|
|
|
| NEWS > 19 November 2007 |
Other related articles:
Ethics Board fines ex-officer
LAFAYETTE — A former high-ranking Opelousas police officer has been fined $1,500 and his wife’s company fined $2,500 on ethics violations for the company’s contract to provide printing services to the police department.
The ethics charges against Ronnie Trahan Sr. and his wife’s company, Especially For You Printing, arose last year out of wide-ranging investigation that also resulted in criminal charges against Trahan and former Opelousas Police Chief Larry Caillier.
Government employees are generally barred from approving payments of public funds to a family member or be... Read more
|
 Article sourced from
|
|
WXXA - Albany,NY,USA
19 November 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
|
Schenectady Police Department,
|
Schenectady County Grand Jury
There are big changes on the way for the Schenectady Police Department.
A grand jury report, filed Monday, identifies problems in the department and makes recommendations on ways to curb corruption.
The Schenectady County grand jury began examining city police practices after a former vice detective admitted to stealing drug evidence to support his own personal drug habit.
That scandal is just the most recent one in a city police department that's been plagued by police corruption during the past decade.
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney says, "Any organization that experiences that degree of disfunction in a 160-person sworn complement of officers needs to be critically examined with an eye to correcting the problems with have led to those convictions and preventing further corruption."
Former Investigator Jeffrey Curtis is currently serving a four-year prison sentence after admitting that he stole 85 pieces of crack cocaine from a Schenectady Police locker.
That missing evidence forced prosecutors to dismiss a criminal indictment in January.
The grand jury report explains how Curtis was able to steal drug evidence, beat drug tests, and shirk his department responsibilities while he continued to collect a paycheck.
Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton says the grand jury has uncovered "tremendous failings" in local law enforcement.
The report makes five main recommendations.
The first recommendation is that the Schenectady Police Department should tighten up its chain of command when handling evidence.
The grand jury report found several problems with the way the city department handled drug evidence.
Old drop safes used to store drug evidence were set up like mailboxes.
The report says that, oftentimes, those drops safes became so overloaded that officers would have to cram drug evidence into them using an ice scraper or leave it outside of the drop safe altogether.
Practices like that one made it easy for Curtis to steal crack cocaine without getting caught.
The report also says an evidence management policy that was adopted in 1993 was never fully adopted.
The second recommendation is that Schenectady Police should improve their drug testing policy for officers.
The District Attorney says Curtis was able to pass drug tests because he was notified the weekend before he was to provide a urine sample at Ellis Hospital.
Curtis worked an evening shift and would reportedly arrive so late on Monday that he would not have to report to the hospital until Tuesday.
Officials say by the time Curtis provided a urine sample, at least 72 hours had passed since he had used drugs.
This new grand jury report suggests that police officers submit to random drug testing without receiving any prior notification.
The report also recommends that hair samples be used for drug testing rather than urine because hair samples can show drug use over a longer period of time.
The third recommendation from the grand jury report is that police officers be required to keep records of their interactions with confidential informants.
Carney says Curtis used his own confidential informants to purchase drugs to support his habit.
The grand jury's fourth recommendation is that Schenectady Police improve the methods it uses to manage case files.
The report says police officers used a dry-erase board to keep track of case numbers, meaning that case files were frequently misnumbered.
Officials say there are still approximately 80 missing case files.
The fifth and, many say, most important recommendation from the grand jury's report is that Schenectady improve police department management and supervision.
Schenectady leaders tell FOX23 News that Curtis was able to sign his department timesheet with an "X."
They say he started his shift at 4:00 p.m. and usually went home by 6:00 p.m., still receiving a full day's pay.
"Clearly, there are structural problems inherent in the management and supervision of the police department that have lasted for generations of police leadership," says Carney.
Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett says, "People just weren't paying attention."
City leaders hired Bennett, the former New York State Police Superintendent, in May.
Commissioner Bennett estimates that 65% of the suggested recommendations are already in place.
Bennett, Carney, and Stratton all say that police managers have lost their grip on police officers during past union contract negotiations.
"When you're not capable of providing financial incentive to your employees, you give away management rights," Bennett tells reporters. "That's really the only other thing you have to give them."
City leaders say another department problem is the seniority-based promotion system; they say promotions should be based on merit.
Schenectady officials say an officer has to spend 15 years on the job before he or she is eligible for a promotion but Police Benevolent Association President Bob Hamilton says that's not true.
Hamilton says officers are eligible to take the exam to be promoted to a sergeant after they have spent three years with the department.
Hamilton, himself a lieutenant on the Schenectady Police Department, says patrol officers need to wait 15 years before they are allowed to move to the investigations department.
Schenectady Police Officers are currently worked under a union contract that expired at the end of 2005.
In the next 60 days, Commissioner Bennett will issue his own report on what progress he has made implementing the grand jury's recommended changes.
|
| |
 EiP Comments:
|
|---|
|
| |
* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
 |
Ethics in Policing, based in the UK, provide information and advice about the following:
Policing Research | Police News articles | Police Corruption | International Policing | Police Web Sites | Police Forum | Policing Ethics | Police Journals | Police Publications |
|
| |
|
