Schenectady officer charged with DWI
COLONIE, N.Y. -- Marked by the gash on his head, Schenectady Police Officer Michael Brown stood outside Colonie Town Court waiting to face charges of DWI and leaving the scene of a personal injury accident.
Colonie police said Brown was driving drunk Sunday night when he hit a stopped car, injuring a person in that car, at the intersection of Route 9 and Osborne Road. They said Brown took off but was found stopped just down the road where he refused to take a breathalyzer test.
Schenectady Mayor Brian Stratton said, "You would think that someone who is a police officer would at least have enough common sense to not let him or herself get into that situation."
Stratton has seen his fair share of these situations lately. In late December, Assistant Chief Michael Seber was involved in a car accident with allegations of driving under the influence of alcohol swirling. But since the quality of the police report was so poor, police couldn't prove anything. That led to three members of the department facing disciplinary action. Then in mid-January, Officer John Lewis was arrested for the third time in two months after a fight with his brother. He had already been arrested for DWI and aggravated harassment. After the DWI, he was suspended without pay for 30 days. Then last month, the highest paid officer on the force, Dwayne Johnson, who earned nearly $170,000 was suspended without pay while the department investigates his abuse of overtime.
"It seems that with every week that goes by, there's something new," said Mayor Stratton. "But I can assure you that with every step and with every step backward, we are seizing the opportunity to clear these officers out of the department."
So Stratton says he's given the police chief and Commissioner Wayne Bennett the green light to consider all forms of discipline, including firing Officer Brown, in hopes of sending a strong message that the department will not tolerate police officers breaking the law. It's a message Bennett agrees with because he says most of the force is sick of being embarrassed.
"Everybody's looking at them in the same negative light, and that's simply not fair to them," said Bennett. "They're tired of it. We're tired of it. We're going to impose some harsh disciplinary action where the circumstances warranted it."
We'll have to wait and see what happens to Brown as the case and investigation unfold. Right now, he's suspended for 30 days without pay, which Mayor Stratton points out, puts an added burden on other officers who have to work overtime to pick up the slack and on the taxpayers who have to pay for it.
We'll have to wait and see what happens to Brown as the case and investigation unfold.
Right now he's suspended for 30 days without pay, which Mayor Stratton points out, puts an added burden on other officers who have to work overtime to pick up his slack and on the taxpayers who have to pay for it.