NEWS > 30 December 2006

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Albany Times Union - Albany,NY
30 December 2006

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Bonanni case puts police credi

ALBANY -- The fate of an officer with a career marred by controversy could play a central role in Police Chief James Tuffey's quest to repair the public's trust in his department -- a theme of his first year on the job.

Officer William Bonanni was placed on paid administrative leave Thursday amid an internal investigation into whether he violated department policy by drinking alcohol within eight hours of going on duty and allegedly showing up for work impaired, sources close to the investigation have said.

Previously, Bonanni was cleared twice of criminal conduct in incidents involving the off-duty beating of a college student and the shooting death of a bystander.

But in law enforcement, like government, the perception that leaders are willing to hold their own accountable is essential to winning the public's confidence, law enforcement officials and experts say.

"It's a long haul to build or to have to restore public credibility, but integrity is absolutely essential to public trust, and public trust is essential to effective crime-fighting," said Samuel Walker, a professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska at Omaha who specializes in police accountability.

Bonanni has not been formally disciplined. The ongoing probe began after he and another officer, Glenn Szelest, allegedly showed up for work at North Station this fall after drinking, and their supervisor, Sgt. Joseph Pickel, allegedly allowed them to stay at work for a time and then waited days to report the incident to department brass.

Pickel and Szelest's work status had not changed as of Friday, a department spokesman said.

The case is one of several this year that have shone light on the police department's dealings with its own -- including an assault charge lodged by county prosecutors against an officer who allegedly used excessive force with an intoxicated elderly man.

A grand jury declined to indict Officer Michael Geraci Jr., and he survived disciplinary charges that threatened his job. Geraci has returned to work, Tuffey said Friday.

"Over the last decade we were experiencing an erosion in public confidence in government as well as in law enforcement," said District Attorney David Soares, whose office brought the charges against Geraci.

Reversing that erosion requires tough decisions, said Soares, who terminated one of his own prosecutors, Kimberly Mariani, after she invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a federal probe of her husband. Soares said his decision had a lot to do with avoiding the appearance of impropriety.

Soares said he believed the chief handled Geraci's case appropriately and acknowledged connections between the work Tuffey has done within the police department and the mission of the district attorney's Public Integrity Unit -- whose most striking success came last week with the conviction of state Comptroller Alan Hevesi for defrauding the government.

Hevesi, a powerful New York City Democrat, pleaded guilty and resigned.

"If he's not holding accountable the rank and file of his department, then I don't know that he's going to have the public's confidence," Soares said. "I think Chief Tuffey has gone a long way in the short time that he's been there to restore that confidence."
Tuffey on Friday said he was barred by privacy laws from confirming that Bonanni had in fact been removed from active duty.

That phenomenon itself -- that most internal law enforcement discipline is secret -- can fuel public distrust and makes it nearly impossible to determine when that discipline is fair or consistent, Walker said.

While Hevesi's disgrace was public, internal police investigations almost never are.

"All health professionals' disciplinary actions are public, and they aren't even public employees, most of them," Walker said.

Yet police officers have far-reaching powers and grave responsibilities.

"We're the only profession in the United States that is authorized to take a human life, and that's an awesome amount of authority," said Craig Steckler, police chief in Fremont, Calif., and vice president at large for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. "That trust is the building block that everything else that the department does is built upon."

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Article sourced from

Albany Times Union - Albany,NY30 December 2006

Bonanni case puts police credi

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Albany Times Union - Albany,NY
30 December 2006