Law Enforcement Outraged
By Dan Murphy
Last week, Westchester County District Attorney Anthony Scarpino released a list of police officers in Westchester who have “credibility problems” as a result of their testimony in court cases or based on other actions in their roles protecting and serving the communities they serve.
Some call the list a “bad cop” list, but we prefer to call it a “good cop-bad cop” list, because if you are a police officer and not on the list, you are assumed to be a “good cop.” The list also includes police officers who had criminal convictions, pending criminal charges, or who have had their credibility challenged by judges.
District attorneys across the country have kept these lists private, to be used by prosecutors when determining whether a police officer should testify in a criminal case. But recently, these lists have been made public, with criminal justice and progressive reform groups calling for their release.
Scarpino, who is in the midst of a difficult re-election campaign, said: “In the interest of transparency, we are releasing the names of active law enforcement officers who have had adverse credibility findings by a court or have criminal convictions or pending criminal charges that we are aware of. We maintain this information because it allows us to disclose this to a defendant and his or her counsel pursuant to our legal and ethical duties.”
The list of Westchester police officers with credibility problems includes Peter Carcarterra, Christian Gutierrez and Steven Stromberg of Westchester County Police; Andrew Ludlum, D.A.’s Office investigator; Nelson Marti of the New York State Park Police; and Dennis Molina of Yonkers P.D.
A list of police officers with criminal convictions includes:
Matthew Chalmers, Port Chester P.D., fourth-degree criminal mischief, 1994, and attempted fourth-degree criminal mischief, 1993; Leonard Cooper, Westchester County Police, reckless driving, 2007; Allan Fong, MTA Police, third-degree assault, 2017; John Gamble, Mount Vernon P.D., third-degree assault, 2008; Bill Guzman, Yonkers P.D., DWI, 1993; Orville Kitson, Mount Vernon P.D., prohibited use of a weapon, 2018; Kyle Kreuscher, Peekskill P.D., DWI, 2012; Nehemiah Nelson, NYSP, second-degree criminal trespass, 2005; Jose Nieves, Port Chester P.D., DWI, 2015; Jonathan Rubin, Port Chester P.D., second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, 1993; Reinaldo Santamaria, Port Chester P.D., second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, 1999; Steven Velasquez, Yonkers P.D., DWI, 2008; and Joe Zepeda, White Plains P.D., DWI, 2010.
A list of police officers with pending criminal charges includes: Michael Agovino, Peekskill P.D., second-degree burglary/sexually motivated felony; Martin Bailey, Mount Vernon P.D., tampering with evidence; Christian Carrasco, Yonkers P.D., third-degree grand larceny; Orville Kitson, Mount Vernon P.D., second-degree menacing.
The website Gothamist.com claims that it forced Scarpino’s hand to give up the list by filing a Freedom of Information Law request.
The Gothamist went on to describe the details of allegations of two officers on the list.
“Allan Fong, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority officer, is named on the list for an assault charge he pleaded guilty to in 2017,” it reports. “Fong allegedly hit a man in the back of the head while on duty at a train station in White Plains, according to prosecutors. His plea deal included a one-year conditional discharge and 50 hours of community service, according to the Daily Voice. Reached by phone, Fong declined to comment.
“Orville Kitson, a Mount Vernon police officer, is on the list for a 2018 conviction for the prohibited use of a weapon. According to LoHud.com, the officer fired two shots from his service weapon on a street in Mount Vernon after drinking at a party. Kitson kept his job. In September, he was charged for allegedly pulling out a gun on a man while at a Caribbean party in Coney Island. Afterward, police officials put Kitson on modified duty, but did not immediately report the shooting to prosecutors, according to a local news report,” wrote the Gothamist.
A similar list was published in New York City after a similar FOIL was filed by the Gothamist and WNYC radio. Scarpino commented additionally to the Gothamist, saying: “It is important for us to release information with regards to adverse credibility findings and criminal convictions and pending criminal charges of active police officers. To me, that’s what’s important. The public needs to know this.:
Scarpino, a former FBI agent, claimed his office carefully balanced the public’s right to know with the privacy concerns of the police officers identified.
However, Westchester law enforcement agencies disagree with Scarpino’s decision.
Michael Hagan, president of the Westchester County Police Benevolent Association, said: “The list released by the district attorney should give the public no reason to question the ability of the police community to carry out its mission. As for the Westchester County Police Department, one officer had a vehicle and traffic charge and other officers have ‘findings,’ which are judges’ opinions – subjective determinations based on the ideology of the judge on the case. One needs to look no further than the decisions rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court to see that two different judges, looking at the same set of facts, can have very different opinions.
“The release of this list is no more than an act of grandstanding by the district attorney in a primary race that embraces the same progressive agenda responsible for the recent failures of criminal justice reform. Instead of meaningful reform that continues to deliver on public safety, this agenda demonizes police while it turns a blind eye to career criminals, deters prosecutions with expensive and burdensome demands, and endangers the innocent by revealing personal information about victims and witnesses to offenders.
“The information provided was already public knowledge,” continued Hagen. “The creation of this list does nothing other than to provide fodder to the anti-police groups who are in the business of being critical of police on every issue.”
Yonkers PBA President Keith Olson also issued a statement.
“The Yonkers PBA is comprised of the nearly 500 men and women who patrol the streets of Yonkers and who put their lives on the line every day,” he said. “On behalf of these proud police officers, I denounce the decision by Westchester County D.A. Anthony Scarpino to release the names of 23 police officers from Westchester County who allegedly have had adverse credibility findings, criminal convictions or pending criminal cases.
“The district attorney claims that this list is maintained because it allows them to disclose the information to a defendant and his or her counsel pursuant to their legal and ethical duties. This is simply not true. With regard to this current list of 23 police officers, most of the information that landed them on the list would not impeach them as witnesses and therefore does not have to be turned over to the defense. For example, it is preposterous to think that an officer’s credibility would be challenged due to a violation he received 27 years ago or, in another case, when an officer’s driver’s license was temporarily suspended 26 years ago – both incidents occurring long before they became police officers. That is what this list implies and the fact that it was arbitrarily turned over to the media is disappointing and irresponsible.
“In addition, only weeks ago, Manhattan Civil Court Judge W. Franc Perry ruled that lists such as these are exempt from disclosure under the state’s Freedom of Information Law and are instead tantamount to attorneys’ private notes,” continued Olson. “‘The adverse credibility finding is ultimately assessed by the attorney, familiar with the particular facts of the case, and must be analyzed within the context of a particular criminal case where a police officer may testify,’ Perry wrote in the ruling, which described prosecutors’ requirement to disclosure findings to defense attorneys as ‘attorney-work product.’
“This decision was not born of legal or ethical responsibility, or alleged transparency, but solely of political expediency. The careers and reputations of hard-working police officers have been strewn aside for the sake of winning a Democratic primary, one that appears to be a contest of pandering to the progressive left.
“Much akin to the recently implemented criminal justice reform laws, laws that are responsible for driving crime rates through the roof, the releasing of this list was done ignoring and jeopardizing what should be a primary goal of all of our elected officials, especially the county’s chief prosecutor,” concluded Olson. “That goal should be to keep our communities safe, not to cater to criminals.”
Supporters of the release of the “bad cop list” also took a swipe at Scarpino for releasing the list because of pressure from his democratic opponent, Mimi Rocah, and from Black Westchester Magazine.
“It has been a trend from what they call progressive district attorneys to let out ‘bad cop’ lists,” said Damon Jones, publisher of Black Westchester Magazine. “But he refused to until he had a credible opponent in Mimi Rocah for the Westchester County district attorney primary.”
On Feb. 12, Black Westchester Magazine ran a story with the headline “Why Has it Taken So Long For Westchester D.A. Anthony Scarpino to Release Bad Cops List?”
Rocah said Scarpino should have put the list out “a long time ago, if he wanted to put it out for transparency purposes.” On Feb. 14, just days before Scarpino released the list, Rocah tweeted, “Westchester is calling for the release of the so-called ‘bad cops’ list, but still no response. Transparency is important. Accountability is important. Especially from our DA. D.A. Scarpino’s silence is unacceptable and forces us to ask – what is he hiding?”
The result of Scarpino’s efforts, which may have been done with the best of intentions, is that he has antagonized the law enforcement community in Westchester and did not ingratiate himself with the progressive left.
The democratic primary is June 23.
