Probe clears police, at last
Schenectady department found to be in compliance with U.S. recommendations
By Paul Nelson
Updated 6:50 am, Friday, January 4, 2013
Schenectady police officers watch as a man is taken in to custody on Feb. 22, 2011, on State Street in Schenectady, N.Y. The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department has closed a decade-long probe of the city police force after concluding that the department has adequately addressed concerns related to the use of excessive force, illegal searches and seizures and other issues.
SCHENECTADY — Ten years after it launched a probe into this city's beleaguered police force, the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division has concluded that the department is not in violation of federal or constitutional laws on issues such as use of excessive force and illegal searches and seizures.
"We are pleased that SPD (Schenectady Police Department) has adopted a significant number of our technical assistance recommendations with respect to use of force, use of force reporting, and use of force investigations; citizens complaints; stops; searches and arrests; vehicle pursuits; performance appraisal system; hiring practices; and training," said Jonathan M. Smith, chief of the Special Litigation Section, in a statement dated Dec. 27.
The initial recommendations from the federal agency to the police department were made in March 2003.
Since then, the Justice Department has monitored the department's compliance.
In June, the police department sent more information to Washington, D.C., prompting the Justice Department to end the probe "without finding a pattern or practice of violations of the constitutional or federal law."
"We note especially some of the innovative approaches SPD has taken to improve policing, such as participation in the General Electric Power Systems training program for supervisors, and the initiation of a customer satisfaction survey," Smith wrote in the three-page letter to recently retired Police Chief Mark Chaires and John R. Polster, the city corporation counsel.
The Justice Department, though, "encouraged SPD to continue its positive progression" by adopting the rest of its recommendations to avoid future problems.
The suggestions include improving the policy on the use of police dogs, continuing to improve officers' verbal communication skills and holding them and their direct supervisors accountable for use of force and documenting that force.
Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said Thursday that recommendations on communication and accountability have been implemented and that he plans to talk in the future with the incoming police chief about biting incidents by police dogs and the use of dogs for crowd control and on juvenile suspects.
Mayor Gary McCarthy is expected next week to name Assistant Police Chief Brian Kilcullen as Chaires' successor.
On Thursday, Smith referred questions to the Justice Department's public information office, which did not return calls seeking comment.
Chaires, who is now executive director of the Hamilton Hill Arts Center, said the Justice Department investigation was intimidating but helpful in bringing about top-to-bottom changes to the department.
"When you got through something like that, you have an epiphany," Chaires said.
"As an agency, we improved with holding officers accountable. We owe that to the public, the profession and all the other Schenectady officers doing the right thing."
During Chaires' tenure several officers were fired or forced to resign after being arrested in domestic disputes or for drunken driving.
None was more notorious than John Lewis, who was arrested several times then fired and sent to prison.
"We dealt with the problems we were faced with," said Chaires.
Bennett faulted the "bureaucracy that comes with large federal agencies" for the investigation dragging on for so long.
In 2009, a year after he was appointed the top cop, Bennett requested a meeting with Justice Department officials to show them that recommendations from a three-year FBI probe of corruption convictions that sent Lt. Michael Hamilton Jr. and Officers Nicola Messere, Michael Siler and Richard Barnett to prison on drug charges in 2002 were being addressed.
The Justice Department investigation came on the heels of the convictions.
Still, corruption within the department continued.
One officer, Jeffrey Curtis, was sentenced to prison for stealing cocaine from the vice squad while another, Kenneth Hill, served time in state prison for giving a gun to a drug dealer.
Vice squad investigator Chris Maher pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was demoted in connection with allegations that he told a friend about a State Police investigation of gambling.
In the winter of 2009, ex-Chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek began serving a two-year state prison sentence for his role in a major narcotics distribution ring.
"It would have been nicer to see the letter sooner, but we're happy to receive it," said Bennett, who credited Chaires and the assistant chiefs for their diligence in dealing with the federal recommendations.
Chaires said he is optimistic the department will continue to be vigilant.
"As an agency, we've improved with holding officers accountable," said Chaires. "You can never get complacent and have to constantly self-assess."
pnelson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5347 • @apaulnelson
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