In Oregon, Texas and Michigan, police officers and two prosecutors have been charged with federal firearms and tax evasion crimes for buying guns through their departments[...] [TU, 101707]
Say ... what do you suppose would happen if that same thing happened here in Albany? Cops obtaining illegal firearms, and doing it through the police department to avoid paying taxes on them?
What's that you say? You would guess that nothing would happen, no prosecutions, no comment from The Tan One? So cynical of you. So jaded. And so correct.
Brendan Lyons of the TU has written an excellent series of articles on this scandal. In the spirit of DIA's dysfunction posts, the following is a chronological look at how we've gotten to this point of Santa not delivering any indictments for the guilty parties. (Excerpts from the TU articles in italics.)
1993, 1994 and 1995 [TU, 102807]: multiple purchases of federally banned weapons [...] purchased at tax-exempt, discount prices. [TU, 100807] [F]ormer assistant chief, William M. Murray, [...] signed official departmental letters [stating] "These weapons will be used for official duties only, purchased by the department for departmental use only [...]" [TU, 102807]
December 2002: ATF agents find a machine gun for sale at a local gun dealer. The gun was registered to the Albany police force [and] had been brought to the store by Michael Romano, who is now a detective with internal affairs. [TU, 100807]
January 2003: Then-Police chief Robert Wolfgang sends a letter to ATF: "Please be advised that the following weapons, registered with BATF to the Albany City Police Department ... are not accounted for," the letter states, listing 12 guns. "Currently the departmental records identifying the officers who possessed the weapons cannot be located." [TU, 102807]
Unknown 2003: The U.S. attorney's office in Albany was briefed about the matter [...] by the ATF, according to sources familiar with the investigation. U.S. Attorney Glenn T. Suddaby said: "ATF never brought a case to our office. [TU, 100807]
January 2004: Former assistant chief Murray dies. [P]rior to [his] death he was visited by an Albany assistant police chief, Anthony Bruno, who removed an assault rifle that day. [TU, 112507]
April 2004: Wolfgang out as chief.
July 2004: John Curry, a part-time sheriff's department inspector, [...] went to Murray's home [...] at the request of Wolfgang. Curry [...] was asked to remove three large artillery shells, including a live one, from the basement. Curry may or may not have had assistance from the State Police bomb squad. Curry said he went alone and never documented the incident or notified Watervliet police. [TU, 112507]
December 2005: Tuffey in as chief.
February 2006: The TU files a FOIL request. [TU, 101707]
April 2006: [T]he city denied the Times Union's [FOIL request], stating: "Disclosing the weapons that are used by the police force in fighting crime in the City of Albany could endanger the life of the officers using them against criminals."
At the time the letter was written, city officials would have known their own internal investigation determined the guns were unsuitable for urban policing, had never been deployed or used by the department in any official capacity, and that some of the weapons were missing and had been purchased by individuals other than police officers, according to interviews with people
familiar with the case. [TU, 082607]
August 2007: TU publishes first article about the scandal. [TU, 082607] After that publication, Tuffey acknowledged the guns were never used by the department and that there was no policy to use them. Departmental sources said the guns were unsuitable for urban policing and that no officers received formal training on their use. [TU, 102807]
September 2007: Tuffey goes before the Public Safety Committee and his statements led Common Council President Shawn Morris and Public Safety Committee Chairman James Scalzo [...] to believe all of the guns were recovered and destroyed[.] [TU, 102807]
October 2007: Oct 8: TU reports that there are an unknown number of guns still missing. [TU, 100807] Oct 10: At a Common Council finance meeting, Tuffey sez: "I never lie and I never will lie. ... I said to you that all the guns we had in our possession were destroyed," Tuffey said. "I don't know how many guns were purchased. ... I don't know. There's no records, guys." [TU, 102807]
October 2007: The [Albany Police Officers Union] served papers [...] seeking to intervene in a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by the Times Union, which is asking a judge to order the city to release the records. [TU, 101707] The union says that the identities of the officers who were in on the gun deals should not be made public as a matter of internal job performance or some such shit.
So...
What's you favorite aspect of all this? The city officially lying in its denial of the TU's FOIL request? The TU knowing more about how many guns are out there than Tuffey knows? Suddaby's non-responsive response? The artillery (artillery!) pick-up that was done at Wolfgang's request, months after Wolfgang resigned? So difficult to choose.
Update [2007-12-19 5:56:42 by DIA]:
I was unable to get today's video segment to embed in the code so if you want to see it you'll have to go to Youtube directly. It's worth the trip. Check out his first costume choice.
End
Update [2007-12-19 17:3:23 by DIA]:
Personally I don't really care much about the whole gun law issue. I don't really want machine guns in the hands of people with no combat training. But in the end, I can got to Kmart and buy plenty of guns and ammo. No questions asked. Guns are guns. If someone in this country wants to go kill a bunch of people with guns all they need is a credit card and the willingness to pull the trigger. I have little tolerance for people who make it their life's work to fight gun laws but that is just because I think they are even further off the conspiracy deep end then I am. But there are laws. And if you break them, you pay. Another example, I think drugs should be legalized. There are laws about that and plenty of people are in jail for simply possessing drugs. If you want to live here, play by the rules. If you don't agree with them AND break them, pay the price (note: I have no illegal guns or drugs because I prefer not to go to jail). Here is an interesting discussion on a gun rights board about the Albany APD buying and selling guns. Here is a sample comment:
Not trying to be a jerk ,maybe im missing something.The way i read if all the info is true ,then a whole bunch of cops have illegally bought and at the least illegally transfered Automatic weapons,and isnt havoc69s imprisonment for the same thing ,in regards to ulitamilty a Class 3 item was transferred illegally?
I wonder will the BATFE stick it to these guys as it would anyone else...Seems so stupid to me to risk getting caught for such a highly punishable crime just to save a 200$ tax stamp
In the gun community, where they know what they speak of when it comes to this, this is a "highly punishable crime". Apparently not in Albany. Perhaps I should go shopping for a machine gun and some artillery shells since we seem to be a safe haven for that sort of thing.
