Ah, if only things were so "un-compicated" in good ole' Schenectady
Like senders says.....we have the gumba gansta's in schenectady county. It's the GE/union mentality that just won't go away!
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
SCHENECTADY Police Department polishes its image New motto, cars, dogs introduced BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
The Schenectady Police Department premiered a new public image Wednesday, centered on the motto “Committed to Excellence.” Sgt. Eric Clifford said the new motto “puts it out there that there is a commitment to excellence at all levels to the community. It is an all-encompassing motto that focuses on our efforts to be the best we can be.” The new motto will gradually replace the department’s current motto, “In Partnership with the Community,” printed on supplies and equipment. Clifford said the new motto incorporates the partnership concept. Chief Mark Chaires said, “We truly believe this new image will reflect the Schenectady Police Department’s commitment to excellence, professionalism, integrity and respect toward the community and people we are sworn to serve.” The department’s newest patrol cars, three Crown Victorias, an Impala and an SUV, also debuting on Wednesday, are the first to display the motto. They also sport a new black-and-white color scheme, considered traditional colors for police vehicles. Sgt. Luciano Savoia said the cruisers are instantly recognizable as police cars. “If you take all the stripes, all the lights off this car, people will know it is a police car,” he said. Lt. James Sanders, who coordinated the project over the past year, said the new cars incorpo- rate the latest safety features and equipment, including ballistic plates in doors to stop bullets, extremely bright LED lights and highly reflective graphics that are easily seen at night. “These cars can literally be seen miles away,” Sanders said. “We wanted to improve the safety of the vehicle and make the vehicle easily recognizable.” ...................>>>>........................>>>>...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01302&AppName=1
SCHENECTADY -- Kyle Hunter has resigned as a city police officer, but a judge adjourned his sentencing Friday on criminal contempt charges to give his attorney time to look into questions about a probation report.
The 39-year-old Hunter was expected to be sentenced to up to three years of probation for an incident involving a former girlfriend. Schenectady County Judge Karen Drago agreed to adjourn the proceeding until April 23.
"I'm concerned about a good deal of the probation report," defense attorney Michael Horan said.
BALLSTON SPA -- Diane Kilcullen, wife of Schenectady Police Assistant Chief Brian Kilcullen, was arrested and charged with drug possession and attempted assault last week.
Kilcullen, 50, was arrested at her home on Acland Boulevard April 5 after an altercation with her husband. Deputies from the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office allegedly found a small amount of cocaine in Kilcullen's possession and charged her with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. She was also charged with assault in the third degree after she allegedly bit her husband, who was treated and released from the hospital.
Kilcullen was due in Milton Town Court today, but the case was adjourned. District Attorney James Murphy III said after talking to Brian Kilcullen he is willing to work with the defendant.
Diane Kilcullen apparently had an ongoing struggle with substance abuse problems before her husband, Schenectady’s assistant police chief, reported her to authorities last week. Kilcullen’s battle with addiction prompted her family to seek inpatient treatment for the troubled woman, according to Saratoga County prosecutor James Murphy III. She was scheduled to leave next Sunday when a domestic incident with Assistant Police Chief Brian Kilcullen at their Milton home on April 5 prompted him to call 911 and ultimately report her alleged cocaine use to deputies of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department. “I think the family had been dealing with this for some time,” Murphy said. Diane Kilcullen, 50, of Acland Boulevard, was charged with misdemeanor criminal possession of a controlled substance and third-degree attempted assault, a violation, on April 5. She was scheduled to appear in Milton Town Court Tuesday, but her case was adjourned until the substance she possessed can be tested. Murphy said the incident was prompted after Brian Kilcullen realized his wife hadn’t picked up the couple’s daughter as planned that afternoon. Fearing something was amiss, he went to the couple’s home and confronted his wife about what he suspected to be her ongoing drug use. At one point, Murphy said, the assistant chief tried to wrest the substance away from his wife. She then bit his hand, causing him pain but no serious injury. Kilcullen’s defense attorney, Kurt Mausert, said the charges only involve Diane Kilcullen and should not be viewed as a reflection of the city’s assistant chief. “This is Diane’s responsibility and she’s going to deal with it in the court system,” Mausert said. “Her husband had no involvement whatsoever in her allegedly possessing a controlled substance.” Likewise, Murphy said his discussion with Brian Kilcullen outlined a long and involved effort to help his wife overcome her substance abuse issues. He said calling authorities on his wife was a difficult decision Kilcullen thought he had to make. “In my opinion, he did what he needed to do,” Murphy said. “Certainly, its not easy to call the police on your own wife.” ...................>>>>............>>>>...........http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00103&AppName=1
Given all that’s gone wrong in the Schenectady Police Department in recent years, it’s hard not to be at least a little skeptical when a story surfaces like the one in yesterday’s paper involving Assistant Chief Brian Kilcullen. Who doesn’t want to believe the official explanation for the events that led up to the arrest of Kilcullen’s wife, Diane, on April 5? That she, and not yet another Schenectady police officer, has a cocaine problem? That she, not he, committed an act of domestic violence (something else that has been a sore spot among the city’s “finest”)? That the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department got involved because Kilcullen called 911, not because someone else complained? Indeed, if these events occurred as police reported Tuesday, it would almost be a relief. The assistant chief could practically be considered a hero, someone city officials and residents could sympathize with, if not be proud of. (It can’t be very easy calling the cops to have your spouse arrested.) And yet, there can’t help but be questions — and not just because of the department’s recent history with employees like Patrolmen John Lewis and Darren Lawrence, Detective Jeffrey Curtis and former Chief Gregory Kaczmarek, but because there is at least one disturbing aspect of Kilcullen’s story that, if nothing else, indicates he may have given his wife preferential treatment: In yesterday’s Gazette, Saratoga County District Attorney James indicated that “the family had been dealing with this for some time” — clearly suggesting that Kilcullen knew of his wife’s problem long before he finally acted. If that’s the case, shouldn’t he have blown the whistle earlier? How many dealers and related criminals did her continued drug buys support in the interim? ................................>>>>....................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00902&AppName=1
SCHENECTADY Disgraced former police officers likely eligible for retroactive raises BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
The new police contract means that two former police officers will be getting another payday. John Lewis, who was recently fired, and Kyle Hunter, who recently agreed to resign as part of a plea deal in criminal court, will likely get their retroactive raises along with every current member of the force. Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said he believed the city will have to pay the disgraced former officers. “I think the answer is yes, they will. That doesn’t mean we wouldn’t fight it,” Van Norden said, adding that he thinks the city will have no choice. Every officer will get two, 2-percent retroactive raises for 2008 and 2009. Former officer Jeffrey Curtis will not be eligible for the raise. He retired from the force in 2007 after being arrested for stealing cocaine from the police evidence locker and smoking it. His actions were the driving force behind one of the major changes in the new contract. The department now has the authority to test officers’ hair for signs of drug use. Until now, the department could only test urine, which only shows signs of cocaine use for 48 hours. Hair retains drug evidence for 30 days. When asked for the reason for the change, Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett simply said, “Jeffrey Curtis.” Curtis, a member of the vice squad, was able to easily hide his cocaine addiction because the department could only use urine tests. Now every member of the vice squad — now known as the Special Investigations Unit — will submit to hair tests up to three times a year. “Nobody will escape,” Bennett said. The contract also sets the stage for a significant change in leadership in the department. Of the officers eligible for the new early retirement incentive, one-third are in the command staff. Half of the lieutenants, captains and assistant chiefs could retire. Three of the 18 sergeants could also leave. .............>>>>.............>>>>...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01501&AppName=1
SCHENECTADY Lewis seeks bail on DWI charge, hearing possible by next week BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.
Former city police officer John Lewis finally got bail set Friday in connection with his January drunken driving arrest, but he’s still in jail. It will be at least next week before he can post bail for the fi rst time in nearly four months — if he is allowed to. Lewis has been held in Schoharie County Jail ever since he was charged with driving while intoxicated. Until then, he had been out on $20,000 bond while he waited for trial on 10 other criminal charges. Schenectady County Judge Karen Drago revoked that bail when he was arrested in January. It was his sixth arrest in two years, and Drago said she no longer believed he could stay out of trouble, which was the one condition she had imposed when she had granted him bail. On Friday, Lewis’ attorney asked the court to at least set bail on the latest charge, in which Lewis is accused of driving drunk to Ellis Hospital. Acting Judge Polly Hoye heard the case because Drago is presiding over the trial of another Schenectady police offi cer, Detective Sherri Barnes. Prosecutor Michael Tiffany urged Hoye not to release Lewis. He told her that Lewis had not shown up for “numerous” court hearings and had been rearrested in jail for punching a window. .................>>>>..................>>>>............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01502&AppName=1
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer First published in print: Tuesday, May 4, 2010
SCHENECTADY -- A state jurist must weigh the arguments that a lower court judge abused her discretion when she revoked bail and sent trouble-prone former city cop John Lewis to jail earlier this year.
Assistant District Attorney Christina Tremante-Pelham said Monday that the decision in January by Schenectady County Judge Karen Drago was appropriate because Drago had only a month earlier warned Lewis to avoid getting in trouble with the law when she set bail. The prosecutor also reiterated to Supreme Court Justice Vincent Reilly Jr. that Lewis has been arrested seven times in the past two years. Lewis' attorney Michael Horan cited a criminal procedure statute related to bail revocation that he asserted gives Lewis the right to a hearing his client never received. He also argued that Lewis' bail status should have been reviewed or restored after 90 days after the bail was revoked on Jan. 25. Horan also said Drago "abused her discretion" and failed to "give proper weight and credence" to other factors favorable to his client, including that Lewis has no prior criminal history and deep ties to the Schenectady area.................>>>>................>>>>.............Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspS.....4/2010#ixzz0mxKKYPFK
Last updated: 4:17 p.m., Sunday, May 9, 2010 SCHENECTADY -- Whether he's fired or the city accepts his resignation, Gregory Hafensteiner's career as a police officer appears to be over.
City Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden confirmed Saturday that Hafensteiner submitted paperwork to resign from the department just days after the city on Monday received a recommendation from an arbitrator on whether to get rid of the officer following disciplinary hearings. Hafensteiner has been out on paid leave for all but 60 days since being suspended in connection with a December 2007 police brutality case.
Van Norden said Hafensteiner's resignation would mean ''no more appeals and no more bleeding for the city."
For Schenectady police, departures signaling a new image
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer First published in print: Tuesday, May 11, 2010
SCHENECTADY -- The tough talk from Schenectady Mayor Brian U. Stratton about reforming the city police department appears to be yielding some positive results.
Stratton said he received words of encouragement from citizens as he walked his dog the day after he fired John Lewis last month. In the past two months alone, two cops have resigned under pressure and Lewis was fired, with the fate of five others who face disciplinary hearings expected in coming months. One of them is currently on trial in Schenectady County Court.
For a police force that has for years struggled with its image, the recent departures of Lewis, Kyle Hunter and Gregory Hafensteiner seem to signal that the Stratton administration is backing up its words with action..............>>>>...........>>>>............Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=929829#ixzz0ncY7JQev
SCHENECTADY Last suspect in Kaczmarek-linked drug ring now set for trial May 24 BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122 or scook@dailygazette.net
The alleged Long Island drug supplier in the case that ensnared former city police chief Greg Kaczmarek is on track for trial later this month, officials said Wednesday. Meanwhile Kaczmarek, serving a two-year prison sentence on a drug plea related to the larger drug operation, is on track for an October release from state prison, state offi cials said. Maximo Doe, 31, formerly of Coram, Suffolk County, is set for trial May 24 in Schenectady County Court. Doe is the accused Long Island supplier of a Schenectady County drug operation that was busted with the arrests of more than two dozen people in 2008, including the former police chief Kaczmarek and his wife Lisa. A hearing was held Wednesday morning on a number of pre-trial issues, including the audibility of wiretaps the state Attorney General’s Office intends to use at trial. The Attorney General’s offi ce is prosecuting the case. Acting Schenectady County Court Judge Michael Coccoma is to issue a ruling on the hearing next week. Doe is the last of the group to have a case still pending. Prosecutions of the drug ring resulted in two dozen people taking plea deals, and many of them being sent to state prison. The operation was headed by Kerry Kirkem and Oscar Mora; Kirkem is serving 12 years in prison and Mora 20. Authorities couldn’t locate Doe for a year. He was arrested in summer 2009 and returned to Schenectady County that September. He had been wanted since May 2008. Doe faces up to 25 years in state prison on a number of high-level drug charges, if convicted. If Doe’s case makes it to a full trial, it would be the first opportunity for the public to hear portions of the wiretaps that helped bring down the drug ring. .................>>>>................>>>>.......http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01803&AppName=1
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