thats right it was the repubs as usual who did this here in the Da's office and they wanted to persecut them some more because they are men in blue. When are the people gonna learn over here
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
they have been in there for years plus they have the ags office in ny for most of the time over the past decade only now a demo is in there trying to clean the mess up
I read in the Jan. 31 Gazette that Schenectady Police officer Dwayne Johnson’s gross pay for 2008 was approximately $155,000 (adjusted for subsequently reported retroactive raises). That’s much more than double his base pay. For about the same cost to the city, another police officer could have been on the beat, and without overtime! How long will outrageous contracts and the PBA be allowed to run roughshod over the city’s taxpayers? I moved out of Schenectady a couple years ago. I think I’m glad I did.
they have been in there for years plus they have the ags office in ny for most of the time over the past decade only now a demo is in there trying to clean the mess up
Who are the arbitors????? I really dont care what party.....$ doesn't care what party......it just flows......
...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 Plan aims to cut police leave time Council OKs manager jobs out of union control BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
The reorganization of management at the Police Department is actually a maneuver to clamp down on the excessive leave that police union members are allowing each other to take, Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said Monday. The new system calls for three lieutenant positions to be replaced by a new captain and a new assistant chief. Councilwoman Denise Brucker criticized the proposal, saying the city should increase the number of patrol officers instead of sending more officers into upper management. The rest of the council voted in favor of the idea, which passed 5-1 with Councilman Joseph Allen absent. After the meeting, Bennett said the reorganization was designed to take certain supervisory decisions out of the union’s hands. Captains and assistant chiefs are not members of the Police Benevolent Association. “Union people overseeing union people doesn’t necessarily work too well,” Bennett said. “In the last labor negotiations, the PBA president cited specific examples where he blamed supervisors — union people, I might add — where they allowed too many people too much time off.” Union President Robert Hamilton successfully argued last year that the police contract did not need to be changed because supervisors could have limited the time off, but didn’t. The city had wanted an elimination of comp time, in which officers take days off in lieu of some overtime pay. The city argued that comp time usage was out of control on weekends and other unpopular working days, forcing the department to call in many officers on overtime. A Sunday Gazette review found that on some occasions, only fi ve of the 17 officers showed up for their Saturday evening shift. On average, 42 percent of the officers skipped that shift each week in 2006. Typically seven officers were allowed off, although no more than 5 should have been allowed to take the time off. Hamilton said the city should have enforced its rules. Now it will, Bennett said. “We’ll have more accountable supervision,” he said. “We’re very, very acutely aware of the number of people on the street. By better administering some of the leave programs, where there was, shall we say, some abuses, we will have more officers on the street.” He added that he wasn’t accusing every supervisor of granting too many leave requests. “But human nature is what it is,” Bennett said. The decision was lauded by one unlikely source — Ralph Boyd Sr., who fought for...................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00700
Sch’dy cops’ OT king worth every penny — and then some
Re Gerald Boehm’s Feb. 9 letter: He has no clue what he is talking about. Officer Dwayne Johnson is worth at least twice what he was paid, overtime and all. Take it from someone who knows — when Officer Johnson is on patrol, most drug dealers will not deliver drugs. They will not even go to the store for milk or cigarettes. Officer Johnson knows most everyone in Schenectady, and he knows what they are up to. Everyone knows who he is and when he’s working, so if he’s working overtime, it is not his regularly scheduled shift and it throws everyone off. There is no cop in Schenectady who is more feared or respected. He does the work of at least five cops. I am not some bleeding-heart PBA advocate, I am a recently convicted felon. If there were more cops like Offi cer Johnson, I would have been arrested long before, but I tried to stay out of Schenectady when he was working. You pillars of society need to talk to some street people before you start crying about how overpaid your cops are.
SCHENECTADY 3 officers to be disciplined after crash Assistant police chief rear-ended vehicle while off duty BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Three members of the Schenectady Police Department will face disciplinary action as a result of the Dec. 30 off-duty accident involving Assistant Chief Michael Seber and the subsequent investigation, the police chief said Wednesday. Seber rear-ended a vehicle that night on Erie Boulevard in an accident that was initially blamed on “driver inattention/distraction.” But subsequent allegations that alcohol might have been a factor launched the internal probe. That probe has now concluded, with no criminal charges against Seber. The alcohol question ended up inconclusive, Police Chief Mark Chaires said Wednesday, because of what he called the poor quality of the initial accident investigation. “By poor, we mean the standard tests that are given at the scene of an accident where alcohol impairment is suspected or alleged weren’t done in this case,” Chaires said. “We’re not happy with the investigation. We feel like the standard tests probably should have been done in this case.” Each of the officers responding to the scene would have been subordinates of Seber. Chaires termed it “a viable theory” that Seber’s rank may have influenced the lack of tests. However, Chaires added, “I wouldn’t say that Assistant Chief Seber did anything to intentionally use his authority to discourage them. … Their perception of the difference in rank might have been why they didn’t proceed down that road.” None of the three facing disciplinary action have been suspended or placed on leave. Chaires refused to identify any of the three, even to say if Seber was among them. Asked if the officer whose name is on the accident report, Officer Thomas Ciampolillo, was among them, Chaires also declined to answer. “What I will tell you is not everyone who was involved in this incident is going to be facing disciplinary charges,” Chaires said. The accident report itself, Chaires said, will be revisited. The report describes the accident as a rear-end collision, with Seber’s 2006 Toyota hitting a 2007 Chevrolet driven by Donald Nash of Ballston Lake. No one was injured in the 9:47 p.m. accident. Seber was alone. Nash had three others in his vehicle. At least one of the vehicles had more than $1,000 in damage, according to the report. Fault in the accident was already established as Seber’s, Chaires noted. But there are ways to note whether alcohol is suspected or found. No suspicion was noted. None of the three officers cited will immediately face suspension or paid leave, Chaires said. Chaires said the Seber case does not compare with the fi ve officers out on paid leave for much of last year from another case involving alleged alcohol use. In that case, involving DWI suspect Donald Randolph, there were allegations of excessive police force. Police also had trouble determining what the exact facts were, Chaires said. Disciplinary charges also had to wait until a criminal probe concluded. Three of the five returned to work on Sunday. Two others remain out. In the current case, there were no force allegations and police believe the action taken is appropriate. The Seber accident capped off a year in which Schenectady County drunken driving arrests were down overall. Schenectady and three surrounding departments saw reductions. Two other officers also faced arrest, accused criminally of drunken driving: Sgt. Joseph Peters IV and Officer John Lewis. Despite the lack of criminal charges in the Seber case, Chaires said, the department’s investigation lets members of the department know exactly what is expected. “We’re sending a clear message after this through the department: there is less than zero tolerance for driving while intoxicated,” Chaires said, adding later, “Everybody down here makes more than enough money to afford a $20 cab ride.” Seber has served as assistant chief since 1998, following 10 years on the force; he was 38 when he was promoted. He has tried for the top spot twice, in 2002 and last year, losing out both times. He has overseen the patrol division since an October shake-up. Previously, he oversaw investigations and the vice squad. It was under his watch that a vice squad member was arrested and admitted to taking drug evidence. A grand jury report later criticized the ...................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01100
First published in print: Thursday, February 12, 2009
What happened to our integrity and honesty? We have tax defrauders, whether accidental or not, running and trying to run our nation and state. The Bethlehem police think they have a right to decide whether or not they are willing to be questioned by another police agency. I wonder how that would play out for any of us "regular" people.
The former Schenectady police chief and his wife are serving minimal time in prison or jail on drug charges.
All of the above are white people. The vast majority of inmates in prisons and jails are people of color.
Whoever thinks that racism is no longer a problem because we have a non-Caucasian president needs to open his or her eyes to see reality.
After a month-long investigation, Schenectady Police Chief Mark Chaires has released precious few details about the off-duty car accident that Assistant Chief Michael Seber got into Dec. 30, except to acknowledge that the department’s initial investigation into the accident was fl awed and that three officers — not necessarily including Seber — will be disciplined. As justification for not providing additional details, including what disciplinary action the unnamed officers face, Chaires cites an absurd section of state civil rights law that was passed three decades ago — at the insistence of the police unions after the Freedom of Information Law was passed — to keep cops’ authority from being undermined by embarrassing news. The problem in a case like this is that in sparing a few cops from embarrassment, the rest of the department’s reputation suffers. And the department’s reputation is already close to rock-bottom. Was Seber drunk when he rear-ended that guy at the intersection of Erie Boulevard and Freemans Bridge Road at 9:47 p.m., after reportedly leaving a colleague’s retirement party? Or was he just a little buzzed? Or maybe he hadn’t been drinking at all? No one but Seber will ever know for sure because the cops at the scene handled him differently than they normally would someone suspected of being impaired by alcohol. How did they handle him? Again, Chaires won’t — can’t — say; but he certainly implies there was cause for suspicion, stating that “standard tests probably should have been done” and that he will discipline three of the officers involved. Once again, the cops appear to know a lot more about an embarrassing case involving one of their own than they’re willing to say. And given the department’s already sullied reputation, people are inclined to believe the worst when a story like this hits the papers and rumors start flying. Any of the officers involved could waive their right to privacy here, but that’s unlikely to happen. Better yet would be for the state to repeal this misguided law. In the meantime, it’s never been clearer that the Schenectady Police Department needs a .....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00701
Re Feb. 3 article, “Ex-top cop heads to prison”: No one wants to see anyone go off to jail or prison. However, to see Schenectady’s former police chief on the front page, making his way to prison for two years after drug trafficking, is enough to make one wonder about justice in the city. And that his wife will be going away for six months after her involvement is enough to make one wonder again about the justice system. Imagine the message this particular situation is sending. A very sad situation, indeed, when one considers how many people have been confined for a number of years after minor run-ins with the law. I suggest that the judge who meted out such “slaps on the wrist” consult Mr. Webster on the explanation of the word justice. Or do some levels of justice apply to some more than others?
SCHENECTADY Officials looking to fire officer City hasn’t been able to contact policeman who faces numerous charges BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
City officials plan to fire Officer John Lewis — just as soon as they find him. “They can’t serve him with the last seven infractions because they can’t find where he lives,” Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said Friday afternoon. Lewis was charged twice last year after incidents stemming from a bitter divorce. Then, after the split was final, he was charged in November with threatening to kill her and any man he found with her. On Dec. 27, he was also charged with drunken driving. Two weeks later, he was charged with criminal mischief for allegedly tearing up his mother’s house while intoxicated. According to Lewis’ attorney, the officer was admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Amsterdam a day after the December arrest. St. Mary’s has an inpatient alcohol rehabilitation center. Visitors are only allowed in for two hours a week, on Sundays, and apparently the city’s process servers have not gotten access. But Lewis is expected to leave St. Mary’s soon — his attorney had said that Lewis would leave by the end of last week — and then servers will be able to hand him his court documents. Van Norden expects to immediately schedule a police disciplinary hearing. “Lewis will be in short order, in a matter of weeks,” Van Norden said. At that hearing, at which Van Norden will serve as prosecutor and Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett will be judge, the city will ask for Lewis’ termination. “Our goal is to remove him from his position,” Van Norden said. “Separate him from the department, period.” The city has tried to fire Lewis before. In 1998, Lewis used a racial slur to describe a black police employee, and the city quickly terminated him. But Lewis took the case to a state arbitrator, who ruled that Lewis must be reinstated because the city had been “unduly harsh.” Van Norden said the incident was not the fi rst infraction for Lewis. “There were a lot of disciplines that the arbitrator chose to ignore,” Van Norden said, adding that those would be brought up in his case against Lewis. “It’s not just the recent incidents, although they are egregious,” Van Norden said. “We will track the entire history of Officer Lewis.” If the hearing takes place, it will be the first such event since Bennett took disciplinary authority from the state arbitrators last year. The hearing is supposed to be public, according to the city charter. But Van Norden said he will likely keep the hearing private, since the police union has already sued the city regarding Bennett’s authority to discipline officers. The union wants arbitrators to make final disciplinary decisions and may file another lawsuit if the hearing is public. “My recommendation is probably going to be since we don’t have a decision from [the state Public Employment Relations Board on the union lawsuit] and my job is to protect the taxpayers, we should close them,” Van Norden said. “But I haven’t made a final decision.” He added that anyone could sue to force him to open the hearing. “Believe me, you wouldn’t have me as an adversary,” he said, adding that he would announce his decision in advance so interested parties could sue for access if they wished. In the meantime, Van Norden is..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00900
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