Filthy cop Paul Berger's undeserved awards and major promotion: Moreland Commission on Public Corruption, where are you?

State University of New York Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher and Commissioner Bruce McBride today announced the appointment of Paul Berger as deputy commissioner of the State University Police, which serves the entire SUNY system. He was sworn in as deputy commissioner in a ceremony at System Administration in Albany. […] Deputy Commissioner Berger is the current president of the SUNY Police Chiefs’ Association. Throughout his 25-year career, he has served in several positions with the University at Albany Police Department, including interim deputy chief of police for administration, assistant chief of police, and night commander. This year, he earned both the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence and the University at Albany President’s Award for Excellence.

"Paul Berger Sworn in as Deputy Commissioner of State Police." July 1, 2014. http://www.suny.edu/suny-news/press-releases/suny-press-releases/july-2014/7-1-14-deputy-commissioner/paul-berger-sworn-in-as-deputy-commissioner-of-state-university-police.html

Commissioner McBride wittingly permitting an incompetent and corrupt police officer to become his right-hand man is perverse.

See, for example the below e-mail wherein SUNY Police Commissioner McBride acknowledged my having brought to his attention the perfect storm of public corruption that was Abdul-Wahhab v. The State of New York and Paul Berger’s role in it. Paul Berger told the truth *maybe* if indeed he were staggeringly ignorant of the law, but he definitely did not tell the whole truth - that he was required to know the law and prohibited from claiming ignorance of the law in his own defense.

Begin forwarded message:

From: "McBride, Bruce"

Subject: RE: SUNY University Police training concerns?

Date: November 19, 2012 at 11:20:59 AM EST

To: Christopher Philippo [...]

Good morning Mr. Philippo:

The University-wide manual that you cite is currently in use. Certain parts of the document need to be updated. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Bruce McBride

Commissioner for Police

From: Christopher Philippo [...]

Sent: Friday, November 16, 2012 4:55 PM

To: R. Bruce McBride; McBride, Bruce

Subject: SUNY University Police training concerns?

Importance: High

Dear Commissioner McBride:

Given that the SUNY Police Manual states up front (page 5) in section 1.21 that the SUNY System Administration Office of University Police "Coordinates University Police operations throughout the SUNY system and, under direction of the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees, sets training, hiring and operational standards.", it seems most appropriate to bring the following to your attention.

I hope you will be able to address the subjects below which can briefly be described as the one provided in the subject line: serious concerns about the training of members of the University at Albany Police Department. More specifically, the concerns are that the provisions of the State University of New York Police Manual do not appear to have been consistently obeyed with respect to the training of University at Albany Police Department members for a number of years. Concerns about the University at Albany Police Department's operations and its training, hiring and operational standards are hard to avoid given a fairly recent case decided before the New York State Court of Claims, Abdul-Wahhab v. The State of New York, #2012-032-004, Claim No. 116205 (June 18, 2012) http://vertumnus.courts.state.ny.us/claims/html/2012-032-004.html In Abdul-Wahhab v. The State of New York, I presume while under oath, Officer (now Lieutenant) Paul Burlingame had stated (in the words of the decision, not his) that he'd "never received any training in the Personal Property Law" and Assistant Chief of Police Paul Berger had stated (in the words of the decision, not his) that he "was not aware of the provisions of the Personal Property law".

Paul Burlingame has evidently been at the University at Albany Police Department since 2002: "Serving since 2002." http://police.albany.edu/Member2.asp?LName=Burlingame&FName=Paul

Paul Burlingame had thus testified that he'd been ignorant of the Personal Property Law from 2002 to December 14, 2007: approximately five years (supposing that the law dates back to 2002 - and for even longer than that if he'd served in other police departments than the University at Albany's prior to 2002).

"Assistant Chief Paul Berger has been with the University Police Department since December 1988." http://police.albany.edu/Member2.asp?LName=Berger&FName=Paul

Paul Berger had thus testified that he'd been ignorant of the Personal Property Law from December 1988 to December 14, 2007: nineteen years (supposing that the law dates back to 1988).

Given Mr. Berger's testimony, the Criminal Justice Studies program at Alfred University, the Public Administration program at Marist College, and the S.U.N.Y. University Police Academy all must have lacked instruction in the Personal Property Law. Marist College's lack would at least be understandable should that program not have had a concentration in police administration.

It's hard to understand how they'd failed to receive training regarding the Personal Property Law, or to learn it on their own, or why they would have been given orders to participate in such an ill-conceived operation (two male officers hiding in a women's restroom, using a peephole in the women's restroom, etc.?). To single out several sections from the SUNY Police Manual (though there are others that appear relevant as well):

§ 10.11 "University police members will be responsible for their own standard of professional performance and will take every reasonable opportunity to enhance and improve their level of knowledge and competence.

"Through study and experience, a university police member can acquire the high level of knowledge and competence that is essential for the efficient and effective performance of duty. The acquisition of knowledge is a never-ending process of personal and professional development that should be pursued constantly."

§ 15.09 "Every member is required to establish and maintain a working knowledge of laws, local ordinances, the rules and policies of the university department, and orders of the department. In the event of improper action or breach of discipline, it will be presumed that the member was familiar with the law, rule or policy in question and will be subject to possible disciplinary action."

§ 15.11 "Members and employees shall observe and obey all laws and ordinances, all rules and regulations of the department and all general or special orders of the department."

§ 20.08 "All members shall attend in-service training as directed by the chief of university police. Such attendance is considered a duty assignment."

Clearly they had not taken "every reasonable opportunity" if what they'd stated to the court was correct; they'd had several years to find such an opportunity and had failed to do so. They had not established and maintained a "working knowledge of laws", had failed to "observe and obey" the law, and following what might be described as "improper action" they claimed to be ignorant of the law contrary to the directive of the SUNY Police Manual that "it will be presumed that the member was familiar with the law".

University at Albany Police Department Chief J. "Frank" Wiley was not named in the decision at all, but is brought up here due to some sections of the SUNY Police Manual referring to his responsibilities, including one responsibility specifically for training officers:

§ 1.03 "Chief of the University Police Department, responsible for the command of the department"

§ 5.10 "The chief of university police is responsible for the planning, directing, coordinating, controlling and staffing all of the department activities to include the protection of people, personal property, state property and equipment and the enforcement of laws and regulation within its legal jurisdiction. The chief is also responsible for officer training and documentation of such training."

How is it that Mr. Wiley had failed to be responsible, for so many years, for training Mr. Burlingame, Mr. Berger, and (one presumes since he's also named in the decision) Christopher T. Farina, and perhaps others?

I sincerely hope, given SUNY Police Manual § 1.21, that you'll share the same degree of concern I have and that you will be able to address the matters as they should be addressed.

Please see that the University at Albany Police Department does *not* contact me. I do not wish to hear from UPD given the state of that department at present and the nature of its members' past acts of communication with me.

Thank you for any help you can provide,

Sincerely,

Christopher K. Philippo

The version of the manual consulted is the follow, which is as far as I know the current manual: Office of the Assistant Vice Chancellor for University Police and Public Safety. The State University of New York Police Manual. 6th Ed. Albany, NY: State University of New York: February 2007. http://www.suny.edu/sunypp/documents.cfm?doc_id=364

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“Make you the world a bit better or more beautiful because you have lived in it.” - Edward W. Bok

Aside from that, Berger's educational background in law enforcement has been misrepresented.

SUNY didn't have full police in 1989; they had peace officers which then changed to full police officers in 1999 by act of NYS legislature. His bio used to state:

"He graduated from the S.U.N.Y. Public Safety Academy in April 1989 with highest academic honors" http://web.archive.org/web/20000712215006/http://police.albany.edu/staff2.html

His bio changed "S.U.N.Y. Public Safety Academy” to "S.U.N.Y. University Police Academy” sometime between March 8, 2001 http://web.archive.org/web/20010308180829/http://police.albany.edu/staff2.html (where it still states “Public Safety Academy") and June 30, 2002 (where it states "S.U.N.Y. University Police Academy") http://web.archive.org/web/20020630134103/http://police.albany.edu/staff2.html

They seem to be two different things. See N.Y. CRIM. PROC. LAW §2.10 for "persons designated as peace officers"; N.Y. CRIM. PROC. LAW §1.20 (34) for persons designated as police officers. Specifically, N.Y. CRIM. PROC. LAW §1.20 (34) (s) identifies a “university police officer appointed by the state university pursuant to paragraph 1 of subdivision two of section three hundred fifty-five of the education law."

Changing the name and nature of the academy he attended seems like it might not be precisely legal:

N.Y. EDUC. LAW § 224 (4) No diploma or degree shall be conferred in this state except by a regularly organized institution of learning meeting all requirements of law and of the university, nor shall any person, with intent to deceive, falsely represent himself to have received any such degree or credential [...] Counterfeiting or falsely or without authority making or altering in a material respect any such credential issued under seal shall be a felony; any other violation of this section shall be a misdemeanor; and any person who aids or abets another, or advertises or offers himself to violate the provisions of this section, shall be liable to the same penalties.

I’d also contacted Berger directly for help with a matter of public corruption (before I learned about Abdul-Wahhab v. The State of New York), and in violation of the police manual he did not even reply.

Had there even been a deputy commissioner of the State University Police prior to Berger? It seems like the job was made up just for him, a plum for his dedication to making SUNY Albany unsafe for students, faculty, staff, and visitors. Now he has more of an opportunity to make the entire SUNY system that much less safe.