For Nassau police, questions of trust

Nassau County police may be facing an erosion of public confidence following a series of scandals and missteps that have rocked the department.

Last week's arrest of three former high-ranking Nassau police commanders is the latest embarrassment for an embattled department now confronting the prospect of a major shake-up under a new commissioner who supports tougher disciplinary rules.

In the past three years alone:

-- The police crime lab shut down because of faulty evidence testing.

-- The department faced intense criticism for its handling of a domestic violence case that led to the death of a young mother and a nearly $8 million settlement to her mother.

-- A judge rebuked police for an arrest that led to the jailing of an innocent woman for more than six months in Nassau on charges that she pretended to be a cop to commit robberies. A man was convicted in November of raping the woman and orchestrating the frame-up to discredit her.

-- A cop quit the force and admitted to forcing a woman to grope him during a traffic stop. He pleaded guilty to misconduct.

"We have issues on the supervisory level," said County Executive Edward Mangano. "And a few bad apples have created a perception problem that has tainted those working with honor day in and day out in the police department."

Some say the incidents -- including Thursday's unsealed indictments of the three ex-officers charged with conspiring to quash theft charges against a police benefactor's son -- represent only unrelated events.

"A few incidents appear to be shedding a light that this is a department that is out of control when it is not," said James Carver, president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, the rank-and-file officers' union. "Our men and women are doing a great job and do not deserve to be grouped in with a few isolated incidents."

Others say the problems run deeper, and that with the arrival of a new commissioner, the department is at a turning point.

"These are dark days for the Nassau County Police Department," said legislative Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt (R-Massapequa), contending that the department "deteriorated" under former Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey.

Mulvey, who was appointed in 2007 by Democratic County Executive Thomas Suozzi and served until April, said he was "very strict and tough, especially when it comes to discipline."

"We had many debates on penalties I was imposing on officers that violated rules," he said in an interview at his home in South Carolina.

NYPD veteran appointed

In December, Mangano appointed Thomas Dale, then a three-star NYPD chief of personnel and a 41-year department veteran, to lead the 2,400-member Nassau police force. Mangano says he has directed Dale to restore a sense of public confidence in the wake of a damning report on the crime lab from the state inspector general.

The county legislature is expected to vote Monday on Dale's confirmation. Lawmakers also will debate an amendment to the county charter that would make the commissioner the final voice on officer discipline -- a change he supports. Under current rules, negotiated with union officials, an officer facing more than 10 days' discipline can opt for an independent arbitrator.

Dale already has revised the chain of command so that the Internal Affairs Unit always reports to him. In the past, commissioners would sometimes be briefed by intermediaries.

Dale also hired two men from outside the department as assistant commissioners: Robert Hart, former head of the FBI's Long Island field office, is handling internal disciplinary matters, and John Quinn, a retired NYPD lieutenant, will review Nassau police's administrative structure and work rules.

"This is a great department, but incidents have occurred," Dale said in an interview. "And they need to be addressed one by one. We need to straighten out our discipline."

For instance, an anonymous tip recently led to an officer's suspension and a supervisor's transfer. Dale declined to elaborate.

The public display of three handcuffed former police officials Thursday was the latest blow to a department that has had a series of incidents involving cops in commands across the force. They include the cases of the patrolman who stopped a young driver and forced her to grope him in February of last year, and an off-duty cop who aimed his loaded pistol at a Farmingdale bar employee last April.

Other controversies highlight systemic problems, according to county officials and outside experts.

State Inspector General Ellen Biben described the crime lab as "plagued with significant and pervasive" systemic problems. Numerous criminal prosecutions were jeopardized, and evidence is now being processed out of state. Nassau is working to rebuild the lab, which will be outside police jurisdiction when it reopens under the control of the medical examiner's office.

In the Jo'Anna Bird case, 10 cops were disciplined after the department was found to have failed to properly investigate domestic violence calls in the days before her 2009 murder by her estranged boyfriend. The cash-strapped county is borrowing $7.7 million to settle a wrongful-death lawsuit by Bird's mother, who argued that police failed to protect her daughter.

And amid a precipitous drop in speeding tickets, Mangano last year ordered an inquiry into whether police were deliberately not ticketing motorists en masse.

Dale and Mangano concede that the high-profile cases have created a public "perception problem" for the department that must be addressed. "It's a matter of discipline," Dale said. "And it's important that we get the message out there that we are going to take on each one of these incidents."

Bad behavior trickle-down

Eugene O'Donnell, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said unethical behavior by police supervisors, such as the alleged corruption by the trio arrested Thursday, can trickle down the chain of command.

"If the rules seem to be breakable when the higher-ups are involved, what's a beat cop to conclude?" he said. "You're telling beat cops, 'Go by the book, Go by the book,' but pages of the book can be torn out readily when high-up people want to tear them up, skirt the rules or ignore the rules."

Maria Haberfeld, a John Jay police science professor, said the arrests point to a systemic problem in a department in need of oversight. "Some external oversight should be put in at this point," she said.

Superior Officers Association president Gary Learned, whose union represented the ex-cops arrested Thursday, cautioned against overreacting to "isolated incidents." For instance, he said, the crime lab problems were related to funding and training, rather than official misconduct.

"These are all separate types of incidents," Learned said. "Some occur with officers on duty and other times they are off duty. . . . There is not one set of circumstances connecting them."

Said the PBA's Carver: "No major overhaul needs to be done in this department."

But legislative Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) said expectations are high for the department, which serves a municipality with one of the lowest crime rates in the nation and also pays police among the highest salaries.

"It's incumbent for every single officer to live up to those expectations," Abrahams said.

-- With Jo Napolitano

Department missteps

MARCH 2009

Jo'Anna Bird case

Bird, of New Cassel, is stabbed to death by her estranged boyfriend, Leonardo Valdez-Cruz, despite an order of protection against him. Ten Nassau police officers are disciplined after investigators find that the department failed to adequately investigate Bird's domestic violence calls.

2010

Crime lab debacle

The police forensic evidence bureau becomes the only crime lab in the nation to be put on probation. Lab accreditors slam the lab over shoddy procedures. Numerous criminal prosecutions are jeopardized. The lab is later shuttered.

JANUARY 2010

Supervisor arrested

After allegedly barhopping and drinking beer while on duty in January 2010, Det. Sgt. William E. Kaul, a Sixth Squad supervisor, is involved in an alleged hit-and-run in his unmarked police car. He later was arrested. The department permitted him to retire and he began collecting his pension. He is awaiting trial.

JUNE 2011

Gun incident in bar

Officer Richard Hefferon is arrested for allegedly pointing his loaded gun at a Farmingdale pub's worker more than a month earlier. The case against Hefferon is pending.

NOVEMBER 2011

Forced groping

Officer Garrett Mannerz of the Third Precinct pleads guilty to pulling a young driver over, taking her to his patrol car and forcing her to touch him sexually.

JANUARY 2012

Innocent woman jailed

A judge in January rebukes police for arresting Seemona Sumasar -- a business owner and mother -- on charges she pretended to be a cop to commit robberies. She was jailed for more than six months before being exonerated. A jury had convicted a man, Jerry Ramrattan, of orchestrating the frame-up to undermine her credibility in her rape accusation against him. He also was convicted of the rape.

THURSDAY

Ex-top cops handcuffed

Indictments are unsealed against three former police commanders alleging conspiracy to scuttle a burglary probe of a teen whose dad was a financial benefactor of police.