UPDATE: The last day to submit feedback on what you want in the new police chief has been extended to September 15th, 2020.
September 4, 2020 is the last day to submit feedback on what you are looking for in a Police Chief for Beacon.
The survey has been created by the City of Beacon, and the search firm they hired to find the new chief.
On July 20, 2020, the City of Beacon City Council voted in favor of hiring the search firm Public Sector Search to conduct the search for a new Chief of Police for the City Of Beacon after Chief Kevin Junjulas announced his retirement effective July 7, 2020.
In response, Mayor Kyriacou appointed a formerly retired officer, William Cornett, to serve as Acting Police Chief for 90 days, a decision that was met with controversy between citizens and the police union. Chief Cornett stepped down after 40 days in the position, and currently, Lieutenant Frost from the Beacon Police Department has been appointed Acting Chief.
The search firm will be paid $24,000, with additional expenses not to exceed $6,000 according to the firm's proposal. Included in the proposal are 2 Facebook Live Community Forums (60 minutes) and 2 community focus group meetings (60 minutes each). Additional forums and group meetings can be billed at $200/hr plus expenses.
For an additional $1,500, the firm was hired to put together a survey of the public, to provide input into what they want in a Police Chief. The survey has been open for a bit and concludes on September 4, 2020. Mayor Kyriacou released a robo-call two weeks ago informing the public of the survey, and it has been mentioned at City Council meetings. For an additional $1,500, a survey can be put together to survey the Police Department itself.
Details of how the search process will work are included in the firm’s proposal which can be found here. The timeline is a projection of 4 months (resulting in a November selection time).
The first month focusing on project management setup and interviews with local government leaders, key personnel, department heads, and other internal or external stakeholders to get a feel for the city’s culture and structure. The next phase is a community engagement report from the survey and any community forums held. The firm will then design a brochure and website landing page to display the job posting.
The firm will then advertise it at recommended locations it made like New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, Hispanic American Police Command Officers Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Police Executive Research Forum, National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives, National Black Police Officers Association, and FBI National Academy Associates. Qualified candidates will then be collected, and the firm stated that it will also rely on its own relationships and outreach to find a candidate.
The candidates will be presented to the Mayor and search committee, after going through a screening process. The Mayor and City Administrator will be given access to a background check report, and Mayor Kyriacou suggested that the search committee head, Terry Nelson, also have access to that background check. Terry accepted. Once finalists are selected, “the search committee work is completed,” according to the proposal.
The creation and announcement of the search committee was fast and not widely publicized. The announcement was made via press release on July 29, 2020, and was initially criticized by members of the public during the Public Comment portion of the meeting on August 3, 2020. Thirteen people were selected, 7 of whom are citizens only and not with any government appointed commission.
Community participants included clergy and school employees, as well as the locally based Beacon4Black Lives organization, which came together at the start of the racial protest nation-wide in response to police brutality and the call to make Black lives matter more.
One of the lead organizers for Beacon4Black Lives, Justice McCray, has been vocal about how the city should proceed with the selection of new leadership, and was not asked to be on the committee. However, one of his fellow leaders, Stefon Seward, was asked by Mayor Kyriacou, but Stefon voiced confusion during the City Council meeting, stating: “I think Justice Would have been a way better fit than me, and I don't know why he's not there.”
A Little Beacon Blog reached out to Justice for comment: "I was on the City Council call when they were voting to spend $24,000 to hire the police chief search firm. I called in and said they shouldn't. A lot of people did. The council voted to do so anyway."
Further communication ensued in social media around a miscommunication between the parties. A Little Beacon Blog reached out to Mayor Kyriacou to clarify what resulted in a misunderstanding about his feelings towards the protests in Beacon ending if a police chief was hired. His response to A Little Beacon Blog was: “No of course not. The call from Terry and me was about soliciting participants for the Chief selection committee. What I said was that selecting a Chief was incredibly important, because if we find the right one who shares the same goals for change, then change becomes easier. As I recall, Stefon put an interpretation on what I said, and I immediately corrected that interpretation. No one person, chief or otherwise, will address all the concerns, protests and need for change that have arisen.”
Mayor Kyriacou went on to say, in response to A Little Beacon Blog seeking clarification on his misunderstood statement: “Private comment not for any publication: it’s incredibly important for any reporter to rely on the speaker making a statement, and not on hearsay, which is what someone else says that someone said. Hearsay just encourages miscommunication.”
A Little Beacon Blog does not grant blanket “off the record” situations by email or phone. We must agree to it first, before the speaker speaks. A definition of hearsay, spoken in response to the act of researching such hearsay, is on the record.
The committee members are as follows:
Chair:
1. Terry Nelson – Councilmember Ward 1
Community Participants:
2. Deborah Felder – school guidance counselor; involved in local NAACP chapter
3. Deacon Marty Mayeski – Saint John’s the Evangelist; Lewis Tompkins Hose Chaplain
4. Pastor John Perez – Faith Temple Church of God in Christ
5. John Rembert – former City Councilmember; retired U.S. Army veteran; ordained clergyman
6. Molly Rhodes – director, Teach for America
7. Stefon Seward – Beacon High School graduate; co-founder Beacon for Black Lives
Community Participants:
2. Deborah Felder – school guidance counselor; involved in local NAACP chapter
3. Deacon Marty Mayeski – Saint John’s the Evangelist; Lewis Tompkins Hose Chaplain
4. Pastor John Perez – Faith Temple Church of God in Christ
5. John Rembert – former City Councilmember; retired U.S. Army veteran; ordained clergyman
6. Molly Rhodes – director, Teach for America
7. Stefon Seward – Beacon High School graduate; co-founder Beacon for Black Lives
City Participants:
8. Air Rhodes – Councilmember Ward 2
9. Michael Deane – Chair, Human Relations Commission
10. Sands Frost – Beacon Police Lieutenant (currently the Acting Chief)
11. William Cornett – Beacon Acting Chief of Police (no longer the Acting Chief)
12. Anthony Ruggiero – City Administrator
13. Gina Basile – Human Resources Director
Terry has been outspoken in his goals for the selection of the new chief, which can include a promotion from within, but seems to be weighted for a broader search. In response to questions from A Little Beacon Blog, Terry explained: “I want the committee to look at the civil service definition of chief, which just lists the minimum requirements and then think about what are some other important characteristics they would want to see in a police chief. Together I want us to come up with a description of what we want to see in a chief.”
Terry expressed during this week’s 8/31/2020 City Council Meeting that one of the biggest problems he intends to solve, or get closer to solving, is helping Black and Brown people and people of color not be afraid to call the police.
Terry further explained in an interview with the Highlands Current: “I’ve had people ask me, ‘Why are they protesting? Why are they bringing this stuff up again?’ But this stuff is my daily life. This stuff is me getting in my car and getting on the highway and being conscious of the speed limit, or having my headlights on, or, am I doing everything right? What if I get stopped? What do I do? It’s a conversation that is long overdue.”
Nation-wide, but in New York State in Rochester, another example of police brutality that happened in March has been revealed this week: Daniel Prude, who was asphyxiated while unarmed and not wearing clothes, after police put a bag on his head, according to this local news report at 13WHAM. “Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Prude’s death a homicide. Under the cause of death was listed ‘complications of asphyxia in the setting of physical restraint,’ excited delirium and acute phencyclidine (PCP) intoxication,” according to 13WHAM.
Police were responding to a mental health call that Daniel’s brother had made. During a press conference held today with Free The People, Daniel’s brother, Joe Prude, was quoted to have said that “he called first responders to get help his brother in the midst of his mental health crisis. In retrospect, Prude says he wishes he’d never made that call. ‘All I was trying to do was get him some help,’ said Prude.
Back in Beacon, the community, like all communities across the country, look to each other for examples of how to reform training, hiring, and cultural mindset, that currently, is playing out quite visually in the form of police violence, which speaks to underlying cultural issues which foster that violence, and normalizing it.
Might it be time for police officers themselves to speak up against other officers, even in other states, as a way to signal cultural awareness, acceptance, and protection? As a way to demonstrate anti-racism? Not just saying “I’m not racist,” but by showing it? Showing the solidarity to the Black and Brown community who watches their own get treated so badly? And therefore lives with a fear that a white person does not know?
What if police officers in Beacon marched in plain clothes in a local march?
A reader submitted a Comment on the “How To Submit A FOIL Request” article, where he mentioned he was looking to, or had submitted FOIL requests for, permits issued for marches made for Black Lives Matter and the Back The Beacon PD rally.
We checked with Council Member Dan Aymar-Blair, who studies protesting and knows the rules and guidelines very well, had this to say about if permits are needed: "Permits are required for marches and rallies in Beacon's public spaces; however, the spirit of our permitting process is for the city to facilitate protest, for example providing police protection from counter-protests. While mobilizing police and other city resources for a peaceful assembly costs money, it is a cost we must live with to ensure the safe practice of our constitutionally protected freedoms.
"Free assembly is a human right, not a state-sanctioned privilege. That's why I'd rather we do away with the permitting process in most cases, and allow prior notification to be at the discretion of protest organizers."
We followed up with an organizer with Beacon4Black Lives, Justice McCray, to see if that organization has asked for or been granted permits for the approximately 9 protests marches they held. This was his response:
“We do not get permits for any of our protests. City Council member Dan Aymar-Blair stated in a council meeting on 8/3/2020, in response to Theresa Kraft's complaint about the protests during the Public Comment portion of the call, that our protests don't need permits.
”Usually (now Acting Chief, formerly Lieutenant) Frost or Lieutenant Figlia will contact me for details of our protest if I don't contact them. We're looking into training citizen marshals to help lead the protests and temporarily close off streets as we march. We don't ask the police to close the streets down and we'll gladly protest without them.”
Dutchess County Department of Behavioral & Community Health (DBCH) has job openings for 5 Public Health Advisors, including a senior supervisory position, for up to 18 months. The positions are being funded by a grant of $917,000 awarded to Dutchess County from the New York State Department of Health to further build capacity for COVD-19 case investigation and contact tracing coordination. The grant funding will enable DBCH to hire Recruitment is now open and interested applicants can review job description and apply online at the County’s website at www.dutchessny.gov/jobs.
As the jobs are temporary, they do not require a Civil Service exam from the county. Additionally, there is not box to check for a criminal background check, as Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro participated in a “Ban The Box” movement years ago to remove that box from county job applications. This is often a hurdle for people with records - even for minor issues - to be considered for jobs.
Marc Molinaro said, “This grant enables us to bolster our public health team and ensure we can continue to deal with case investigation and contact tracing quickly to prevent spread. This is critically important as the reopening process continues, - particularly school reopenings - and greater interaction leads to case increases, we need to have the capacity to respond rapidly.”
About The Grant From New York State Department Of Health
The grant is intended to increase local health department staffing to conduct rapid and complete case investigations, including ensuing that once contacts are identified, they are reached within 48 hours and have access to testing. The additional staffing will also be available for daily monitoring of cases and contacts and ensure any social supports needs are being met and for effective isolation/quarantine.
DBCH Responsibilities Have Increased With Reopening Monitoring
The grant funding comes at a critical time as local health departments must take on an ever-increasing workload and the annual flu season approaches. Local health departments have seen their role greatly expanded beyond their normal areas of jurisdiction, particularly as the reopening process has continued.
For example, health departments were tasked with conducting gym inspections by the state as a requirement of reopening of gyms and fitness studios, though these businesses are not under the authority of local health departments. Locally, DBCH has been providing support and assistance to nursing homes, assisted living centers and developmentally disabled group homes, all of which normally work directly with NYS DOH.
Additionally, DBCH has been coordinating closely with colleges and school districts for their reopening planning. All of this goes beyond the normal workload of DBCH, which still continues and includes other disease and virus surveillance, such as Lyme disease and other tick-borne illness, as well as annual flu monitoring.
“Our public health team has been working non-stop for more than six months responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and I am exceptionally grateful to all of the extraordinary members of our team whose professionalism and dedication has been inspiring,” said DBCH Commissioner Dr. Anil Vaidian. “These additional Public Health Advisors will be welcome additions to our team and enable us to continue our fight against COVID-19, while ensuring we are also addressing other critical health concerns in our community including overdose prevention, tick-borne disease awareness, and much more.”
Rolls Of The New Public Health Advisors
The grant-funded Public Health Advisors will be responsible for performing investigations and advising on all phases of coronavirus pandemic control efforts. These individuals will be part of DBCH’s Rapid Response Team and take part in case investigation activities including index case and contacts interviews, provide education and public information, assist with data collection and creation of reports and analysis; and stay abreast of new techniques and information that can be locally adapted in the fight against COVID-19.
Interested candidates should have strong knowledge of public health communicable disease investigation as well as current trends relating to emerging techniques and treatment and must have strong interview and communications skills, with positive interpersonal skills to successfully inform and educate individuals and the public at large. Candidates should have the ability to prepare complete and concise reports. Candidates should have education and/or experience in nursing, social work, health education or a health-related field.
For full job descriptions and application information, visit www.dutchessny.gov/jobs. Application deadline is September 11th
In following up to A Little Beacon Blog’s article last week about the intent of the City of Beacon to publish the names and ranks of police officers onto its website, which had not happened after a month since the announcement, Beacon’s City Administrator, Anthony Ruggiero, announced yesterday (Monday) that the names and ranks of police officers have now been published onto the City’s website in the Police Department section. Photos of the officers are to come, he told ALBB. We also suggested this enhancement to Mayor Kyriacou during a “Wait, What Is That?” podcast episode, who thought it a good idea.
With this information at one’s fingertips, it should be easier to get correct name spelling of an officer or detective, send an officer a Thank You note if they were helpful in a situation, and have better familiarity with who works for the City of Beacon.
You can find the list here on this PDF on the City of Beacon’s website. As of now, it is not dated with an “Updated” type note so as to see which officers no longer work for the City of Beacon, or which officer has been newly appointed. For instance, Officer Ryan Murphy was hired by the City of Beacon in early January 2020, and submitted his letter of resignation two months later on March 6, 2020. Ryan was part of a batch of new hires after the Beacon PBA and the City of Beacon agreed on a new contract which gave the officers retroactive raises of 2% for 2020, with an additional 2% raise slated for 2021 according to an article in the Poughkeepsie Journal. The contract also “decreases compensatory time from 48 hours to 40; compensatory time allows the officers to take time off instead of receiving overtime pay,” according to the article.
At that point, the number of police officers was 37, the highest it has been in years, according to then Chief Kevin Junjulas (since retired). A new hire also included Officer Michael J. Connor, a Beacon High School graduate who transferred from the City of Newburgh Police Department, who had been working for the City of Newburgh, who was let go along with 15 fellow officers and 14 firefighters when the City of Newburgh purged its public safety force due to budget constraints. As of today, according to Beacon’s list of police officers, there are 32.
Three cheers for the first publication of FOIL requests by the public of the City of Beacon. We have been asking questions, and getting a lot of “Please submit a FOIL” type answers, and noted that the FOIL requests that were casually promised to be on the website, were in fact not there one month later. On a Friday evening, after we published this article wondering where they were, the first batch has been published! Under a tiny link on the City Clerk’s web page. Coincidence? Perhaps. Was this on a Friday afternoon agenda? Maybe.
Meanwhile, there have been 2 sets of FOIL requests published so far in the 8/21/2020 batch:
“FOIL Request: A list of all officers or administrators who have been employed by your department at any point since the start of 2010”
2010 was the last year of the Federal Investigation of the Beacon Police Department. Oversight by the Federal Government remained active until 2016. You can hear Mayor Lee Kyriacou recount those early days here on the “Wait, What Is That?” podcast.
A list of 34 officers has been published here.
“FOIL Request: The name of any probationary police officer who quit or was fired during their probationary period since Jan. 1, 2010, and any documentation reflecting that separation from service.”
A list of names was provided. Documentation for two of the names was provided. One letter of resignation was from Trooper Katelyn Ruffolo, who resigned in January 4, 2018 to went on to work for the New York State Police.
Officer Ryan Murphy was the second resignation letter provided with the FOIL. Ryan resigned on March 6, 2020, and had been hired in January 2020, as reported by the Poughkeepsie Journal. Ryan is a Red Hook High School graduate. He was hired along with two other officers during the time when Newburgh laid off 15 police officers and 14 firefighters (Beacon hired one officer from that round of layoffs - Michael J. Connor).
Former Beacon Police Chief at the time Kevin Junjulas said: “he would have hired as many Newburgh officers as possible, but the Dutchess County civil service exam has different requirements from the Orange County civil service exam, making it impossible for officers to transfer unless they previously took the exam.” This is an important note to remember as we discuss Civil Service rules and how they define a job, and make hiring, firing and demoting possible and even easy.
To learn how to submit a FOIL to get information that is otherwise denied to you after a simple email request, click here.
Beaconites don’t usually hear about resignations of officers during public City Council Meetings. These may be discussed during the Executive Session portion of the meeting, which happens after the public portion.
Lately, as we cover more police related news, and job fairness news, we have been asking what seem to be straightforward questions that have answers in the public domain, but have been given answers of: “Please submit a FOIL,” by the City Manager, Anthony Ruggiero. Normally super helpful with providing information, this answer has been surprising. A FOIL is the Freedom of Information Law (Public Officers Law, Article 6) (FOIL) grants members of the public access to the records of government in accordance with its provisions.
In Beacon’s case, it means that while Anthony might have the answer in a filebox behind him or down the hallway, we need to go to a website to officially submit a FOIL request, which may get sent to Beacon’s City Clerk, Iola C. Taylor, who also works down the hallway from Anthony (or maybe on a different floor, we actually don’t know this part), who then goes through a decision process on if the request can be granted, and sends us an estimate for any paper copy fees, and may or may not provide the answer to the question.
In Putnam County, an actual Secrecy Law was enacted which allows any public document or contract to be marked confidential for any reason. The Highlands Current has fun submitting FOILs to get the information, but we are not sure on their success rate.
Such questions of late have been:
What was the salary for Reuben Simmons when he was the Superintendent of Streets?
What was the salary for Michael Manzi when he replaced Reuben as Superintendent of Streets about a year after Reuben was hired?
These questions seemed straightforward because when expenditures are being discussed, salaries are presented. Like last year, when Beacon was hoping to hire an HR person (has since happened) at $65,000. An Human Resources (HR) Director was hired. Or a Climate Smart Coordinator at $9,500. Or the Deputy City Clerk as full-time in the City Clerk budget (1410) for $18,685.
In fact, the salary of the new Human Resources Director, Gina Basile, which was dubbed as a “shared service” with Fishkill, in that she is Fishkill’s Human Resources Director as well, is $88,000. We will have to follow up to see if that is a split cost with Fishkill, or if that is Beacon’s share. Perhaps the answer to the question will be: “Please submit a FOIL.”
As of now, the salary language in the contract is here: “Your annual compensation will be Eighty-Eight Thousand ($88,000) Dollars. Salary increases shall be at the discretion of the City Council and similar to other non-bargaining unit members. Under no circumstances will the salary in a subsequent year be less than the year before unless imposed as the result of discipline or a reduction in required work hours.”
Yay for great salaries, but the application of providing the information is inconsistent. The salaries for the Highway Superintendents were not stated in their Resolutions, however, when Reuben was hired to replace his successor, Anthony Thomaselli, Anthony was hired to stay on as temporary position of part-time Street Superintendent for $50.90 for 8 hours per day, for 3 days per week, from January 17, 2017 through February 28, 2017. This rate detail can be found in this Resolution agenda dated 7/17/2012, here in this Resolution. Payment detail doesn’t seem to be noted in Reuben or Michael’s Resolutions.
Salary and negotiated contract rates are usually in their Resolutions. But when they aren’t, why aren’t they? Sometimes the attorney forgets to include details. For example, when Gina was hired, her name was left out of her contract/Resolution. An oversight that was acknowledged and fixed in the 7/6/2020 City Council Meeting.
Next questions:
What are the names of Beacon’s female police officers?
What are the names of Beacon’s Black or mixed race officers, or officers who are Hispanic or have origins from South America?
The answer to these questions were: “Please submit a FOIL.”
The next question will be:
“What is Beacon’s Police Chief salary as of 8/17/2020, which is when the new acting Police Chief Frost was appointed. The new Acting Police Chief is paid a portion of that salary. While the proposed 2020 budget had it as $147,733. Time will tell what the answer is when confirmation is requested. FOIL? Or easy email response.
You visit this website: https://www.justfoia.com/
UPDATE 3/7/2022: You could download this PDF, fill it out, and give it to the City Clerk at City Hall.
As of the writing of this article, Anthony sent over a link to a new place on the City’s website where you can find it as well: UPDATE: 3/7/2022: the new link is: https://beaconny.justfoia.com/publicportal/home/newrequest
There are directions on the page at JustFIOA.com. For police or fire related questions, you’ll choose the "PDFD" form for all requests having to do with the Police or Fire Departments. (** Standard motor vehicle accident reports may be obtained directly from BPD. Please contact 845-831-4111 for further info**). The "Clerk" form is to be used for all other departments.
Keep in mind: Start with the City first. Ask your questions. If you get a “Talk to the FOIL” type response, click those links above. Form your question as precisely as you can. Consider submitting several questions if your question is covering too much ground.
If you were wanting to look up the name of a police officer in town, you will need to submit a FOIL request, according to the City Manager, Anthony Ruggiero when A Little Beacon Blog asked for a list of female officers, Black officers, and officers of color. Perhaps we should have rephrased the question to: “Can you send the list of all officers.”
FOIL stands for the Freedom of Information Law (Public Officers Law, Article 6) and grants members of the public access to the records of government in accordance with its provisions. When asked if the City of Beacon was publishing FOIL requests already received, Anthony answered: “The requested FOIL information is still being compiled. Once complete it will be posted on the website.” Once that is complete, it is not clear how long new requests will take to get published onto the website in an ongoing way.
When asked if Beacon had fulfilled Mayor Kyriacou’s promise of publishing the names of police officers onto the website, that he announced at the July 7, 2020 City Council Meeting, Anthony answered: “This information is being compiled and worked on and when complete it will be posted on the City Website.”
During an interview on ALBB’s sister podcast, “Wait, What Is That?” we asked Mayor Kyriacou if he thought it a good idea to publish names and pictures onto the website, as a way to get to know those in the community providing protection. As not everyone knows who the police officers are, as there are about 36 of them, and most people don’t need the police that often so as to meet each one. Mayor Kyriacou thought it a good idea.
A Little Beacon Blog will submit this FOIL request as requested, and will look forward to learning the names of those serving the community when they are published onto the website. It will be easier to wave “Hello!” when walking by someone on the street.
Photo Credit: Peter Skorewicz/Video Ventures
Just 40 days into his 90 day temporary term as Beacon’s Acting Chief of Police, William (Bill) Cornett has stepped down from his position, and will return to retirement. Bill, as referred to by those who know him, was appointed to the position by Mayor Lee Kyriacou after Beacon’s then Chief Kevin Junjulas announced his retirement, along with Captain Fredericks, soon after police protests and the Black Lives Matter movement started nation-wide.
Lieutenant Sands Frost, who currently works for Beacon’s Police Department, has been appointed by unanimous vote of the City Council to replace Will Cornett, effective August 17, 2020. Mayor Kyriacou said during the appointment at the 8/17/2020 City Council Meeting that apparently no one had stepped forward to volunteer to be in the position until now. The position will pay a pro-rated percentage of the currently budgeted Police Chief salary, which is $147,733, according to the proposed 2020 budget. Mayor Kyriacou thanked Lieutenant Frost for stepping up, “even if it’s not your first choice sometimes.”
The appointment of William Cornett came with controversy, as the Teamsters Local 445 opposed the appointment, stating that William Cornett had been in retirement too long (retired in 2000). At the meeting to appoint William Cornett, Teamsters Local 445 representative, Mike Pitt, spoke to the benefit of promoting someone from within Beacon’s Police Department: “The Mayor continues to say that it is ‘Acting Police Chief’ and totally disregarding the promotion or acting part of someone who is already in a command position in the Police Department, who can make the transition a lot smoother until you actually make an appointment of a Police Chief, after a thorough search.”
At the August 3rd City Council Meeting, shortly after appointments were announced about who was on the selection committee to pick a new Police Chief, 18 callers called in to voice their opinions. Normally, 15 members of the public are on the call total, and maybe 5 of them speak. One of the residents who spoke during the Public Comment portion was Ciarda Hall, a founding organizer of Beacon4Black Lives. Normally callers need to state their name and address during these public portions of the City Council Meeting. While stating ones name is helpful, stating their address seems an overreach of privacy.
H, I’m Ciarda and I don’t feel safe stating my address .
As many of us know, the Chief of Police resigned last month. Last week, a committee was named to help choose the new Chief of Police in Beacon. It has come to my attention that the first candidate choice from Beacon4BlackLives was disqualified from the committee simply because you disagree with comments they made at the previous City Council Meeting. Comments that our whole team agrees with.
Nobody in the city agrees with your choice of Acting Chief. Residents in the city don’t feel comfortable and there has even been complaints of sexual harassment within the Police Department against him. the only person who agrees with your choice of Acting Chief, is your neighbor and close friend, William Cornett. Oh wait, isn’t that who you chose to be Acting Chief? Tea. Hasn’t he been off-duty for over a decade? Hasn’t there also been reports of him being racist? This is who you chose?
Nothing about the process to choose this committee or acting chief has been transparent and furthermore, how can we trust the integrity of a committee and have hope in positive change if you are only choosing people who agree with your shady politics based solely in re-enforcing white supremacy and maintaining the status quo?
How can we trust someone who is supposed to be our Mayor but has never reached out to me. The girl who created the Beacon4Blacklives team. A team who literally started this movement and shook the room in our entire city. We have got nothing from you but an automated speech that you already know my feelings towards.
Do you even care about black lives? It’s not that hard to show you care. Yet you continue to fail. stand up if you care Mr. Mayor and step down if you don’t. Because your job is not done when you find a new chief like you said it will be. Make a change. Thank you.
A Little Beacon Blog has reached out to the PBA’s Vice President, William Confield, for comment as to rumors of recent allegations of sexual harrasment, as well as to the City Council, Mayor and Administrator. Should we get a response, this article will be updated. What is also not confirmed is when when William Cornett stepped down, if he was asked to resign, if he volunteered, and if the City of Beacon was without a chief for a period of days before Lieutenant Frost’s appointment. We are unable to get a list of officers who work for the Police Department in order to check for who the female police officers are, as the list has not been published to the City’s website yet, but was supposed to be, as was announced in mid-July by Mayor Kyriacou.
Mayor Kyriacou also announced that the City would publish FOIA requests to its website, when members of the public inquire about the backgrounds of police officers. But those requests do not seem to have been published yet.
Officer William Cornett had worked for Beacon for decades, and was on duty during the “racial disturbance” as described by the Poughkeepsie Journal on May 21, 1977. It was during this time that the Spirit of Beacon Day started, as a way to temper racial tensions. At the time, William Cornett was an officer with Beacon’s Police Department, and disputed the release of 3 Black youths (plus 1 who made bail) who were arrested apparently during a riot situation in Beacon.
Photo Credit: The Poughkeepsie Journal
According to the newspaper from May 21, 1977, “Officer William Cornett, in a prepared statement, said the release of 3 Black youths in their own recognizance 'compounded the violence done by roving bands of thugs.’ Cornett said local citizens should make known opposition to the release. ‘Efforts to protect the public will be futile without their support,’ he said.” The Beacon PBA at the time was also critical of the release of the Black youths, according to the article.
The 1977 article goes on to say that City Court Judge Ian MacDonald released Brian Medley, 17, Ervin Burton, 19, and Michael Bell, 16, following their arraignment on felony riot charges (they are much older today). A fourth defendant, Robert McNair, 16, was held in $1,000 bail pending a later hearing. McNair, back in 1977, was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. Cornett said McNair posted bail and was free on that Friday afternoon. Then City Court Judge Ian MacDonald honored a request from then Assistant D.A. Thomas Dolan to release the Black youth. “I think the assistant D.A. was right,” the judge said. “I realized the decision might be unpopular. But these were young people and they did not have a criminal record.” MacDonald also noted that the youths had not used weapons, according to the article.
William Cornett was also in Beacon for a jail cell hanging in 1988. According to a Poughkeepsie Journal 1988 article, the headline of which read: “Theft suspect found hanged in Beacon jail,” went on to explain: “A 36-year-old burglary suspect arrested Saturday by Beacon City Police hanged himself in the Police Department lockup 4 hours after he was taken into custody, police reported.” William Cornett was quoted in the article, and was then a Lieutenant. At the time, he could not release the man’s name, but confirmed that the man had been found hanged in a holding cell at 8pm that evening.
During William Cornett’s appointment to Acting Police Chief in July 2020, Mayor Lee Kyriacou stated that Officer Cornett was the only one the Mayor trusted during Beacon’s dark days of the police department (Mayor Kyriacou and William Cornett are also neighborly and shared a house driveway). Mayor Kyriacou was responsible for launching a Federal Investigation into the Beacon Police Department in the 2000s, which was innitially inspired by Mayor Kyriacou wanting to cut down on overtime pay. Listen to ALBB’s sister podcast, “Wait, What Is That?” to learn all about the Mayor’s experience with the investigation., which led the Beacon Police Department to become accredited, a rarity in these parts that other municipalities like Fishkill are now trying to earn. Former Mayor Randy Casale also speaks on the podcast about the dark days and his role in putting body cameras on Beacon Police Officers.
During the second @beacon4blacklives (but largest...they had so much success with the first, they collaborated with other organizations to grow the movement) Beacon’s Mayor Lee Kyriacou tried to speak, and in doing so, alluded to his spearheading the Federal Investigation of the Beacon Police Department. During former Mayor Randy Casale’s podcast, this was mentioned also.
Prior to the Black Lives Movement, we actually forgot about this major detail that ended 10 years ago - the investigation, the ridding of a police chief feared by many, as well as his son, also an officer at the time. The investigation is why the department is accredited today - a rarity in these parts. As Beacon talks about police re-imagining, knowing this bit of history is key, as reference points to it are made often.
When the bench dedicated to former Mayor Randy Casale’s stepson was in discussions to be moved, he took to social media for the first time since losing his mayoral election for a third term, and flared up a base.
On the “Wait, What Is That?” podcast, we talked to Randy to learn more about the bench, what the thin blue line means to him and police families, and the American flag. We also talked to him about his experience during the end of the Federal Investigation of the Beacon Police Department, before the department was accredited, and why he wanted body cameras on officers. The original interview is 3hrs long, but has been edited to 39 minutes per his attorney’s request, and his desire to not re-ignite the divisive vibes that happened after the bench discussion and Back the Beacon PD rally.
Skipping ahead on the episode release, this is one of our longer podcasts, but it needed to be in full length so that you could hear how everything works before settling into a decision. Normally topics like this are glossed over, but this current time period is creating space for once dismissed situations to be looked at a second time.
This podcast features Reuben Simmons, a Beaconite who had a job position for a year, and then didn’t. The reasons why are presented in this podcast, and outlined in an article on “Wait, What Is That?”
Photo Credit: Binnacle Books
The Prison Books Project is an initiative from Binnacle Books, here on Main Street in Beacon. Launched in early 2020 with a bunch of postcards blasting into prisons in New York State prison facilities, Binnacle Books has been getting requests in and sending the books back out. Who buys the books for the prisons? You do! Anyone can be a sponsor. It’s a great way to give in a specific way.
The Prison Books Project is an outgrowth of the Beacon Prison Rides Project, which is a free way for people to be driven to visit their loved ones in jail from the Beacon train station stop. A Little Beacon Blog interviewed Mark Trecka of Binnacle Books to see inside of the project a bit more. Mark was published in the Rivernewsroom describing the intricate requirements of visiting a prisoner, and how much can go wrong to prevent a visit (like your own wardrobe violation).
The basic principle is that we distribute postcards into New York State prison facilities, and then incarcerated people use them (or send letters or emails) to request books. We then acquire the books via one of several channels, whether it's Binnacle's distributor or Binnacle's shelves or we put a query out on Instagram. If the books were not donated, we post them on the Binnacle Instagram and then Binnacle's customers / followers sponsor them, title by title. The books are then mailed directly to the person who made the request.
“There are approximately 1,700 people incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional, which is in the City of Beacon. Between 200 and 250 of those people are in solitary confinement at any given time. Incidentally, people in solitary confinement can and do request books from us.”
Folks have requested all kinds of books. Sometimes the request is very specific, by title, or they might request anything by a particular author. Fiction, poetry, non-fiction, comic books, academic books. We also certainly get requests for subjects, yes like accounting or finance, abnormal psychology. Sometimes we'll get a request for a book that we can't source and then we send other books that we think they might like, always encouraging the person to pass the books along. Some examples of requests: "a biography of someone who made it out of prison," "a book on how to speak Creole," Shook One by Charlamagne Tha God, Black's Law Dictionary, Haiti: A Slave Revolution, "a book of love poems."
There has been an increase in requests lately, but actually it's a bit hard to say if it's directly related to visitation suspension or if the project has just been gathering steam. Regardless, we feel that it is deeply important to acknowledge and support the nearly 6,000 people who are incarcerated within an approximately 30-minute drive from Beacon's Main Street––not to mention the more than 50,000 people incarcerated in this state.
There are approximately 1,700 people incarcerated at Fishkill Correctional, which is in the City of Beacon. Between 200 and 250 of those people are in solitary confinement at any given time. Incidentally, people in solitary confinement can and do request books from us. According to one person who is currently in solitary, reading is one of the only things he can do to keep himself occupied. We sent him a bunch of books.
So, all that is to say that Fishkill Correctional Facility accounts for more than 8% of the population of Beacon. Those people are our neighbors. Fishkill Correctional also has the highest number of COVID-19 related deaths of any facility in New York State. So folks there are feeling it hard. Although getting a free book in the mail cannot solve these systemic problems, we feel that this work is valuable, both as an expression of humanity and also as important material support.
Books can do a lot.
After a volley of open letters to each other (here, here and here…with a scathing letter from the Local Teamster 445, to which ALBB sought clarification for intentions here), Beacon’s Police Benevolent Association (PBA) by way of Vice President Michael Confield and Beacon’s Mayor Lee Kyriacou have issued a joint statement of support and cooperation to move forward with direct communication with each other. This also follows a “Support The Beacon PD” rally in Beacon last Sunday, which was met with voices from the Black Lives Movement.
The City of Beacon issued the following press release on Monday, July 27, 2020:
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BEACON, NY: Mayor Lee Kyriacou and Beacon PBA Vice President Michael Confield jointly announced their commitment for the City and police union to communicate regularly and productively on issues affecting police, the City and the community.
Late Friday afternoon and on Sunday, representatives of the Beacon Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association met with City Administrator Anthony Ruggiero and Mayor Lee Kyriacou for lengthy open and productive conversations – involving listening, information sharing, assurances of respect and agreement on communication going forward.
Mayor Kyriacou and PBA Vice President Confield together stated, “We’re both appreciative of the open dialogue and are committed to making sure that city and police leadership are listening and sharing viewpoints.”
Separately, Mayor Kyriacou said, “I truly appreciate and applaud the PBA for reaching out, and working together to close the communication gap. All of us agreed that we should have reached out sooner, and that going forward, the communication will be frequent and open.”
PBA Vice President Confield also added, “Our conversations were very productive. We appreciate the Mayor’s and Administrator’s willingness to hear our concerns, and look forward to ensuring that everyone is heard in the ongoing process of improving police-community relations.”
The Mayor added, “Each time I greet an officer, my first words are ‘thank you’ and more recently, ‘I appreciate the difficult situation you are in.’ That support continues unabated.”
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It might feel like the first day on the job all over again when the Beacon police officers receive their first batch of business cards with their names on them. In an effort to increase police transparency, the City of Beacon’s Acting Police Chief William (Bill) Cornett has ordered all police officers to carry and distribute business cards in most situations that do not end in arrest or summons. On the cards will be the police officer’s name and badge number. Additionally, the officer’s name, rank and photo will be published on the City of Beacon’s website, to further help the community get to know the police department.
According to the City of Beacon’s press release issued last week, July 20, 2020, “under the Chief’s new order, officers will identify themselves to individuals upon initiation of certain enforcement activities, including questioning or searches in traffic and checkpoint stops, searches and other non-custodial questioning. Identification will include officer name, rank and an explanation of the reason for the activity. At the conclusion of the activity, if it does not result in an arrest or summons, officers will offer their business card.”
Poughkeepie and Newburgh recently passed laws requiring the carrying and distribution of business cards. Newburgh began discussing it in June 2020 with a Public Hearing, and passed the law mid July 2020 by unanimous vote. At-Large Councilperson Omari Shakur, lobbied for the Newburgh law, calling it “‘a good first step’ to repair trust between the police and the people. ‘We’re trying to change the face of our police right now,’” he said during an interview with Spectrum News. Omari’s son was shot and killed by police in 2006 while being chased, as reported by the Record Online (most articles are now behind the paywall at the Record - ALBB recommends you support local journalism and sign up with them - they provide good coverage of Newburgh news). Newburgh calls it the “Right To Know” law. Middletown is now also considering adopting, according to NewsBreak.
Said Mayor Kyriacou “This is the right thing to do, and we don’t need a law to tell us that. We are simply requiring all our officers to carry and provide business cards, which will increase transparency and build trust in our community.”
Mayor Kyriacou continued in the press release: “I approved the Chief’s order. Like cameras – where the City of Beacon was an early local adopter – transparency helps everyone and builds trust. Our officers work tirelessly every day to protect Beacon and people should know who they are. If a resident has a concern, they should know who is involved and how to proceed.” The Mayor announced the decision at the 7/20/2020 City Council Meeting.
The business cards are being designed now, and A Little Beacon Blog will be sent a sample to publish.
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