A cop career undone by drugs Addicted and convicted, ex-Schenectady officer now looks to help others
By Paul Nelson
Published 6:02 pm, Saturday, February 22, 2014
In prison, he earned the nickname "Toxic."
But before he was sharing a cell with a gangbanger and eating chow with cop killers and pedophiles, Jeffrey Curtis was an accomplished street cop and investigator with the Schenectady Police Department.
"At the time of my arrest, I was probably one of the, if not the most decorated police officer on the job," Curtis told students in a criminal justice club at Schenectady County Community College. "If you think addiction can't happen to you, you're dead wrong. I'm sorry to tell you it can happen to you, it did happen to me."
An addiction to crack cocaine — an obsession that led him steal a stash of the drug from a police department evidence locker — ended his career and sent him to prison. There, he lived with the types of people he'd locked up during a 22-year career as a cop.
Now, Curtis, 54, meets with would-be officers and people eyeing a career in law enforcement for blunt talks about his addiction, conviction and recovery. He wants to make sure his story doesn't become their story.
The Rotterdam native spoke at a recent gathering of the criminal justice club at the college, which offers classes for students interested in law. Afterward, he agreed to talk to the Times Union in the hopes his ordeal might help others.
"I consider myself in recovery, and every day I need to be on point, to make sure I don't forget where I came from, that I appreciate everything that I've got and be happy where I'm at," Curtis said. "I'm more at peace with myself now than I've ever been, and that, I believe, will keep me from going back."
Curtis was forced to retire in 2007 after being charged with stealing crack cocaine from the evidence locker. He spent more than three years in prison after pleading guilty to drug possession and evidence tampering.
Curtis started out in protective custody, locked in for 23 hours a day at the former Oneida Correctional Facility, a medium security prison in Rome.
Accused of inciting a riot — an accusation Curtis called trumped up — he was sent to Upstate Correctional Facility, a maximum security prison in Malone.
"I wasn't afraid of the other inmates. The other inmates were two cop killers, gangbangers who flipped on their co-defendants, and pedophiles, that's who I got to eat chow with, that's who I was out in the yard with," he said.
Curtis said correction officers scared him more because he couldn't fight back when they bullied him. He recalled one guard who taunted and tried to goad him into a fight. Curtis believes it was because the Rev. Peter Young of Albany, an expert on drug recovery, was advocating for Curtis' early release and the facility was receiving a lot of attention.
"Out of 42 months, I spent 12 in the box, where you got nothing, you get no phone calls, I mean nothing," he said. "I found myself waking up every night with these vicious cruel thoughts."
He also had heated arguments and physical altercations with fellow inmates, including one with a cop killer.
"I had a lot of anger and they knew if they pushed up on me, there would be issues," Curtis said. That's how he got the cellblock nickname "Toxic."
He had to control his emotions and adopt a healthier attitude to make it through prison and to be a better husband and father when he got out.
Curtis credits family support for helping his recovery. But he also became a avid reader in prison and credits "Broken," a memoir by William Cope Moyers, with helping him get through his darkest days. He saw himself in Moyers.
"It showed me that I'm a drug addict, and I'm all these things, but I'm not the only one," he said. "There's other successful people that have gone down this road as well."
That awareness humbled Curtis, once a physically fit cop who was among the first bike patrol officers as well as a vice squad member and a leader of the department's tactical unit. He also participated in triathlons.
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
How many other cop redemption stories have there been?
Interesting, if this was any other drug addict youwould be happy they turned their life around.
"any other drug addict" doesn't get the turn your life around story in the newspaper. "Any other drug addict" didn't spend 15+ years locking away "any other drug addict's" in prison. It just happens that this "any other drug addict" worked under a chief of police that was another "any other drug addict".
The Schenectady County Sheriffs department planting crack cocaine on an innocent person, which could have resulted in 4 years in prison. What person in the Sheriffs department was arrested for trying to destroy a persons life using a drug charge? Nahhhh, we here about the addict that "turned his life around"...We don't want to hear about how many lives he destroyed while he was carrying his badge.
There, he lived with the types of people he'd locked up during a 22-year career as a cop.
How many of those people are still in prison for the same actions he committed because they didn't have the background of being a cop, as we all know cops who are convicted usually receive lighter sentencing. I would also like to know how many of his brothers turned a blind eye to his actions, how many heads ups did he get in in regards to (random) drug tests. Nobody can convince me not one of his fellow officers didn't notice or see wrong doing during his 22 year career on the force.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
We don't want to hear about how many lives he destroyed while he was carrying his badge.
"In the beginning of a change, the Patriot is a scarce man, brave, hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, however, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a Patriot."
Certainly wasn't the first time that a newspaper printed a story of a person who turned their life around after being addicted to drugs. It certainly won't be the last. If Mr. Curtis' speaking before that class or any other venue can save even one person from the pain of drug addiction than it will be well worth the effort. Also, Kudos to those at S.C.C,C. who understand that teaching is more than just teaching from the printed textbook but drawing from the well of life experience that will hopefully have a lifelong positive impact on the students.
George Amedore & Christian Klueg for NYS Senate 2016 Pete Vroman for State Assembly 2016[/size][/color]
"For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground." Lyndon Baines Johnson
"SCHENECTADY - NewsChannel 13 has learned that a former Schenectady cop was paying a woman for sexual favors with crack cocaine.
A source says Heather Martin prostituted herself and was being paid in drugs by former Schenectady Police Officer Jeff Curtis.
Curtis stole the crack cocaine from a drug evidence locker in the police station.
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said on the day Curtis pleaded guilty to stealing the drugs that the former cop also made a profit on them. Now a source close to the investigation says that didn't just mean money, it also meant sex.
Thirty-six-year-old Heather Martin pleaded guilty Thursday to possessing crack cocaine and was taken straight to a rehab facility.
A source close to the investigation says Curtis gave her the drugs in return for sex.
Curtis stole 85 pieces of crack cocaine from a drug evidence locker in the Schenectady Police Station. The missing evidence botched the case against one accused drug dealer, Anthony Best, and the case had to be thrown out.
Best and Martin were both represented by attorney Stephen Rockmacher.
"This has sort of come full circle. Back some time ago, my client, Anthony Best, was here in court when it was discovered evidence was missing. And then between Anthony Best, Detective Curtis and Heather Martin, like I said, the case has come full circle," Rockmacher said.
NewsChannel 13 has also been told Martin blew the whistle on what Curtis did. The source says she was caught with drugs by police in March. Once arrested, she told officers that she was given the drugs by a Schenectady cop in exchange for sex."
Guess the little matter of sex for drugs doesn't come up much in his inspirational speeches.....
Guess the little matter of sex for drugs doesn't come up much in his inspirational speeches.....
He's been rehabilitated...We cannot talk about the 22 years of destroying people's lives and the fact that his brothers in blue knew nothing about it(yeah I believe that).
I wonder why Harry Buffardi doesn't ask the prostitute that Curtis was exchanging drugs for sex to come into his classroom as a teaching tool? Yes, have Curtis stand by the prostitute whose life he helped destroy, and in front of all the students, describe in detail what he received in return for crack. Maybe the prostitute turned her life around and could be a story of redemption too. Then Harry can transition right into Sheriff's using informants to plant drugs on otherwise law abiding citizens and how everybody should record police because otherwise you may end up in jail like what could have happened to the Scotia shop owner who was lucky enough to film the Schenectady County Sheriff informant planting drugs on him.
Cicero - It's clear you cannot debate the issues honestly.
I noticed you avoided the first pat f my comment - how many other "feel good cop redemption stories" are there? You didn't respond because there aren't any. So, your initial post is based on falsehood.
Second , you compound that with a transparent attempt to change the topic to the Sheriff's Dept. planting drugs. Fact, their confidential informant did so? He was punished with a significant prison term.
Curtis received a prison sentence of several years, so, I think he was punished as well.
Once more with the lie about drug addicts going to prison. Drug addicts are typically sent to diversion programs. Drug sellers go to prison but even then are still given reduced sentences. As far back as the 90s if you sold cocaine or heroin and did not have a violent record - you were typically sentenced to a boot camp prison sentence of six months. Anyone can turn their life around has a chance to turn their life around.
Lives ruined - the same argument can be made for people who sell drugs. If you benefit from selling a toxic and addictive substance - that is tantamount to ruining lives. But, that doesn't sem to bother you.
Not saying the government does not need to rethink drug policy, but, bringing a bunch of false information to the debate is certainly not the way to get it done. Most people do not want cocaine and heroin to become legal. So, that is the law and it needs to be enforced. You always seem to neglect the blight and disorder that illegal drugs brings to communities. Everything to you is that big bad boogeyman - the government.
And, for the record, I am no fan of Jeff Curtis. I think he is telling a revisionist version of history. But, like all other criminals, once his sentence is completed he has the right to get on with his life just the same as everyone else.
Destroying people's lives? He enforced the laws which was part of his job.
Cicero - It's clear you cannot debate the issues honestly.
I noticed you avoided the first pat f my comment - how many other "feel good cop redemption stories" are there? You didn't respond because there aren't any. So, your initial post is based on falsehood.
Quoted Text
Kaczmarek finds new home at House of Pancakes
Greg Kaczmarek, whose life flipped from police chief to prison inmate, is back in the work force as manager of the International House of Pancakes on Wolf Road, Colonie.
“God is good,” the former Schenectady chief said last weekend, referring to a second chance in life after release from prison last October. Kaczmarek, 59, spent 18 months at Mid-State Correctional Facility near Utica.
He was sentenced after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine connected to his role in a drug ring that funneled narcotics from New York City to the Schenectady area.
He started at IHOP two weeks ago. “I was looking for a part-time job flipping pancakes, but company supervision said they wanted to take advantage of my long management background,” Kaczmarek said.
He spent more than a quarter-century at the Schenectady PD. He worked his way through the ranks from patrolman to chief. Former Mayor Al Jurczynski appointed him chief in 1996. He retired under fire in 2002 after an FBI investigation resulted in four Schenectady patrol officers going to prison.
Kaczmarek said when first released from prison he was besieged with media seeking interviews and offers from two people interested in writing books about his life. He declined the requests.
“I told them all I appreciated them giving me the opportunity to tell my side of story,” he said. “But, I turned them all down because I want to get on with my life.”
I take issue with the fact that these same 'drug addict' cops put how many hundreds of 'drug addicts' away for doing the same thing as the arresting cop. Funny how we are 'indoctrinated' to place cops at a 'higher standard' no matter what they do.
They break the same laws that they are PAID to enforce....and then get the media attention for redemption.
Again.....a 'higher standard'!
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
Second , you compound that with a transparent attempt to change the topic to the Sheriff's Dept. planting drugs. Fact, their confidential informant did so? He was punished with a significant prison term.
Yup, the informant was punished, but not the Sheriff's department that was responsible for putting a man in jail illegally. Remember, that's their job?
Once more with the lie about drug addicts going to prison. Drug addicts are typically sent to diversion programs. Drug sellers go to prison but even then are still given reduced sentences. As far back as the 90s if you sold cocaine or heroin and did not have a violent record - you were typically sentenced to a boot camp prison sentence of six months. Anyone can turn their life around has a chance to turn their life around.
You are still holding a person against their will for consuming a prohibited drug. Call it "boot camp" or prison, they are still captives of the state. And there is no victim in the so-called crime.
Lives ruined - the same argument can be made for people who sell drugs. If you benefit from selling a toxic and addictive substance - that is tantamount to ruining lives. But, that doesn't sem to bother you.
Alcohol ruins lives, yet I see off duty police consuming it, and some even go into business selling it. But that doesn't seem to bother you.
Not saying the government does not need to rethink drug policy, but, bringing a bunch of false information to the debate is certainly not the way to get it done. Most people do not want cocaine and heroin to become legal. So, that is the law and it needs to be enforced. You always seem to neglect the blight and disorder that illegal drugs brings to communities. Everything to you is that big bad boogeyman - the government.
The police bring the blight and disorder by attempting to make order. Kicking down doors with SWAT raids because a person is growing pot plants does nothing but terrorize neighborhoods. We are a land of jailers, with the highest incarceration rate in the world, with half of the inmate serving time for victimless crimes. I guess we need more SWAT raids and more people in jail, that should bring about the "order" you are looking for.
Destroying people's lives? He enforced the laws which was part of his job.
Yup, his job was to destroy lives. He was the knifes edge for the state. It is not his job to personally judge if laws are immoral. That's how Curtis was able to arrest people for living their lives the same way he lived his. It was his job.
I take issue with the fact that these same 'drug addict' cops put how many hundreds of 'drug addicts' away for doing the same thing as the arresting cop. Funny how we are 'indoctrinated' to place cops at a 'higher standard' no matter what they do.
They break the same laws that they are PAID to enforce....and then get the media attention for redemption.
Again.....a 'higher standard'!
No, you and a select few on this forum are the ones that claim the higher standard label because of the negative feelings about the profession. This is not different than any other person or profession in life that commits a crime or violates an oath and turns their life around and makes an attempt to help others from making the same mistakes. It happens in life everyday, and it happens to your neighbor, your friend, your relative.....they could be Firefighter EMT Doctor CEO Teacher Preacher Wife Cousin Husband Children Welder Truck Driver Coach Newspaper boy Musician etc.
See we all have things we are tasked with, and some people stray from those commitments. Those that turn their life around and do something positive should be recognized for the positive activity they have chosen to pursue and leave their past behind. But some select people want to focus on the bad regardless.
JUST BECAUSE SISSY SAYS SO DOESN'T MAKE IT SO...BUT HE THINKS IT DOES!!!!! JUST BECAUSE MC1 SAYS SO DOESN'T MAKE IT SO!!!!!
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