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SCHENECTADY
Cops chastised for hiring strippers
Officials planning to investigate Christmas party
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    A group of Schenectady police officers hired strippers to help them celebrate at their annual Christmas party this week.
    It was a decision the assistant chief and mayor deemed to be “at least” poor judgment — and, at worst, a situation in which offi cers could easily break the law.
    “Wow, that’s a fi rst,” Assistant Chief Brian Kilcullen said. “We’re going to thoroughly investigate it.”
    Police want to find out what happened, whether laws regulating strippers were broken and why the platoon’s leaders approved the party.
    Teachers at the Zone 5 Law Enforcement Academy were stunned by the party as well, with one calling it “felony stupid.” The academy’s director, Pat Smith, said he would immediately expel any student who held such a party.
    “There’s nobody who tolerates this anymore,” he said. “We stress behavior for all 27 weeks [of the academy]. If they did something like that, they’d be out of here.”
    On Wednesday night, Schenectady’s midnight platoon — mostly young officers working the midnight to 8 a.m. shift — gathered at a retired officer’s bar to drink and watch dancing women take off their clothes for hours. Their spouses were not invited, another red fl ag, according to city leaders.
    Tops in Bottoms Entertainment confirmed their strippers were hired to perform for hours at the party at Johnny Goo’s Clam Shack on Lower Broadway.
    It was a situation fraught with peril, law enforcement trainers said. Smith said he advises recruits to avoid such situations. He said such events create the appearance of impropriety and also offer great temptation — particularly because alcohol is usually involved.
    If any officer went too far, either by touching a tantalizing woman or allowing a dancer to get fully naked, they would violate the law, according to several district attorneys.
    There is no proof offi cers did anything other than watch mostly naked women, and the city’s at- torney cautioned that strippers are experts in making a dance look like sex. It’s a game of inches — with criminal punishment for anyone who is overwhelmed by temptation.
    Touching a woman’s sexual areas would constitute prostitution, a misdemeanor. If any dancer bared either her breasts or her bottom, it would violate the city’s decency laws, although the party was private and likely exempt.
    Allowing the women to bare themselves entirely would violate state Liquor Authority laws, which ban alcohol in such cases. The law was written on the theory that mixing alcohol and sexual tension was more likely to lead customers to violence and other misbehavior, according to the legislation.
    Mayor Gary McCarthy said he was awaiting the outcome of the police department’s investigation before issuing a statement. He said he was waiting to find out whether the party was “something inappropriate, illegal or just a poor decision.”
    “The whole matter’s under investigation,” he added.
    Kilcullen agreed, saying, “I would say someone exercised poor judgment, deciding to employ the services of adult entertainers.”
    While most platoon Christmas parties involve alcohol, he said, they don’t normally hire strippers.
    “This was not the typical platoon party,” he said.
    He promised to take the situation seriously.
    “We’re going to talk to everybody. We’ll be knocking on doors,” he said. “We can start with identifying who was off [that] night, who was at the party. Talk to the workers, the owner.”
    Among the many questions asked by Zone 5 Law Enforcement Academy officials were whether there was a designated driver and whether anyone was stationed to remain sober and watch over the group to make sure they didn’t take things too far.
    Smith, who is also a retired Schenectady assistant chief, said parties should be in “safe” locations. He’s nixed some party locations proposed by his recruits, including a request for an afternoon graduation party at Saratoga Spa State Park.
    “Too easy to have drinking go on all afternoon long and then people get into cars and drive home,” he said. “I would prefer that they go to a restaurant. First off, it’s contained. The [location] usually has staff there to maintain order.”
    And even so, instructors attend the party and keep watch over the students as they drink, knowing all too well that some students may drink to excess.
    Instructor Ed Frank, who runs a program called Choices, hammers on the issue of drinking during his class with the recruits.
    “We pound it into them. This is the consequences. You’re carrying a gun and a badge now,” he said. “It’s a wakeup call.”
    He tells them to have “a little bit of common sense” and arrange for a designated driver.
    He also warns them to plan parties that can’t get out of control. One of his examples of wrong behavior: the bus trip Schenectady officers took through the city during a bachelor party. They got drunk at various bars and began throwing eggs from the bus and yelling racial slurs.
    He said the party with strippers reminded him of that event.
    “Know what? You can’t fix stupid,” he said. “This is felony stupid. You want to be treated like a professional, act like it.”

SHOW ME THE $$ TRAIL.....the dancers are usually bartenders/waitresses at city establishments too.....

What's a Christmas party without T&A.  More poor decision making by the SPD.  And the community is supposed to trust them?  It's been proven time and again that the SPD is made up of people with very poor character.  They feel they can operate outside the laws which they are paid to enforce.  

Scumbags.

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While most platoon Christmas parties involve alcohol, he said, they don’t normally hire strippers.

Quoted from CICERO

What's a Christmas party without T&A.  More poor decision making by the SPD.  And the community is supposed to trust them?  They've proven time and again that the SPD is made up of people with very poor character.  They feel they can operate outside the laws which they are paid to enforce.  

Scumbags.

what's a holiday parade without T&A

Johnny Goo's Clam Shack.

My God, there is so much wrong with just the name alone. Add in some strippers and cops and we have some high quality Jay Leno late night show jokes.

Now that I think about it......

Stupid. Pure and simple.

Hiring strippers at those events is unprecedented.  It never happened before.  I have never heard of anyone suggesting hiring strippers.

A lot of hard work, at all levels of the orgranization,  has been put into changing the SPD brand - one stupid act like this negates a lot of that hard work.  

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On Wednesday night, Schenectady’s midnight platoon — mostly young officers working the midnight to 8 a.m. shift — gathered at a retired officer’s bar to drink and watch dancing women take off their clothes for hours. Their spouses were not invited, another red fl ag, according to city leaders.

Is this the same bar the retired officers mother was caught stealing Lotto money?  

Unfortunately visitor, the SPD reputation has not moved off zero on the reputation meter in decades.  The culture  of the SPD never changed.  

The other former SPD crooked cop bar The Bad Pig is the same type of bar.  Just another example of the class coming out of the SPD.

They keep making you proud don't they visitor?  

I am not going to waste time trying to concince you of anything - you are very opinionated re: policing and SPD, yet you don't really seem to know a whole lot.

To say the culture has not changed is ridiculous.  Some of the offiecrs involved in wrongdoing over the past several years were arreested by their own  colleagues.  Years ago that would have never occurred.

Why even bring up what some retired cops mother did?  Got nothing to do with the PD.  Barnett and the Bad Pig - he was fired and did time almost a decade ago.

Yeah most of what they do does make me proud, that is what makes me extremely angry when a group of idiots within the agency do something to embarrass the rest of the PD.  

When all the facts come out - I think it will become apparent that while a few jackasses still don't get it.  Some do.  

The reputation meter - a figment of your self-important imagination.  

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Why even bring up what some retired cops mother did?  Got nothing to do with the PD.  Barnett and the Bad Pig - he was fired and did time almost a decade ago.  

Well uniformed people have a collective reputation.  That's the purpose of a uniform.  

I bring up the retired cops mother because the crime took place at the same bar, and the now retired cop was I believe part owner.  Also, for those old enough remember the Barnett, Siler, Hamilton escapades and that also has a lasting affect on the SPD reputation.  

Remember, reputations are made in a moment, character is built over a lifetime.  The SPD built a pretty crappy character.

Quoted from CICERO

Well uniformed people have a collective reputation.  That's the purpose of a uniform.  

I bring up the retired cops mother because the crime took place at the same bar, and the now retired cop was I believe part owner.  Also, for those old enough remember the Barnett, Siler, Hamilton escapades and that also has a lasting affect on the SPD reputation.  

Remember, reputations are made in a moment, character is built over a lifetime.  The SPD built a pretty crappy character.

Very well stated Cicero!

Strippers for Christmas? Wow, wonder what the he** the Fire Dept is doing this year?!?!?!

This is such a slap in the face to every taxpayer...seriously...we probably paid for this right? Came out of the police budget right?

Put a fork in me. I'm done.  

Quoted from visitor

I am not going to waste time trying to concince you of anything - you are very opinionated re: policing and SPD, yet you don't really seem to know a whole lot.

To say the culture has not changed is ridiculous.  Some of the offiecrs involved in wrongdoing over the past several years were arreested by their own  colleagues.  Years ago that would have never occurred.

Why even bring up what some retired cops mother did?  Got nothing to do with the PD.  Barnett and the Bad Pig - he was fired and did time almost a decade ago.

Yeah most of what they do does make me proud, that is what makes me extremely angry when a group of idiots within the agency do something to embarrass the rest of the PD.  

When all the facts come out - I think it will become apparent that while a few jackasses still don't get it.  Some do.  

The reputation meter - a figment of your self-important imagination.  

The "bad apples" may have been arrested and fired, but that also means they were criminals and hired.  Bigger problem.

They still hire jackasses.

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“We pound it into them. This is the consequences. You’re carrying a gun and a badge now,” he said. “It’s a wakeup call.”

they get away with this sh!t because they DO carry a gun and badge.......and protected by a UNION!!!
they think and act like they are above the law!!
........it just keeps on coming.....

The retired cop's mother is a crook. Police should not be involved in any way with establishments that have connections to crooks. That is all.
It is too bad, really, that our newer, younger cops are being indoctrinated into the ways of the sleazy old boy network. We the citizens are right to be concerned when we see evidence of backsliding.
I don't know how old you are, visitor, but I can remember how bad our police force was allowed to get, for decades. We have only just started to see any change, and the taxpayers have paid dearly to try to bring that about. A large part of the improvement was due to the fact that some of the worst offenders have 'aged out' of the force, and we've got new members who take their work seriously and want to be professional.
It is unfair to the decent cops who actually give value for the pay they receive, to expect them to work in such a cruddy environment. Standing up for the slobs only hurts the majority of good cops, and the citizens who have suffered long enough.

Various:

First, before you star calling people criminals you may want to remember that strip bars are not illegal.  Would you be calling one of yoru friends or family a criminal if you knw theyw ent into a strip bar - no you wouldn't - no.  They get away with it - strippers are not illegal.  Any of you on this site watch porn?  Same concept.

Rachel - ok this party was paid for by the police budget? Really - ?  

Madam X - standing up for the slobs?  Who is defending this behavior?

Cicero - it does not mean they were criminals when hired.  Some were hired due to poor hiring practices.  But some steered off course after getting on the job.

Cicero - First of all they did not do this when in uniform.  Should not have been done, but, it would not impact the way they interact with citizens, unlike some of the other misdeeds.

The fact the incident occurred at the same bar means nothing as the owner has no connection to PD.  And to blame what his mother did on the PD is a stretch - but consisent for you.

Again, strippers are not illegal.  Not defending this stupid embarrassing act - but let's keep things in their proper perspective.