alleges police beating
Lawsuit seeks $5.5M in damages
BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter

    A city man who allegedly taunted police about a drug scandal is now accusing them of beating him.
    John W. Wakefield III, 41, of Schenectady, filed suit in federal court, accusing two city police offi - cers and others of attacking him on Albany Street April 13, 2007, putting him in the hospital for three days.
    Wakefield was never charged with a crime, but he was taken to Ellis Hospital for evaluation. He states he suffered a broken rib as well as bruises.
    In an incident report, provided by Wakefield’s attorney, officers allege a complaint was received that Wakefield was harassing people and had a knife in his hand. Offi - cers spotted him in the street with a pocket knife yelling “shoot me, I must die.” He then became combative when officers caught up with him, according to the report.
    Wakefield denies saying that or that he was suicidal.
    “That was nothing like him, whatsoever,” Wakefield attorney Brian Matula said. “By saying that, they caused him to be held longer than he needed to be.”
    Wakefield is alleging excessive use of force and false arrest, failure to properly train and supervise officers and freedom of speech violations. He is seeking punitive damages. The suit asks for $5.5 million.
    Named as defendants in the lawsuit are officers William Fennell and Jose Lopez, the city of Schenectady and three unidentifi ed police officers. Also named are the state police and three unidentified troopers.
    City Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said Monday he couldn’t comment after being told of the case by a reporter. Lt. Robert Hamilton, head of the police union, did not return a call for comment.
    According to Wakefield’s complaint, filed in U.S. District Court last week, Wakefield was inside the Brandywine Avenue Stewart’s store when he was confronted by two officers.
    He ultimately began to leave the store, but added that if officers didn’t have him doing anything suspicious then they couldn’t detain him, according to a complaint Matula said was filed with police two weeks after the incident. Wakefi eld never got a response on the complaint, Matula said.
    “And maybe you should go try to find your missing 85 pieces of crack and leave me alone,” Wakefield quotes himself as saying in the complaint affidavit, also provided by Matula. Wakefield was referring to the missing drugs scandal then embroiling the police department, which resulted in the arrest of a former vice squad detective.
    After he engaged officers, other police arrived. One officer allegedly pointed a gun at him. Wakefield then surrendered what was described as a small pocket knife he’d been wearing.
    He ultimately ended up at the nearby Royal Fried Chicken restaurant on Albany Street. It was there, he alleges, officers peppersprayed him and repeatedly hit and kicked him, according to the lawsuit. A crowd formed and the attack stopped, he contends.
    “Before [the incident], he didn’t have any broken ribs,” Matula said, “and following it, he did.”

Quoted Text

Carl Strock THE VIEW FROM HERE
Ex-police chief immersed in drug culture?
Carl Strock can be reached at 395-3085 or by e-mail at carlstrock@dailygazette.com.

    This is what I’m trying to incorporate into my view of reality: Greg Kaczmarek, former police chief of Schenectady, volunteering to drive down to Long Island to pick up a load of cocaine for his wife, who is a street-level drug dealer. Sitting in his living room on Roma Street listening to wife Lisa berate her supplier on the telephone because she has no more goods to sell (“All that f--- money I could bring in; you’re killin’ me”), demanding to know why her supplier is not on the road right now to pick some more up, and Greg saying in the background, “I’ll go with him. What’s the difference?”
    And the supplier saying his own suppliers in Long Island “definitely ain’t gonna do that,” meaning truck with Kaczmarek, because, “you talkin’ about a white guy goin’ into the black” community. “We talkin’ Hempstead” — a largely black town — “not Schenectady.”
    And Lisa, with a laugh, replying that Greg says, “I’ll show ’em the badge.”
    And Lisa further telling her supplier that she wants a new shipment quickly, because “Greg’s birthday is Wednesday.” And Greg calling out, “That’s my birthday present.”
    And so forth. All of this recorded on their telephone, which was being tapped by the attorney general’s Organized Crime Task Force with the cooperation of the state police.
    That’s what I’m trying to incorporate into my view of reality. The retired chief living a sleazy drugculture life.
    Now I hasten to add a couple of things:
    1. Greg Kaczmarek has not been arrested, charged, or indicted. Only his wife has, along with 23 alleged associates.
    2. The transcripts of the recorded telephone conversations never mention cocaine or any other drug but are couched entirely in circumlocutions like getting “hooked up” and that sort of thing, and if I didn’t have the grand jury’s indictment to guide me, I would never know what the participants were talking about.
    I take the grand jury’s word, and indirectly the Organized Crime Task Force’s word, that the subject matter is cocaine. But of course I have no reason to doubt that word either.
    Some things do begin to fall into place. I remember the whispering campaign against Kaczmarek back in 1996 when he was about to be appointed chief. I remember the anonymous phone calls and anonymous letters to me, to other journalists and to City Council members asserting that he had been a coke-head earlier in his career and that his nickname in the Police Department was Sgt. Snow and later, after he got promoted, Lt. Noriega, with reference to the drug-dealing leader of Panama.
    I remember interviewing him on these matters and him flatly declaring, “I’m not a drug user, I’m not a drug abuser, and I never have been one,” and I remember figuring it was only fair to give him the benefit of the doubt, especially since I had tried to verify the rumors and come up empty.
    Now of course I wonder.
    I remember early in 2005 when he was newly married to Lisa, a waitress at the Blue Ribbon Diner, (she is his third wife), and Lisa’s daughter from her own earlier marriage was arrested on drug charges.
    Greg told me the young woman had “made a stupid mistake” and would have to pay the price. The price turned out to be a relatively soft six months in jail, even though, I now learn, the daughter, Tanika Smith, had refused to cooperate with authorities and instead pleaded guilty to the full indictment.
    I also learn now that a short time after getting out of jail Tanika made another “stupid mistake” and was caught with $10,000 worth of cocaine on her in Rockland County, as a result of which she is now serving a six-year sentence in state prison in Beacon.
    I remember likewise that in 2005 Lisa was caught with a roach in her pocketbook when she went through security at City Court, located in the Schenectady police station, where she was going in support of her son, who was charged with shoving someone and breaking a windshield.
    The charge against her was ultimately adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, and anyway, I give no importance to marijuana, which I regard as far less harmful than alcohol.
    Now it turns out her son, Miles Smith, was part of this alleged drug ring that was just taken down and was one of those arrested.
    So when you put it all together — mother, son, daughter — this appears to be quite the little drug-happy and crime-prone family and not one in which one member foolishly committed a mistake. And, the stunning part: It’s a family in which the retired police chief appeared to fit comfortably. At least whenever I saw him and Lisa together they seemed to be a happy and harmonious couple.
    I wonder about the pizza shop they opened on the North Side of Schenectady, not far from the Gazette building, shortly after their marriage. It seemed like an odd choice of second career for a police chief, but I figured every employee wants to own the business he or she works in, and I guessed maybe Lisa aspired to own a restaurant and this was Greg’s way of pleasing her.
    Now I wonder if something besides pizza and the Carl Strock sandwich (“ham and baloney, piled high”) might have been moving through that shop, and I wonder if it got to the point where they figured they no longer needed the pizza and sandwich part of it.
    I have been unable to reach them to ask them, though I don’t suppose they would tell me anyway.
    “Capo de Pizza” was the name of the shop — “chief of pizza,” with a self-deprecating touch of humor, the same kind that informed the name of the sandwich, which I could have objected to on proprietary grounds but did not, good sport that I am.
    I read the transcripts of the telephone conversations, and I don’t necessarily understand everything, but I pick up enough to be tantalized.
    Lisa says to her alleged supplier, Kerry Kirkem, “Come on, Kerry, it’s time to pay me back for all that sh-- I had to go through for a year with Tanika,” and at least I know who Tanika is and what prison she’s in.
    She says, “I’m serious, these f--- people buy every f--- day. I’ll take their checks.” And I don’t know what kind of checks she takes, but I suppose either paychecks or welfare checks from those daily buyers.
    She says, “I don’t want to go through the pizza. They’ll get me back for what I did to them,” and I don’t know exactly what she means or what she did to whom, but at least I can make a connection with Capo de Pizza.
    What I’m still wrestling with is the basic idea of the former police chief of Schenectady, at the age of 56, with a $36,097 pension, apparently immersed in the drug culture and volunteering, actually volunteering, to run cocaine into his city.
    And being turned down! Rejected as unsuitable for the job despite his willingness to flash his badge. So he won’t have anything to snort on his birthday, and for a few days his wife won’t make the money she would otherwise make.
    “It gives me a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach,” quoth his onetime overseer, former Mayor Al Jurczynski.
    It does me too, and a headache to boot.

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
Retired officers to watch for crime Cameras will send images from trouble spots to monitors
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    Watch out — the dozens of security cameras that have been placed throughout the city will soon have human eyes on them.
    The city is hiring three retired police officers to watch the security camera monitors this summer. But the officers will do far more than just scan the wall of camera screens. They’ll zoom in on the location of 911 calls while dispatchers send police to the scene, hoping to record faces and license plates even if the suspects escape before police arrive.
    They will also use the cameras to continuously scan trouble spots in the Hamilton Hill, Vale, Central State Street and Mont Pleasant neighborhoods. If they see anything suspicious, they’ll relay their concerns to the dispatchers immediately.
    Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said he hopes the news will persuade criminals to stop breaking the law or leave the city.
    “Either one is fine with me,” he said. “I want them to know. Perhaps we can make them nervous enough that they’re not quite sure where to set up their trade.”
    The monitors will work part-time, each spending about 15 hours a week staring at the cameras during the mid-day and evening hours. Those times were chosen because that’s when most of the city’s serious crimes occur, Bennett said.
    It’s not yet clear whether the monitors will be effective. District Attorney Robert Carney warned that it will be a difficult job.
    “The theory sounds great: if you have someone monitoring a camera and they see something happen and they can direct resources to it, perhaps they can stop a crime — or more likely arrest someone right afterwards,” Carney said.
    “The theory is difficult in practice. There’s so many screens. When you’re looking at one, you’re missing 25 others.”
    He’s hoping that monitors will work closely with dispatchers, zooming in on criminals while police race to the scene.
    “Not only does it provide solid leads but it provides evidence,” Carney said. “Linking them with dispatch is really where we want to go.”
    The pilot program will be shortlived. It is being funded through a $20,000 grant from state Department of Criminal Justice Services, but the agency required all monies to be spent by Sept. 30. The county applied for the grant and passed it on to the city.
    Once the program ends, the city may continue with volunteers. However, Bennett said he hasn’t yet decided whether to allow them into the department.
    “I’m weighing the pros and cons,” he said. “There are some disadvantages, particularly when you go to court.”

BRUCE SQUIERS/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER Surrounded by screens from more than 40 cameras, Schenectady police officer Chris Wrubel watches activities throughout the city.

Quoted Text

Teen Arrested for Shooting Rifle in Schenectady
Comments 0| Recommend 0
CBS 6 News
May 23, 2008 - 9:09AM
Del.icio.us |  Digg | Print Story | E-Mail Story | Font Size    
A 17-year-old Schenectady man has been arrested in connection
with a shot fired Thursday.



Avery Fauntleroy of Emmett St. was charged with felony reckless
endangerment and misdemeanor menacing.



Schenectady police say Fauntleroy shot a rifle in the area of 1039
Delamont Ave. at around 3:40 p.m. Thursday; he was apprehended
a short time later.



Fauntleroy is expected to be arraigned Friday morning.

Quoted Text

Quoted Text

    The monitors will work part-time, each spending about 15 hours a week staring at the cameras during the mid-day and evening hours. Those times were chosen because that’s when most of the city’s serious crimes occur, Bennett said