always attacking the men in blue well for once you all should try therir jobs and see how it goes for you over there

Quoted from 191

always attacking the men in blue well for once you all should try therir jobs and see how it goes for you over there

I didn't know that having their tough job ment breaking the law and getting away with it. Seems like a great job to me!!!

That's one officer that shouldn't be carrying a gun and should be in another line of work.

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Another side of the Schenectady police

    Recently all I've heard about is how bad the Schenectady Police Department is, given there are a few bad apples. I am writing to let you know about the good apples. Bobby Hamilton and the Schenectady Police Benevolent Association [PBA] have helped my family out immensely.
    My husband recently passed away. The PBA has given us food and, thank God, helped get my car fixed. My vehicle is essential to my family — I have two special-needs children.
    I want to publicly thank the Schenectady PBA and Bobby Hamilton for all their help.

    POLLY MASTROIANNI
    Schenectady     

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00508

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Police lead Stratton, and not just on horseback

    I noticed on the [Feb. 9] TV coverage of the mayor re-enacting the ride to Albany that his accompanying police officer was holding one of the reins of the mayor's horse.
    If the mayor is not comfortable on horseback (as I am not), then that was the wise thing to do. I had to notice, however, the similarity with how the Schenectady Police Department also leads Mayor Stratton around on a leash.

    ROBERT GRIMM
    Amsterdam

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00509

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SCHENECTADY
Chief: Cop ‘stealing time’Johnson, tops in pay, out of car during shift
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    The police officer who nearly tripled his pay through overtime work last year has been in an apartment instead of working for part of his shifts each week, an investigation by The Daily Gazette determined.
    Dwayne Johnson, who was the city’s highest paid officer last year with earnings of $168,921, spends most Tuesday early mornings in an apartment at the corner of Queen Philomena Boulevard and Sir Benjamin Way, near Kings Road. Although Johnson is typically scheduled to patrol the city until 8 a.m., he parks his marked police car on Sir Benjamin Way just before 4 a.m. and remains indoors for several hours.
    The 18-year veteran of the department was observed by a Daily Gazette reporter and other witnesses as he entered and stayed in the apartment on five Tuesdays in a row this year. The Daily Gazette a week ago reported the matter to the Police Department, which confirmed Johnson’s absence from patrols through the city’s new GPS units. Chief Mark Chaires said Johnson’s Tuesday absences from duty have been recorded by the new units nearly every week since they were installed in November.
    Chaires was disgusted to learn of yet another case of an officer not working during his shift.
    “Here we go again,” Chaires said. “How dumb can you be? You know you have a GPS in your car. Why would anybody do that?”
    The department is investigating Johnson and plans to ask him why he leaves his job on Tuesdays and what he’s doing during that time.
    “I’d like to know what is so interesting for three hours on Tuesdays, though we’re not necessarily going to believe what he tells us,” Chaires said. He declined to state whether that is Johnson’s home address.
    He added that no excuse will get Johnson out of trouble.
    “With a city with our crime problems and our issues, there’s no reason to spend your evening socializing or whatever,” Chaires said. “If you’re not on a call, you need to be out there looking for something or at least just showing the car as a deterrence. We’re not paying you to park it.”
    Johnson could not be reached for comment.
    The GPS units, which cost $22,000, were installed in every car shortly after another patrol offi cer, Thomas Disbrow, was caught bowling with his son every Saturday during his work shift. Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said then that the new units would keep such embarrassing incidents from happening again, since supervisors now know exactly where their officers are at all times.
    But no one noticed that Johnson parked his car for three hours or more each Tuesday until it was pointed out by The Gazette.
    Now supervisors will be required to run printed reports each day and check them to make sure their officers were working, Chaires said.
CHIEF ANGRY
    “Beginning today we’ll do that,” Chaires said on Tuesday. “You hate to treat people like 5-year-olds but basically we’re going to have to do this. It’s a minority of a few that act like 5-year-olds and ruin it so we have to treat them all like that.”
    It’s not clear what Johnson does in the apartment on Tuesdays, but the officer logged 75 hours every week last year and had logged 70 hours a week so far this year, according to payroll records.
    Other officers who worked similar schedules in previous years say it’s not possible to get through the work week without napping during slow periods.
    Chaires seemed to think it likely that Johnson was sleeping. Asked about possible punishments for the officer, he explained that sleeping is viewed as a serious infraction.
    “When you’re caught sleeping, we consider that stealing time,” Chaires said. “If you’re going to steal time, we’re going to take it back. It’s a significant sanction.”
    Officers are supposed to refuse overtime when they are too tired to work. But Johnson has been leaving his beat during his scheduled overnight shift, possibly exhausted after days of working the morning or afternoon shift on overtime.
    City officials, including the mayor and Chaires, have raised a series of concerns about offi - cers who work extreme overtime. They are particularly concerned about patrol officers like Johnson, who are asked to drive for hours past their normal shift and then must make split-second decisions in tense situations. Mayor Brian U. Stratton has repeatedly said that overworked officers are a danger to themselves and others, although command staffers insist they evaluate officers on long shifts and send them home when they can’t function well.
    Chaires said he was pleased by one facet of the Johnson incident: Unlike previous scenarios, the GPS devices provide three months’ of evidence to support a disciplinary case.
    Internal Affairs Lt. Stephen LaVare said evidence will make the crucial difference between a gentle reprimand and a serious punishment.
    “If I’ve got one instance, I’ve got a slap on the wrist,” he said.
    He asked The Daily Gazette to hold the story for a week so he could catch Johnson in the act. He set up a sting, planning to watch Johnson and then knock on his door just before his shift ended this morning.
    But for the first time in at least six weeks, Johnson did not stop working during his shift, raising questions about whether he was warned of the sting. LaVare had expressed serious concerns about that possibility.
    Chaires acknowledged those concerns but emphasized the positive: At least the GPS units provided evidence from the past three months.
    “It did work, in that there is ..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00101

Kudo's to Kathleen Moore for excellent investigative reporting! Let's all hope that it continues with a follow up!

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  Chaires was disgusted to learn of yet another case of an officer not working during his shift.
    “Here we go again,” Chaires said. “How dumb can you be? You know you have a GPS in your car. Why would anybody do that?”

And why didn't the commissioner or previous department head get a report on similar issues before it was brough to their attention by a reporter? What's the point of these units?

See also: http://www.rotterdamny.info/m-1233317118/

Quoted from bumblethru

Kudo's to Kathleen Moore for excellent investigative reporting! Let's all hope that it continues with a follow up!

I agree. Kudo's to Kathleen. We're screwed in the city!  

Yea, she's a brilliant investigative reporter.  Can we put her in for a Pulitzer?  She truly is a shining star at the Gazette!

This is the first article in YEARS from the gazette that deserves honorable mention! Could it be that the 'PEOPLE'S GAZETTE' is coming back?

Quoted from 8

I agree. Kudo's to Kathleen. We're screwed in the city!  

I'm afraid that Rotterdam is following suit. Cops and dems running the show and calling the shots. I wouldn't mind too much....but just look at what that has done for the city!!!

this putan is trying to cause a lot of trouble we dont need at all by going against the men in blue with mostly lies and making the things up as usual

Quoted from bumblethru

I'm afraid that Rotterdam is following suit. Cops and dems running the show and calling the shots. I wouldn't mind too much....but just look at what that has done for the city!!!

What did I miss?  How are Rotterdam cops following suit?  Bumble you seem to regurgitate everything Mertz says.  Come on, even his/your own party didnt want ya/him....  That should tell ya something.,  

John Mertz is no Joe Suhrada.  

Are you suggesting that Rotterdam cops had something to do with ousting Mertz?  He did that himself.  He couldn't get along with
anyone in any party.