Amid official’s firing, some officers allege intimidation from above
By Brendan Lyons, The Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)
Albany, N.Y. -- The city’s thin blue line is a little tattered, facing one of its most tumultuous stretches in years as the 340-member Albany Police Department is wracked by controversy and infighting.
The turmoil comes as one officer is lying in a hospital fighting for his life from a shootout, and another is facing scrutiny for killing a bystander on New Year’s Eve. The difficulties increased Friday, when a popular commander who has been embroiled in a bitter feud with administrators was fired -- allegedly for circulating a derogatory flier about a co-worker.
Two days earlier, more than 50 officers jammed a meeting hall, and tempers flared because some members of the Albany Police Officers Union wanted to propose a vote of “no confidence” in the department administration. But the issue never made it to the floor that night because some officers, they privately confided, were intimidated by a few veteran officers and didn’t speak out.
“We’ve been through this kind of thing before,” Public Safety Commissioner John C. Nielsen said. “Some of these are growth incidents, and they’ll be better off as a department. Like everything else, when you grow, it hurts.”
Some department insiders -- including supporters of Cmdr. Christian D’Alessandro, who was fired Friday -- contend the department is being operated with a management-by-fear style and that a few officers with troubled histories, including some who have been suspended for serious misconduct in the past, have risen into key posts. The officers said it leaves a bad impression on many young officers who are now ordered to strictly follow regulations.
“We’ve come a long way,” Nielsen said, conceding there are some supervisors in the department with less than stellar records. “The police culture is not unique to Albany. ... It’s hard work. It’s dirty work. It’s dangerous work. Do we have issues? Absolutely.”
But some officers contend there are serious misconduct allegations that are often brushed away. They point out that the city’s Civilian Police Review Board examines only complaints that are filed against officers by civilians. The board does not receive information about cops involved in misconduct that does not involve civilians, they said, adding those cases are normally handled internally and without any public disclosure.
Nielsen denied allegations by some officers that he has sought to control the union in order to quash turmoil.
“That’s a joke,” he said. “I don’t even deal with them unless they want something.”
Union President James Teller did not respond to requests for comment. But some union members agreed to speak on condition they not be identified.
“There are officers who won’t speak out because they’re scared to death, and they fear retribution,” said one officer. “This department’s rush to judgment is always for either one of two reasons: To take the eyes off things they’re doing that are worse, or, because they’re completely incompetent.”
Others attribute problems to disgruntled officers who they claim are leaking disciplinary histories of troubled cops to stir controversy.
Lt. Michael DeMarco, a veteran detective and supporter of Nielsen and the current administration, contends the troubles are not that bad. DeMarco weathered his own storm six years ago, when the department sought to fire him after it was discovered detectives in his unit had installed hidden cameras to monitor hallways outside their office at police headquarters. The cameras had been confiscated from drug dealers, and DeMarco was suspended but had his job reinstated after a bitter arbitration.
“The bottom line with this is, through all the thick and thin and all the turmoil, the department’s functioning well,” DeMarco said. “The detectives are being allowed to do their jobs, and we’re making arrests. ... As far as the rank and file, the uniformed guys have a tough job. They’re undermanned, and they don’t have the resources to run the department like they’d like to run it, but they’re holding up well.”
Still, the troubles have been more than administrative.
Last year, the department was stung when two officers were suspended and charged with felonies in unrelated cases. Officer Jeffrey Metcalfe, son of a retired detective, has since been indicted on charges he stole more than $35,000 in overtime. The other officer, James Wood, was arrested but later cleared by a grand jury on charges he raped a stripper at his bachelor party.
Metcalfe’s case has triggered demands by some city leaders for an external audit of police overtime, which has been more than $1 million over budget in recent years.
But Wood’s case unsettled many cops because he was arrested two days after the bachelor party -- before an internal affairs investigation was completed that authorities said poked holes in the topless dancer’s allegation.
Nielsen still defends the decision to quickly arrest Wood.
“We left no room for people to insinuate that that officer was guilty and there was a cover-up,” he said.
Two days before Christmas, morale hit one of its lowest points in years when Lt. John Finn, a popular patrol supervisor, was gunned down in the South End during a shootout with a robbery suspect. A bullet that tore through Finn’s lower abdomen caused such devastating injuries that his prognosis is still uncertain. His right leg was shattered by a second bullet, and his lower left leg had to be amputated because of complications from the abdominal wounds.
At Albany Medical Center Hospital, officers have kept vigil, making sure that Finn’s wife, Maura, and other relatives are cared for.
A week later, on New Year’s Eve, a car chase in the city’s Center Square neighborhood ended with Officer Joseph Gerace, an 11-year veteran, firing seven shots at the fleeing driver, including one that killed a bystander. A special prosecutor is reviewing the incident.
Four days after the shooting, some rank-and-file members suggested police administrators betrayed them, because Chief Robert Wolfgang confirmed a Times Union story that reported that at least two supervisors tried unsuccessfully to terminate the chase before the shots rang out.
Nielsen’s voice flares at whispers of betrayal. He and Wolfgang have publicly defended the officers in recent weeks, he added.
“Wolfgang and I went to every neighborhood meeting in that area over the past month and explained the situation to them as best we could,” Nielsen said. “The three officers involved in this thing -- the kid who started the chase and the two who pulled their guns -- are the same people who walk the beat in front of your houses, I told them. They are good officers.”
Many residents have questioned the officers’ decision to open fire in the busy intersection.
Last week, the department was rocked again when a veteran detective, Kenneth Wilcox, who is black, filed a claim alleging a hostile work environment and racial discrimination at the hands of D’Alessandro, who is white, when the former commander was head of the detective unit more than two years ago. The two were at odds at that time because D’Alessandro issued an internal report that showed the overtime earnings of Wilcox and several other detectives in relation to the number of arrests they made.
Meanwhile, D’Alessandro’s lawyer indicated that he intends to file his own lawsuit against the city, alleging his firing was calculated and improper.
“Over the past few months, obviously, the series of incidents that have occurred have had an impact on the rank and file,” said Detective James Miller, a department spokesman. “To their credit, they are officers that go out and do their daily patrol work and they have continued with the professionalism that’s expected. They have to be credited for that, under the circumstances.”