Frank Corvino, as a rookie on the Harrison Police Department, in 2018
Taxpayers Want Answers, Why Officer is not Working, Collecting a Salary, 18 Months Later?
By Dan Murphy
Harrison taxpayers and police officers across Westchester are wondering why the Journal News dropped a bombshell story about Harrison Police Officer Frank Corvino on May 6, 2022. In September 2020, Corvino was arrested for a domestic violence incident and charged with third-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and second-degree harassment.
Former Westchester District Attorney Anthony Scarpino charged Corvino, and his office alleged that he assaulted his wife in front of their child. His wife suffered bruises on her face and received medical treatment for injured ribs. Orders of protection were given to his wife. In April 2021, Corvino pled guilty to second degree harrasment, with no jail time and anger managment and parenting classes required.
Since then, Corvino has been placed on adminstrative leave but continues to earn his salary, which the NYS Comptroller told the Journal News was $103,000 in 2021. Corvino is not required to go to work, and this fact, the lack of information and the length of time the case has taken to proceed has Harrison taxpayer fed up and looking for answers.
But very few answers have been made available about Corvino, or the lengthy civil service process to have him fired from the Harrison Police Department. In November 2021, the Harrison Town Board hired a hearing officer, Peter Skelos, to proceed with disciplinary charges against Corvino. Since then, there has been little or no comment coming from the HPD or Harrison Town Hall.
Corvino was hired in 2018, and served three years before his criminal charges. He is now divorced from his wife.
Legal scholars and attorneys in Harrison familiar with the case that we spoke to said, “the clock starts after he pleads guilty in April 2021. In has been a little more than a year, and with COVID, it may take that long to get a disciplinary hearing orgainzed. But the lack of information coming out to the public about this is the problem,” said one Harrison resident.
Another Harrison resident said she was “shocked by how much the Harrison Police Department is protected in this town. If he was a DPW worker, he would have been fired long ago. But he is a cop, so he gets the benefit of the doubt and the taxpayers have to pay his salary. It’s nonsense.”
Several Harrison residents we spoke to wondered why the Journal News decided to print a front page story about Corvino one year later. “What is so special about this case now? Did somebody drop a dime on Corvino or the Harrison Police Department to the Journal News? Or is this more about politics, and the politics of moving up in the Harrison Police Department?”
A Westcheter police officer, (outside of Harrison) that we spoke to said, “I think its time for this officer to step down and for the town to finally move forward with the termination proceeding. This job is getting tough enough for us who work hard, play by the rules and don’t hurt out wives.”
One comment from the Journal News story rang true with the Harrison residents we spoke to. “Not a good look for Harrison PD to trying to wait out the news cycle on this one. The public will not, and should not, forget “bruises to her face, arms and legs and received medical treatment for injuries to her ribs and shoulders. That doesn’t sound like the actions of an officer who should be trusted with a deadly weapon interacting with the public in often pressured situations.”
One other Harrison resident asked, “Why does this cop have to stay home? Can he work and stay in the office? Can he come to work without his weapon? Why are they making it so easy on him?”
The hearing to be held under NYS Civil Service Law, Section 75, will determine whether the Town of Harrison can fire Corvino.
We called the domestic violence incident that Corvino was involved in abuse because domestic violence is also called domestic abuse and includes physical assault and abusive behavior, according to the National Coaltion Against Domestic Violence.
The Journal News story can be read at the following link with a subscription.
