"ANOTHER POLICE DEPARTMENT PROVEN OUT OF CITIZENS CONTROL"

Thursday, March 11, 2004

Wallkill police are improving, new report says

   By Christian M. Wade
   Times Herald-Record
   cwade@th-record.com
   
   
   Town of Wallkill – The abuses have stopped.
 

   Rules and regulations have taken the place of what was once described as anarchy. Civilian complaints, which for years, were virtually ignored, are now being documented and investigated.
 

   For the Wallkill Police Department, progress is gradual, but steady, according to the third report on the state of the town's police force, which was released yesterday.
 

   The report described the department's compliance with a federal consent order as "reasonably good" and said systemwide violations that caused state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to intervene in the crisis had ceased.
 

   "There is no evidence of any systematic abuses of authority or unconstitutional practices," Dean Esserman, the police department's federally appointed monitor, wrote in the report.
 

   Working relations between Wallkill and other law enforcement agencies, which in the past have been contentious, have improved, the report said.
 

   Esserman credited town Police Chief Robert Hertman, who was appointed two years ago, with steering the troubled police force away from rock bottom.
 

   But the progress over the past two years has been tempered with setbacks, the report said, such as the sudden resignation of Deputy Chief George Tyndall.
 

   Tyndall, a 20-year veteran of the New York City Police Department, was hired last year as part of the department's efforts to clean up mismanagement and fumbled civilian complaints.
 

   "This [Tyndall's resignation] really set us back administratively," Hertman said. "He was responsible for a number of criminal investigations."
 

   Wallkill is one of just a handful of police departments across the country that operates under the watch of a federal monitor as a result of a troubled past.
 

   In 2001, Wallkill became the first town ever to be sued by the New York state attorney general for harboring a "dangerous" police department. According to Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, several officers allegedly sexually harassed women and retaliated against others that intervened.
 

   The FBI, the U.S. attorney's office and Orange County District Attorney Francis D. Phillips all conducted investigations.
 

   Wallkill signed a consent decree and a federal judge was appointed as a monitor to oversee the implementation of stringent new rules and regulations.
 

   Yesterday's report is the third to date. The monitor is expected to conduct biannual reports until June 30, 2005, when the federal court will consider lifting the order.
 

   Hertman said the addition of new police officers – 10 of the 23 full-time officers were hired between 2002 and 2003 – means a more professional police force.
 

   "You're bringing fresh blood into the department, a new perspective, and they're not involved in past abuses," he said.
 

   "This is welcome progress."

C.B.C.I. OPINION:

THIS POLICE DEPARTMENT SEEMS TO BE PROGRESSING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION UNDER THE WATCHFUL EYE OF A MANDATORY FEDERALLY APPOINTED MONITOR THAT WILL BE CONTINUED INDEFINITELY

C.B.C.I. IS CONTINUALLY GATHERING INFORMATION AND WORKING TOWARDS THE GOAL OF HAVING THIS OPTION CONSIDERED AS A MANDATORY CONTROL OF OTHER POLICE DEPARTMENTS WITHIN DUTCHESS COUNTY, THAT HAVE BEEN CONTINUALLY COMMITTING SIMILAR OFFENSES

Your participation, suggestions and opinions on all matters will be welcomed, and only by your request, will your correspondence be published on this web site anonymously.

Please contact the Justice Team with any information regarding any matter, by CLICKING HERE or E-Mail address: Administrator@DutchessCountyJusticeTeam2003.us or telephone (845) 454-3036. (All information will be kept confidential and your protection is guaranteed)