Not a bad idea. It would also return some of the tax money to the residents.
Did you say RETURN TAX MONEY TO RESIDENTS....I'm sure I read this wrong.....it never never never gets returned....
it will probably go to house all the city's CONVICTED sex offenders somewhere in Duanesburg/Glenville or Princtown in a state of the art facility complete with the best rehab any beaurocratic healthcare system could provide......
...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 Police cleared in excessive force suit Video of incident plays key role in trial BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
A jury has cleared three city police officers who were accused in a civil suit of using excessive force when they arrested a pregnant woman in 2005. Carol D. Perry, 42, of Schenectady, sued the officers in federal court, alleging that her civil rights had been violated during her arrest on a parole violation in March 2005. She said police brutalized her by smashing her foot in a police car door and restraining her so violently that they could have injured her unborn baby. Perry was seven months pregnant at the time. But when the case went to the U.S. District Court in Syracuse this week, police were able to show the jury three videos of the incident, taped from cameras installed in the police cars. Jurors began deliberating Wednesday afternoon and took just half an hour to decide that the city was not at fault. “The video and the audio both demonstrated the officers were acting in a professional manner and Ms. Perry was continually lying about her identity,” city attorney Michael Murphy said. Unfortunately, the cameras could not catch a crucial piece of the action, Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said. When officers discovered that there was a warrant out for Perry’s arrest, Officer Marisela Mosher told her to get into the police car. As Perry walked toward the door, out of the camera’s view, she suddenly shoved Mosher and tried to get away, according to police. She also announced that she was pregnant. At that point, one officer can be heard telling the others to move Perry toward the cameras while they tried to restrain her, Murphy said. “They made a conscious effort to move her in front of the camera,” Murphy said. “There was one shot of pepper spray. She continued to resist. Officer Mosher tried to restrain her and needed two other officers to get the cuffs on her.” The other officers were not named in the lawsuit, but referred to as John Does. Medical records after Perry’s arrest show that she complained of pain, but she did not have fractures or other injuries. Her baby was also uninjured, Murphy said. She sued for $500,000 but agreed to settle for $75,000. Van Norden decided to take it to trial instead. “Clearly what the officers did was what they were required to do,” he said. “This shows we do defend cases once in awhile — we don’t settle everything. We defended one last year, too.” The police tapes of the incident were a major factor, he added. “This was a case where video was very helpful to us,” he said. Perry had been on parole after being in prison for forgery and burglary. She was returned to prison after her parole violation but was released on parole on June 1, 2006.
Did you say RETURN TAX MONEY TO RESIDENTS....I'm sure I read this wrong.....it never never never gets returned....
it will probably go to house all the city's CONVICTED sex offenders somewhere in Duanesburg/Glenville or Princtown in a state of the art facility complete with the best rehab any beaurocratic healthcare system could provide......
I guess I didn't think it through. They'd probably ask the residents to volunteer. I was thinking that they might actually employ the unemployed, giving them a paycheck. And actually, at this point, are they residents anymore, if they're now employees of the school district? They're part of the Big Government.
Good idea Senders. And let the parents of 'that school' pay so much/month for the amount supervisors needed for their particular school issues. The more problems, the more supervision, the more money! Why should the entire district have to pay for the kids bad behavior in schools. Let the parents pay!!!
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
Police cleared in civil lawsuit Woman sued Schenectady officers she claimed roughed her up in 2005 arrest
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer First published: Saturday, June 30, 2007
A jury in a civil trial has cleared three Schenectady police officers accused of roughing up a pregnant woman during an arrest more than two years ago.
The decision, which came this week in a federal courtroom in Syracuse, arose from an incident that started between plaintiff Carol D. Perry and Officer Marisela Mosher at the intersection of Bridge and Crane streets.
Police were monitoring a Mont Pleasant home that Perry had just left on March 3, 2005, because it was a known drug hangout, Schenectady Corporation Counsel John Van Norden said Friday.
Perry, seven months pregnant, gave a false name, but a check revealed her identity and that she was wanted on an outstanding warrant, Van Norden said.
Mosher and two other backup officers, whose names were not mentioned in the complaint document, managed to get the 5-foot-7, 208 pound Perry handcuffed and into the back of the cruiser. Parts of the altercation were recorded by a camera in the squad cars.
"The video was very strong evidence and even when you see it, you could hear what was going on," said Van Norden. "It was obvious there was quite a struggle to get her under control and arrested."
He noted that Perry's child was born healthy
Louis-Jack Pozner, representing Perry, said she suffered at least one permanent injury, a fractured bone in her foot. Court papers say police slammed the car door on Perry's foot and pepper-sprayed her two or three times on the way to the Schenectady police station.
Pozner said the physical force used was "inappropriate and excessive for the situation." He said jurors gave the policeman the benefit of the doubt.
But Van Norden said there was no evidence of an injury, and said the city felt it had a strong case based on the footage and testimony from the responding officers.
The civil action filed in U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, had sought $500,000 in damages plus court costs.
Paul Nelson can be reached at 454-5347 or by e-mail at pnelson@timesunion.com.
SCHENECTADY Anti-crime street cameras to be added Surveillance program to quadruple in size BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
Schenectady’s street camera surveillance program is to expand fourfold this year to cover Union College, downtown, State Street and other areas of the city. District Attorney Robert Carney said he will use $404,000 in state grants, private donations and public funds to add 30 cameras to the 10 already in place. The Schenectady County Legislature discussed the project at its committee meeting Monday night. The Legislature will consider accepting the funds during its full meeting July 10. Carney will use $226,000 from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services to add cameras and expand a wireless network to carry camera signals into Mont Pleasant, all of central State Street to the crosstown, the Eastern Avenue corridor and the north side of the city up Foster and Van Vranken avenues. He will use a $20,000 donation from Union College to install three cameras along streets surrounding Union. “The college wants to have these cameras operational by the start of the academic year in September. This is ambitious but doable, particularly since the DCJS funds to support the infrastructure come from 2004 monies that must be expended by September,” Carney said. Union College President Stephen C. Ainlay told Carney in a letter he is “very appreciative of your efforts to work with Union to ensure the safety of our students, employees, alumni and alumnae and campus visitors as well as the surrounding neighborhoods. We welcome this opportunity to collaborate.” The Metroplex Development Authority is providing Carney’s office with $73,000 to pay for the installation of eight cameras downtown, Carney said. “It is obviously important to ev- eryone concerned with downtown to provide enhancements to security as the downtown amenities and attractions are opening,” he said. The cameras will be installed on light poles in parking lots owned by Metroplex and should be operational soon, Carney said. Two community groups, the Mont Pleasant Action Coalition and Southgate Apartments, are contributing $70,000 to have cameras installed in their areas, Carney said. The money comes from state grants and private sources. Carney launched the camera surveillance program in 2004, using grants from Operation IMPACT, a state initiative to control crime in the 17 counties that account for 80 percent of all crime in the state outside of New York City. This latest funding brings to $704,146 the total invested in the project since then, Carney said. “We have continued to grow this project without investment of local dollars except for assignment of personnel and some National Grid power bills paid by the city. I will be asking the county to enter into maintenance agreements with our camera vendor and wireless provider this year as the project expands,” he said. The cameras are trained on highcrime areas and are used for intelligence-gathering efforts and sometimes as evidence in criminal cases. The state views Schenectady’s effort as a pilot program in the use of cameras for police work. New York City is the only other city in the state that uses cameras for this purpose. Buffalo will follow, Carney said. Carney said cameras have helped make areas safer.
Hey, you can look at it this way...at least the Camera's work, won't steal from the evidence room and they work 24/7!!! Now ya can't beat that!
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 Stratton targets police discipline Mayor focuses on ending arbitration BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Corruptible police officers in the Schenectady Police Department were encouraged to break the law when arbitrators repeatedly forced the city to rehire fired officers, Mayor Brian U. Stratton maintains. He’s hoping his viewpoint will persuade Gov. Eliot Spitzer to veto a new bill that would force Schenectady to use arbitration in all police discipline cases. Spitzer, who vetoed a similar bill earlier this year, is expected to make a decision by the end of summer. Stratton is actively lobbying against the bill, saying it would encourage police to abuse their position. “They feel they can do basically whatever they want because the arbitrators are going to rule in their favor,” Stratton said, adding that arbitrators are inherently unjust. “They hope to walk a fine line and keep everyone happy,” he said. “They make their very survival on that.” Police Benevolent Association President Lt. Robert Hamilton did not return repeated calls for comment, but police unions have previously urged Spitzer to sign the bill. As the union musters its arguments, Stratton sent a letter to the state describing the city’s police department in unusually frank and harsh terms. He said he needed to be completely frank to highlight the “disastrous” results of arbitration. “It’s absolutely unconscionable,” he said. “This [letter] is our example of some of the extreme things that have gone on here.” Among his examples, he cites the case of officer Ronald Pedersen, who resigned in 2002 amid allegations that he had picked up a prostitute. At the time, city officials refused to elaborate on what had happened. Stratton’s letter is the fi rst official description of what led to Pedersen’s resignation. Stratton said Pedersen “was forced to resign rather than face charges that he engaged in unlawful acts with a prostitute and subjected that woman to excessive force.” Pedersen also arrested and beat a woman in 1998 for refusing his advances when he approached her at the Union Inn. His victim, Rebecca DiSorbo, won $1.675 million in damages, but the amount was later reduced to $325,000. Jurors in the case said they picked the higher damage award to send the message, “It’s enough already,” urging police leaders to discipline their errant officers. Neither of the Pedersen cases involved arbitration. GRIM HISTORY Stratton also mentions in his letter the four police officers who were sent to prison in 2002 after an FBI corruption investigation. But he goes on to say that many other officers have violated residents’ civil rights and are still on the force. “Others who have not been criminally charged or removed from office have cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in defense costs, judgments and settlements as a result of civil suits brought by persons whose civil rights were violated,” Stratton wrote. He places the blame for misbehavior squarely in the hands of the arbitrators. “It is my belief that repeated reversals of disciplinary measures by arbitrators has unintentionally contributed to the perception, in the minds of corrupted and corruptible officers within the department, that command officers lacked the ability to effectively discipline breaches of policy, procedure, decorum and, in some cases, violations of law, thus creating an environment in which corruption and illegal behavior can more readily occur,” Stratton wrote. He also wrote that he was trying to resolve the problem by hiring Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett to “root out corruption” in the department. But even so, Stratton said the department will not improve unless Bennett can hand out discipline without being overruled by arbitrators. “Despite Herculean efforts at the bargaining table, I am convinced that the city’s police department will never be restored to order, discipline and respect” if arbitration is required, he wrote. BENNETT’S VIEW Bennett added two further reasons to avoid arbitration. In an interview Tuesday, he said arbitration also causes problems because it takes too long to come to a decision and those decisions are made by people unfamiliar with policing. “The minimum is six months or more likely a year or more,” he said. “Discipline has little effect then.” As for the arbitrators, he said few, if any, have experience in police work. “I would compare this to, as a kid, being disciplined by your neighbor instead of your parents,” he said. “We are one of the few professions, for some strange reason, that goes before well-intentioned people who have no background in our profession. Other professions are judged by their profession: Doctors go to doctors.” For now, arbitration is a thing of the past in Schenectady. Thanks to a Court of Appeals decision, Bennett has taken control of Schenectady Police discipline. Police can appeal to a judge but not to an arbitrator. If Spitzer signs a bill that was passed two weeks ago to reverse the Court of Appeals decision, municipalities would be required to negotiate discipline techniques in labor contracts. In many cases, including Schenectady, the negotiated agreement is to use arbitration. Spitzer has not yet received the bill, which the Senate must send to his office. The bill is expected to arrive by the middle of August. Spitzer’s aides will then have 10 days, excluding Sundays, to review the bill and the various arguments pro and con. After they issue a recommendation, Spitzer will make a decision. Spitzer has already rejected a similar measure in his first veto as governor, but he appeared willing to reconsider the matter. In his veto message, he focused primarily on technical issues, which the writers of the new bill say they have addressed. He also noted that some believe a police department, as a “quasimilitary” force, should be disciplined by publicly accountable officials. But he said proponents of the bill argue that departments are run effectively and efficiently under arbitration. He did not say which viewpoint he preferred.
Oh sure, the Stratton is saying a lot these days, but he is just a puppet of everyone else that is doing 'his' job. He actually contributes nothing at all. He is the delegater! He delegates everything to everyone else to make 'his' decisions! And that sad part...he may very possibly get elected yet again!!!!! And earning even more money!
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 Officer is off payroll Administrative charges are filed BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
A Schenectady police sergeant out on paid leave since drugs were discovered missing from an evidence locker has now been suspended without pay, city Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett confirmed on Thursday. Sgt. Daniel Diamond was served with administrative charges Tuesday and placed on unpaid suspension effective Wednesday, Bennett said. Bennett declined to specify the charges against Diamond, a 19-year police veteran. “It relates to the investigation regarding the mishandling of evidence within the agency,” Bennett said. He would only clarify that the accusations did not rise to criminal behavior, like those against onetime vice squad member Detective Jeffrey Curtis. Curtis admitted in Schenectady County Court last month that he stole cocaine from the vice squad safe. Investigators focused on Curtis after a hair sample indicated that he had used drugs. Curtis faces four years in state prison at his September sentencing. Diamond, however, has passed all drug tests, authorities have said. He has been out on paid leave since Feb. 14. Diamond supervised the vice squad’s day shift, overseeing four detectives, according to officials. Also among his duties were handling evidence and taking part in undercover operations. Police union president Lt. Robert Hamilton did not return a call for comment Thursday. Diamond’s attorney also could not be reached. At the time Diamond was placed on leave, officials downplayed the significance. The leave was administrative, not punitive. There have been allegations since, however, that Diamond found drug evidence from at least one case in the trunk of his own personal car. He came forward with the evidence himself, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said earlier. Carney said last month that he was still undecided on whether Diamond would be charged, but a preliminary state police report found no grounds for prosecution. AWAITING REPLY The police department now awaits Diamond’s response to the charges. He has eight days to respond, Bennett said. Meanwhile, he is to remain on unpaid suspension for a month. If the charges are not resolved by then, he would resume being paid, but he would not return to duty. The scandal has prompted several reforms in the department, from better evidence handling procedures to the return of the commissioner position itself. Bennett has slashed the number of officers who have access to evidence. Cameras are also to be installed in the secure area. Last month, Bennett threw out a major piece of the city police contract, saying arbitrators will no longer decide whether Schenectady police officers are fired or disciplined. Diamond, however, won’t be the test case, Bennett said, saying the allegations against him were before Bennett arrived and it would only be fair to judge them under the old rules. Though Diamond had been out on paid leave, he was still losing money. Diamond has consistently been among the city’s top earners. In 2006, he was fifth on the city’s earnings list at $115,155. His base salary was $59,252, with the rest made up in overtime. He has not been earning overtime since being out. Diamond worked just more than 224 regularly scheduled days in 2006. The department’s average was 197. Diamond also put in the equivalent of 140 eight-hour overtime days that year, according to a Daily Gazette review of attendance records. He took just two sick days and 2.5 compensatory days in exchange for overtime. Attendance numbers placed him squarely in the top tier of officers in each category. Curtis, however, the only other officer named in the drug probe, was near the bottom, with 163 regularly scheduled days worked, 50 sick days and 16 compensatory days. He also worked the equivalent of 84 eight-hour overtime days, the review showed. State police investigators conducted a thorough review of the department’s drug cases as part of their independent inquiry. They found a total of 16 cases with 17 defendants where drugs were missing. Anthony Best faced years in prison as he took his drug possession case to trial in January. Instead, all charges were dropped and he walked out a free man. It was Best’s case that Curtis admitted to tampering with. In addition to the cases where drugs were missing, several defendants whose cases involved Curtis have been given favorable sentences. No other case, though, ended like Best’s.
You can bet that there were more cases than one that he tampered with and now every case that he was involved with will be under suspicion of being mishandled by every defense attorney.
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