Suffolk lawmakers won't investigate alleged misconduct by Justin Meyers

A Suffolk legislative committee will not launch an independent probe of alleged misconduct by former assistant police commissioner Justin Meyers after officials disclosed two ongoing investigations of legal claims made by a fired female civilian police aide.

The public safety committee, in a 6-2 party line vote, rejected GOP Legis. Robert Trotta’s procedural motion to create a six-member bipartisan special legislative committee to review allegations with subpoena power. Meyers was not identified by name in the resolution, but was described as “a former high-ranking” police official who now has high-ranking job in the office of new District Attorney Timothy Sini, where Meyers is chief of staff.  

A notice of claim, brought by former Suffolk police communications chief Donna Schultz  in June, states she was fired in retaliation for reporting professional misconduct by Meyers. Her court papers claim Meyers was abusive, campaigned for Sini’s district attorney race on county time and had county employees run errands for him on county time.

The vote came after a 20-minute debate following an hourlong executive session involving lawmakers, County Attorney Dennis Brown and the police Chief of Department Stuart Cameron — at which Suffolk police first disclosed the internal affairs investigation and Brown said he was doing his own review. Lawmakers later referred to those inquires in debate.

Trotta, who is not on the public safety committee, told members that an outside investigation was needed given that no witnesses would come forward because they wouldn’t expect honest probes by the police or Brown, who works for County Executive Steve Bellone, for whom Meyers once was chief spokesman.

“No one is going to talk to you," said Trotta, and the investigation will be “nothing more than a whitewash and you know it and I know it.” Brown, under questioning by the committee, later countered, “We will follow the facts wherever the facts take us.”

According to court papers, Schultz said she was told she was fired March 15 because of a decade-old misdemeanor conviction for improperly receiving unemployment benefits and misusing the police database. Schultz maintains she disclosed her past conviction when first hired in 2016.

Despite what Brown told lawmakers Thursday, the county attorney  in June dismissed Schultz’s allegations as “a completely frivolous claim from a former employee fired for cause.” Sini at that time also described the claims as “replete with untrue assertions.”

Both Democratic Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory and his deputy Rob Calarco acknowledged the allegations were serious and may be open to a further review if lawmakers were not satisfied with the parallel probes now underway. Legis. Steve Flotteron (R-Brightwater) said, ”It's apparent that the Democratic majority is nervous about the outcome of the investigations.”

However, Trotta said, “I have zero hope . . . the system is totally corrupt. We might as well be in Russia.”