Another Schenectady cop arrested: This time it's DWI Off-duty officer, passenger injured in Sunday wreck
By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST, Staff writer Last updated: 2:21 p.m., Monday, March 2, 2009
COLONIE - A Schenectady police officer was charged with DWI and leaving the scene of a crash Sunday night after he allegedly rear-ended a car heading south on Route 9, police said.
Officer Michael R. Brown, 27, of Pattersonville, received a head injury and a passenger in the car he allegedly struck was also injured just before 10:30 p.m. when the officer's 2005 Toyota pickup hit a car stopped at the intersection of Route 9 and Osborne Road, said Detective Lt. John Van Alstyne.
Well this gives ya the run down. But they left out the guy who supposedly shot himself too. The SPD seems to be doing a dis-service to the city. Why not just desolve the SPD and let the state police take over? Where the heck is the outrage from the mayor? Where is the outrage from the union?
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Another Schenectady cop under arrest March 2, 2009 at 2:04 pm by Mike Goodwin, assistant city editor Another Schenectady cops is in trouble with the law.
Schenectady police Officer Michael R. Brown was charged with drunken driving in Colonie after an alleged hit-and-run accident. Colonie cops say Brown refused an alcohol breath test.
He’s due in town court tonight where another Schenectady cop, Darren Lawrence, still faces prosecution from an unresolved alleged leaving-the-scene-of-an-accident charge from 2006.
Since 1999, 7 Schenectady cops - including ex-chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek - have gone to prison. Another two face pending criminal charges. Another pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a gambling investigation. Another was forced to resign amid a prostitute’s allegation he brutalized her. And now an officer is under investigation for allegedly disappearing for hours at a time when he was supposed to be on patrol.
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
First published in print: Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Here they come again, the harsh words and stern warnings from the leaders of the Schenectady police force, in the wake of the latest embarrassment to an outfit that seems to have an unlimited capacity for just that.
Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett and Police Chief Mark Chaires vow that there will be repercussions for the drunken driving arrest of Officer Michael R. Brown in his personal vehicle. He's the third Schenectady cop who's been charged with DWI and suspended from the police force since December. That eye-opening statistic puts Mr. Bennett's caveat about how the majority of the Schenectady police obey the laws follow the rules of their department into a context all of its own.
When he speaks of the "few" who refuse to do so, how many is he talking about, exactly?
When does this stop?
Mr. Chaires reiterates one of the most basic standards of all — zero tolerance for drunken driving.
Mr. Bennett goes further, promising appropriately tough discipline — including firing officers turned law breakers when necessary — to stop what's become an ongoing scandal.
Even that, though, has its obstacles.
"It doesn't stop these guys from doing stupid things," says Mayor Brian Stratton. He says he would find a viable plan to replace the entire police force altogether tempting.
Mr. Bennett is preaching accountability, in other words, and the applicability of it starts with himself. His statement on Monday following the news of the latest DWI arrest no doubt reflected the exasperation of a respected and long-tenured law enforcement professional. It might have been most significant for its pointed reminder that he's the one in charge of police discipline in Schenectady.
Such power hasn't come easily. It took a 2006 decision from New York's highest court to make clear that the city doesn't have to negotiate such matters with its very powerful police union.
Just a year ago, though, Lt. Robert Hamilton, president of the Schenectady Police Benevolent Association, was saying that the city and the union do negotiate discipline in about 98 percent of police misconduct cases. That, certainly, needs to change.
Mr. Bennett's and Mr. Chaires' insistence that the police abide by the law has to be absolutely non-negotiable. Scrutiny of the police now includes making sure the responsible and law abiding commanders deliver on the discipline they're promising. So much of police work is about evidence. The public needs to see proof of change so it can believe what should be a given, that it's protected by the police and from the police.
"I won't hide behind the contract. Termination is certainly possible here," Mr. Stratton says of the charges against Mr. Brown and the need to see if they're upheld.
We'll be watching.
The issue:
Another Schenectady cop is in trouble with the law.
The Stakes:
Nothing changes until the city delivers on its promise of more aggressive discipline.
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