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"It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage, than the creation of a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new ones." Machiavelli
Jennings interferes with Machine Gun investigationBy champlain, Section Diaries
An Albany city government lawyer removed investigation files from police headquarters last week related to the on-going Albany Police machine gun scandal in which dozens of police officers and police supervisors had used the department to secretly purchase federally regulated machine guns for their personal use - two of which ended up in local gun shops.
On September 2nd, the attorney, Jeffrey Jamison, an assistant corporation counsel who worked closely with former police Chief James Tuffey, initially denied removing any files from police headquarters - but then called back a TU reporter to try and clarify his statements, and referred further questions to the city's head corporation counsel, John Reilly. Albany Corp. Counsel John Reilly confirmed that attorney Jamison had retrieved the investigative file last week from police headquarters. The files relate to an investigation by APD Chief Tuffey into the illicit purchase of machine guns by dozens of officers. Former APD Chief Tuffey initiated his probe more than three years ago after the Albany Times Union filed a Freedom of Information Law request seeking access to the gun records but was repeatedly refused and lengthy litigation ensued. More than 50 machine guns were purchased in the 1990's by Albany police officers and at least two citizens, including a former prosecutor. Many of the federally regulated weapons, which could only be possessed by a police force, were illegally resold between officers and at least two turned up in local gun stores. The Albany Police Department machine gun scandal began to unravel in early 2006 when the city denied the Albany Times Union's request for the gun records. In its early denials the city claimed releasing the gun records could endanger the lives of officers because the guns were used to fight crime. In fact, the guns were never deployed by the department; there was no policy or training for their use; and many officers took the weapons, which they bought with their own cash, home as personal souvenirs. It's unclear why the files were not secured by the internal affairs unit, which has its own office and evidence locker.
Read the whole story: Way past time for a new Police Chief, way past time for a new Mayor. Get out and vote on Tuesday, Sept. 15th. If people sit on their hands everyone in the City of Albany can get ready for four more years of City Hall corruption and political skullduggery. It's time for Jerry's reign of error to end.
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All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 2005 The Management