Democracy In Albany

While there is always a lot of cheerleading and boosterism regarding the local police agencies in any city, in Albany it seems to take on a strangely different tone.  There is almost an expectation that officers will break the law, it even goes beyond that, almost to a point where a malevolent minority of the force seem to be prodding the other officers to join in and be among those on the shady side.  

CROOKED COPS AND THEIR ENABLERS
Wherever there is another story in the Albany Times Union about another Albany cop who is accused of breaking the law - you always see a throng of people jumping to defend the bad cop and minimizing or attacking the victims who are brave enough to make the accusations against the cop.  It's kind of shocking really.  I've see other cops, lawyers, professionals, and people in high positions in the community say some rather amazing things when defending Albany police officers who have been accused of crimes.  Some might say these people who defend the crooked cops are enablers rather than defenders.  On a few occasions when I have scratched the surface a bit I find an explanation for the enabling, like a relative who is a cop, or a badge groupie or an overdose of "law and orderism" to the point where they get a little blinded by badges - but on the whole - people in Albany mostly seem to want to give a cop three or four or five chances even after they have repeatedly shown they are not fit to serve and need to be terminated for cause. As much as Fred LeBrun of the Albany Times Union frustrates me, he wrote an excellent piece on the APD's William Bonanni back on December 1, 2006, saying essentially that Bonanni screwed up so many times over the years that at any other department he would have been discharged for cause long ago - yet he remains on the Albany police force.  In Bonanni's 15 years with the APD, that cop has spent 6 YEARS ON LEAVE OR ON SUSPENSION.  But I am not surprised, in Albany, it seems to be a knee jerk reaction to defend the cop and blame the victim.

MISMANGEMENT AND NO ACCOUNTABILITY
Of course the classic case of mismanagement that is regularly discussed on this blog was Mayor Gerald Jennings defending the DWI cop Greg Krikorian with Jennings' infamous "leave him alone, he's a good kid" quote.  I know that the Mayor had a bit of a rough go as a youngster in North Albany, but I don't think his new McMansion neighbors on upper New Scotland Road would call a cop who is a DWI speeder with a blood alcohol level of 0.16 (twice the legal limit) who leaves the scene of an accident and drunkenly crashes his 1988 Corvette into a multi-unit apartment building and burns the building down leaving several people homeless and devoid of their worldly possessions a `good' kid.
http://www.poly.rpi.edu/article_view.php3?view=3379&part=1

Metroland Magazine followed up on the aftermath to see if the 25 year-old Krikorian was discharged from the force for cause, but they were a bit surprised and reported the consequences for Krikorian: "State police charged Krikorian with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident. He was arrested, without being handcuffed, and issued an appearance ticket. He pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of driving while ability impaired on Dec. 21, 2004. He was fined $300, and his license was suspended for 90 days. Krikorian was suspended from the APD during the criminal proceedings. When they were complete, he was reinstated."

That's right dear reader, leaves the scene of an accident, burns down an apartment building, convicted of DWAI, and then REINSTATED to the Albany Police Department.

To top things off with chocolate sauce and extra sprinkles, what does the spokesperson for the Albany Police Department (Officer James Miller) say to the media ? :  "YOU HAVE LAWYERS, DOCTORS, JOURNALISTS WHO ARE ARRESTED FOR DWI AND DON'T LOSE THEIR JOBS. I THINK IT'S UNFAIR FOR OFFICERS TO BE TREATED DIFFERENTLY FROM EVERYONE ELSE. PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES." -APD Spokesman James Miller, May 4, 2005.

I don't know about other people who read this blog, but I ALWAYS treat police officers different than everybody else.  Police officers have GUNS and they have the legal authority to ARREST me and put me in JAIL based only on what they say.  I can sit in the SLAM for about TWO DAYS before I get to see a judge and give my side of the story. I ALWAYS treat police officers with kid gloves.

For an APD officer who has the responsibility of being the public face of the Department, to say what he said in public - to the media -  Well... its unbelievable.  Only when you think back to the `he's a good kid' quote do you start to realize that this is exactly what Mayor Jennings and Public Safety Commissioner Jack Nielsen and Police Chief Turley wanted Miller to say.

So you might think to yourself, `nah, this one case was just an abboration.'  After all Greg Kirkorian was the son of long-time Albany detective Charles Krikorian, a guy who had been on the force for 33 years.  In fact, Greg Krikorian went on the drunk driving rampage on the night of his father's retirement party that was held at Martel's at the Albany Muni Golf Course - the Mayor's favorite watering hole.  If there was ever a case for `special handling' you might think that this was it... right?  Nope.  

A few months later, in April 2005, Albany Police Officer Robert Schunk crashed his car in the wee hours of the morning into a parked mini-van with such force to send the van into another parked car.  Schunk refused to take a breathalyzer test and was arrested.  

Then it was `Miller Time': "THAT OFFICER IS NO DIFFERENT FROM ANYBODY ELSE THAT WOULD'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN ANOTHER ACCIDENT." -APD Spokesman  James Miller. (WTEN, April 22, 2005) "THIS IS VERY SIMILAR TO A DOCTOR, LAWYER OR TEACHER THAT WOULD GO OUT AND DRINK AND DRIVE." - APD Spokesman James Miller. (CN9 April 22, 2005).

But the trouble with this `logic' is that doctors, lawyers and teachers don't enforce the law. THE POLICE ENFORCE THE LAW.  When the police break the law - IT IS DIFFERENT - IT'S VERY DIFFERENT.  Police are supposed to set an example.  Many law enforcement agencies FIRE officers for drunk driving arrests - but not Albany PD.  

By the by, SOME lawyers also enforce the law as criminal prosecutors, and I have known several criminal prosecutors who have been fired from their jobs for off-work drunk driving incidents. So it appears `Miller Time' has been busy misleading the public.

So then you think, `well by now in 2006, Jack Nielsen's resigned, Bob Wolfgang's resigned, Jim Turley's resigned - James Tuffy will come in and clean things up - all that drinking and driving will come to an end - right?'  Nope.

DATELINE June 23, 2006: An off-duty Albany police sergeant was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated after his car struck another vehicle being driven by an off-duty officer from the Rensselaer Police Department. Sgt. Vincent P. Foley, 38, who lives off Route 85A in Voorheesville, was slightly injured in the 3 a.m. Thursday crash on New Scotland Road. He was arrested after allegedly refusing to submit to a blood alcohol test. Foley would be the second Albany police officer in less than a year to be charged with DWI for refusing to take a blood alcohol test.

Does that end it?  Nope.

DATELINE October 14, 2006 -- A city detective killed last April in an on-duty crash had apparently fallen asleep behind the wheel of his speeding unmarked cruiser before it slammed into a barrier on Interstate 90, authorities said. Detective Kenneth P. Wilcox, 39, who had spent several hours drinking in a downtown nightclub before reporting for duty that night, had alcohol in his system when the crash took place but was not legally impaired or intoxicated. Fatigue, speed and his failure to wear a seat belt were factors in the death, authorities said.

So then you think, `well now Jimmy Tuffy has instituted a zero-tolerance policy for on-duty APD officers - NOW all that drinking and driving will finally STOP.'   Well dear reader, you'd be wrong.

DATELINE November 30, 2006:  Two city police officers recently showed up for work while allegedly impaired by alcohol, in direct violation of the department's new zero-tolerance policy, sources said. Sources familiar with an ongoing internal investigation identified one of the officers as William Bonanni, whose career has been marked by controversy.

So now we're back to William Bonanni.

COPS SEE LOTS OF BAD THINGS
You see a lot of very ugly things when you are a police officer.  Things that are very, very difficult to explain to your loved ones or your friends when you are off-duty.  I don't doubt that when police officers are off-duty they have some alcohol to relax.  I've got no problem with that.  I don't expect police officers to abstain from alcohol.  

But after you deal with all that dirt out on the street while trying to keep the other people in your community safe, some officers start to believe they deserve something a little extra.  And when I say `extra' I don't mean the simple respect of your neighbors and the adoration of kids because of the good and important work you are doing in helping keep the community safe.

GRAFT AND CORRUPTION
There are a million rumors about some in the Albany Police Department `working' with drug dealers and distributors.  I don't have a good case of hard facts on those many allegations so I am not going to go down that road...yet.  Lots of people who comment on this blog seem to have a lot more knowledge and I would encourage them to be as open as they feel they can be.  Anybody who reveals anything should be strictly warned that people who question APD management can be in for a rough ride - just read the `kateb' diaries and comments at this blog. I am trusting DIA to keep the identity of the people on this blog anonymous.

But I don't even have to go down the cops `working' with drug dealers/distributors road - there has already been plenty of cop corruption reported in the local newspapers for the last several years.  Take former Albany Public Safety Commissioner Jack `I am not a petty thief' Nielsen.

DATELINE January 15, 2005:  A federal audit finds that the Albany Police Department improperly spent nearly $43,000 from its seized asset program for `expenses' such as lunches, retirement parties and automatic car starters. The audit by the U.S. Department of Justice also said the department kept poor records and failed to follow federal guidelines on the use of the assets, which are seized in criminal investigations.

Jack Nielsen, keeps a slush fund and then is found out and resigns and leaves town for a few years going to Haiti to do `consulting' on security issues on a fat federal government contract.