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Police dispute measure debated
Schenectady mayor, state senator at odds over proposal that would affect discipline cases

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
First published: Wednesday, March 26, 2008

State Sen. Hugh Farley is proposing home-rule legislation that would give Schenectady's public safety commissioner the authority to discipline officers through public hearings.
But Schenectady Mayor Brian U. Stratton, who wants greater control of police discipline, said he doesn't support the measure Farley is proposing.
     
The proposal represents an apparent change on the issue for Farley, R-Niskayuna, who had previously supported another state bill that would require Schenectady and seven other cities to go to arbitration on police discipline cases.
Farley said he talked with City Council member Gary McCarthy, head of the council's public safety committee, and decided to free the city from the arbitration requirement.
But Stratton doesn't agree with McCarthy and said Farley should have spoken to him as well before introducing the legislation.
Stratton thinks it would weaken Schenectady's position to go out on its own and ask for special treatment through home-rule legislation. Stratton prefers to oppose the arbitration bill, which has been vetoed before by Govs. George Pataki and Eliot Spitzer.
"Logic holds you'd at least reach out to the mayor you're trying to help," Stratton said. "I'm certain the senator's intentions are in the right place, but we haven't had the opportunity to talk about this."
Farley said he's just trying to do something the city wants.
"I'm trying to respond to the people," Farley said. "Basically, I thought this does everything the mayor wanted."
McCarthy thinks it's more direct to get specific legislation that allows Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett to discipline officers.
"Do you want rhetoric or do you want results?" McCarthy asked. "I'm elected from the same base (Stratton) was elected from. I believe this is the best position for the city."
Stratton hopes to meet with Farley and state Assemblymen James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, and George Amedore, R-Rotterdam, to find common ground on the issue. The three lawmakers are scheduled speak to the City Council on April 7.
Tedisco spokesman Josh Fitzpatrick said Tuesday that Tedisco won't support the home rule legislation as long as Stratton opposes it.
McCarthy said City Council can approve a home rule message without Stratton. But he said he hopes common ground can be found among all the parties involved.
Meanwhile, Schenectady has hired a lobbyist to fight the arbitration bill that's currently before the state Assembly.
The bill would require that arbitrators handle all disciplinary cases that government officials and police unions cannot resolve.
Bennett said last year he would start overseeing hearings following a 2006 Court of Appeals ruling that said disciplinary procedures don't have to be negotiated in municipalities where other pre-existing laws apply.
That ruling involved cases from New York City and the town of Orangetown, Rockland County.
The police charters of Schenectady and seven other small cities in New York have those pre-existing laws that allow for local oversight of police discipline. But Albany and Troy, which are among the seven other cities, follow their police union contracts, which allow independent arbitrators to oversee discipline. Stanforth can be reached at 454-5697 or by e-mail at lstanforth@timesunion.com.

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Bennett: I’m not going anywhere
March 25, 2008
by Lauren Stanforth, Staff writer

Rumors have been swirling that Schenectady Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett is interviewing for a local job with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Apparently, he heard the same rumors, too.

Bennett said an old friend from the state police called him last Friday at home and told him congratulations on the new job. The friend said he had gotten from a high-ranking source that the information was true.

But Bennett told his friend, and Inside Local Politics today, that it’s not.

“I received no inquires about possible job assignments,” Bennett said. “Do I have an interest? no. I am committed to mayor , I intend to fulfill my commitment. I have no such plans or have their been any offers.”

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Farley said Tuesday he would have been willing to consider Schenectady's position if it had communicated with him before the bill vote in February. Van Norden said the city wasn't aware the bill was up for a vote again.
Farley said he believes arbitration is needed to ensure an officer is judged fairly.

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I am committed to mayor , I intend to fulfill my commitment.

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But Stratton doesn't agree with McCarthy and said Farley should have spoken to him as well before introducing the legislation.

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"Logic holds you'd at least reach out to the mayor you're trying to help," Stratton said. "I'm certain the senator's intentions are in the right place, but we haven't had the opportunity to talk about this."

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Police seize 100 grams of cocaine in Schenectady raid
Thursday, March 27, 2008
By Steven Cook (Contact)
Gazette Reporter

SCHENECTADY — A police drug raid today netted one man and more than 100 grams of cocaine, authorities said.
Police and federal agents raided the home at 1054 Park Ave. this morning, Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Erin Mulvey said.
One man, identified as Eric Brown, age unavailable, was arrested at the Park Avenue address. The charges against him were also not immediately available.
Authorities began investigating Brown after receiving a tip four months ago, Mulvey said. She characterized Brown as a distributor.
“He had over 100 grams in his possession, so that’s information to us that he is a big distributor,” she said.
One hundred grams equals about 3.5 ounces. A state police official last year placed the value of an ounce of cocaine at about $1,200.
Brown was arrested as part of a joint federal-state-local investigation.
Mulvey said she was unsure if more arrests were expected.
The arrest follows four earlier this month in a similar operation. Officials in that case said more arrests were expected. Mulvey said today that investigation was separate from Thursday’s operation.

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EDITORIALS
McCarthy wrong, Stratton right on cop bill

    Schenectady City Councilman Gary Mc-Carthy may indeed be right about the politics behind the state Legislature’s repeated passage of a bill that would make it tougher on the city to discipline its police force, but it seems like an assumption the city can ill afford to be wrong about.
    Mayor Brian Stratton and the council should definitely keep working on the Assembly to defeat a bill, passed in the Senate earlier this session, that would force the city and other municipalities to use state arbitrators, rather than their own police commissioners, to crack down on bad-apple cops.
    Who cares what’s happened in the past? A bill has passed both houses overwhelmingly three separate times, only to be vetoed by the governor; then no one bothered overriding the veto. McCarthy says that means the legislators really don’t want the law enacted, but merely passed it as window-dressing, trying to dupe unionized police officers — who would benefi t — into thinking they do. That’s an interesting analysis, and it may even be accurate. But the city, which has had enormous problems getting state arbitrators to take its side in disputes with the police union — can’t bank on such an assumption. It just so happens there’s a new governor in town, and who knows what his feelings are about the law? David Paterson may well have discussed the issue with Stratton on Wednesday, but he was still unwilling to indicate whether he’d follow the example set by his predecessors and veto the bill if it does pass the Assembly again.
    And despite what McCarthy might think — that lawmakers have no interest in enforcing such a law — if it were passed and signed by the governor, you can bet that police benevolent associations in Schenectady and elsewhere would make sure it was enforced.
    Special home-rule legislation to exempt Schenectady from the law, as Sen. Hugh Farley introduced Tuesday in a curious turnabout — he voted for the original bill a few weeks ago — would address the issue for the city, but other legislators from outside the region might not be willing to support it.
    It makes the most sense for the Assembly to kill the measure dead, once and for all. We don’t, however, think the city needs to waste money hiring a lobbyist to make its case in Albany — which Stratton has done for the second year in a row now — especially if city council members adhere to the mayor’s request and write letters to Assembly members and the governor.

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SCHENECTADY
Raid nets 100 grams of cocaine
Police believe suspect was a major distributor
BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Steven Cook at 395-3122 or scook@dailygazette.net.

    A police drug raid Thursday netted one suspect and more than 100 grams of cocaine worth up to $10,000, authorities said.
    Police and federal agents raided the house at 1054 Park Ave. around noon after a four-month investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Erin Mulvey said.
    Eric Brown, 31, was arrested at the Park Avenue address, Mulvey said. Brown faces one count of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
    Authorities began investigating Brown after receiving a tip four months ago, Mulvey said. “He had over 100 grams in his possession, so that’s information to us that he is a big distributor.”
    Photos of the raid taken by a neighbor show officers in protective gear and one man being led away.
    One hundred grams equals about 3.5 ounces. A state police official last year placed the value of an ounce of cocaine at about $1,200. Mulvey estimated the drugs to have a value of between $6,000 and $10,000.
    Brown was arrested as part of a joint federal-state-local investigation. Mulvey said she was unsure if more arrests are expected.
    The arrest follows four earlier this month in a similar operation. Mulvey said that investigation was separate from Thursday’s operation.
    In that case, Oscar Mora, 30, formerly of Albany, and Kerry Kirkem, 40, formerly of Long Island, were charged with firstdegree criminal possession of a controlled substance, accused of running a large-scale drug operation.
    Also charged in that case were Gary Cherny, 24, formerly of Schenectady and Misty Gallo, 23, no address available.

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McCarthy says that means the legislators really don’t want the law enacted, but merely passed it as window-dressing, trying to dupe unionized police officers — who would benefi t — into thinking they do. That’s an interesting analysis, and it may even be accurate. But the city, which has had enormous problems getting state arbitrators to take its side in disputes with the police union — can’t bank on such an assumption