And since 2014...?
Monday, June 22, 2020
militarizing SUNY Police
[As of 2014] University police at three State University of New York campuses have received equipment through the 1033 program: police at Morrisville, Oneonta and Old Westbury each obtained one Humvee and three assault rifles since 2011.
Monday, December 3, 2018
UAlbany pretends to welcome the #metoo movement (while forever undermining it)
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY SPEAKER SERIES: Aly Raisman, Olympic Gymnast, Six-Time Medalist and Author When: Monday, December 3, 2018 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM Where: SEFCU Arena Cost: Free; Advance Registration required See: http://ualbany.universitytickets.com/user_pages/event_listings.asp Description: Aly Raisman, Olympic gymnast who captained the US team to victory in 2012 and 2016, is one of the most decorated American gymnasts of all time and a hero of the #metoo movement. Her new book is Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything, an inspiring story of dedication, perseverance, and having a positive outlook even in the toughest times. Sponsored by the UAlbany Student Association, Division of Student Affairs, University Auxiliary Services, and Alumni Association. https://events.albany.edu/cal/event/showEventMore.rdo;jsessionid=1EFD840E322EB580AA4DD400C68E6C2FNow if only UAlbany professors, administrators (like Dean "Quid Pro Quo" Altarriba), and police (like so-called-Chief "Gang Rape" Wiley) weren't interested in intimidating witnesses and victims at UAlbany...
Sunday, April 9, 2017
how not to find missing female undergraduate students
On March 27, 1985 SUNY Albany student Karen Wilson disappeared.
Eleven years later, the SUNY Albany Police Chief retired without having solved the case. Clearly at that point SUNY Albany would have done well to hire someone with experience closing cold cases, solving missing person cases.
Instead, in 1996 SUNY Albany hired a man allegedly employed as a Baltimore schoolteacher, an ex-athlete and ex-coach and hardcore football fan: J. "Frank" Wiley. SUNY Albany was pursuing Division II athletics status with the ultimate goal of Division I athletics, so from an utterly perverse point of view the hire made sense.
Wiley did have some out-of-state, and thus to some extent irrelevant, experience working at police departments in Maryland. Did those departments have any experience with such cases? Did he?
Campus cops keeping disappearances a mysteryIf she was ever found, it seems not to have been reported. Wiley, as mentioned here previously, had claimed to be a UMBC police officer from 1980 to 1992 even though (as in the above article) he seems to have been a police department spokesman for much or all of that period of time.Wayde Minami
Retriever Staff Writer
Despite the rumors of murder and kidnapping running rampant on campus, university police have declined to release any further details of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of student Tu Thi Cam Tran or to comment on her possible whereabouts.
Tran, a 24-year-old Vietnamese female, was last seen leaving the Fine Arts building on Nov. 26, and has not been heard from since. Police are continuing to keep the investigation into her disappearance of [sic] tightly under raps. [sic] "It's an on-going investigation," said university police spokesman Frank Wiley. "We won't release any information on an active investigation."
Wiley would only reiterate the police department's official statement: "We do have an active missing persons investigation being conducted by our investigative section. There are a number of leads involving possible whereabouts and we are investigating all of them. At this point we do not suspect foul play."
In what was termed an "unrelated event," staff member Harry Siedeman was reported missing earlier this semester. Siedeman, who directed UMBC's "Upward Bound" program, vanished on Oct. 18 while off-campus. His case is being investigated by the Baltimore County Police.
Police are asking anyone with any information as to the whereabouts of either Tran or Siedeman to contact them immediately at [phone number].
The Retriever. December 11, 1990: 3.
UMBC student has been missing for two weeks
December 13, 1990|By Alisa Samuels | Alisa Samuels,Evening Sun Staff Richard Irwin contributed to this story. A 24-year-old information systems management student at University of Maryland Baltimore County has been missing since Nov. 28.
The brother of Tu Thi Cam Tran reported her missing to the school police, said Louise M. White, director of media relations for UMBC.
Tran lives with her brother and his family in Lanham, Prince George's County, White said.
A Baltimore County police spokesman said the case is being handled by the school since its police officers are fully certified to investigate incidents believed to have occurred on the campus.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-12-13/news/1990347221_1_umbc-tran-baltimore-county
Thus, when Mr. Wiley applied at SUNY Albany for employment after having been rejected by the University of New Mexico, by Oberlin College, perhaps by others, and evidently not wanted for further employment by the City of Baltimore, UMBC, or UMES, he had failed to solve one missing persons case.
Two years after Wiley was hired by SUNY Albany, the Karen Wilson case was still unsolved and SUNY Albany Student Suzanne Lyall disappeared. All cases are still unsolved.
Tu Thi Cam Tran http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/t/tran_tu.html
Karen Louise Wilson http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wilson_karen.html
Suzanne Gloria Lyall http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/l/lyall_suzanne.html
Saturday, April 8, 2017
"America is not the citadel of virtue it would have the world believe" - UMBC Police Public Information Officer Frank Wiley
Jesse Jackson's January 1984 anti-Semitic remarks soured many people on his 1984 Presidential campaign (if not the man entirely), but not Jackass "Frank" Wiley!Election To the editor:
The Presidential Election: Here we go again
The political philosophy of the nation is unconscionable. The Reagan Administration has polarized the country. The country is split along racial lines and, to some degree along socio-economic class too. The election results indicate that the country does not desire fairness, equality, and justice. The compassionate presidency is an ideal whose time has yet to come. The Reagan Administration will not even address, much less satisfy the needs of the disadvantaged and the underprivileged. The real issue was not about taxation, defense, or inflation.
The election was a referendum on America's current political philosophy. Was America prepared to embrace all of its citizens to share with them the country's wealth and power? It was not. Civil rights, affirmative action, and equal opportunity are all threatened. The conservative social mood which led to civil unrest in the sixties is present again. Mr. Reagan speaks of moving forward—but who's kidding whom?
The result could be social instability. The seeds of frustration are already present in urban communities. These are people—black, white, and brown—left out of the policy making mainstream. The spirit of intolerance clearly demonstrated by Reagan policies will fertilize the frustration. Jesse Jackson could be the galvanizing agent who fuels the explosion. (That is, peaceful resistance of course!)
America is not the citadel of virtue it would have the world believe. When its electorate sends archconservatives Jesse Helms, Strom Thurmond, and Ronald Reagan to high office—people who clearly desire to abridge the civil rights of many of its citizens.
Where is the quality of America's integrity?
The election speaks for itself. The winner, in Clark Clifford's world, The Amiable Dunce—overwhelmingly!
The United States. Are we really the United States?
Frank Wiley
The Retriever. November 13, 1984: 6. [Emphasis on "United" in original.]
Wiley's remarks about civil rights are quite ironic given how eager he has been at UAlbany to violate them.
how to turn an administrative assistant into an assistant chief of police
Four candidates for the position of University of New Mexico police chief will be on campus beginning today to meet with administrators and participate in public forums. [...]Wiley, it should surprise no one, had not been Chief of Police at UMBC.• May 4, J. Frank Wiley, director of public safety for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore since 1992. He served as assistant director of police for the University of Maryland Baltimore County from 1990 to 1992 and was a police officer for the same department from 1980 to 1990. He was a police officer in the Baltimore City Police Department from 1977 to 1980.
"Police Chief Finalist To Visit UNM." Albuquerque Journal. April 24, 1995: 16.
Wiley, who served as chief of police at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Baltimore County, and on the Baltimore police force, met with students, faculty and staff Tuesday.
Cotton, André. "Security candidate visits and talks with students; Comm. passes decision to Dean, final choice soon." Oberlin Review. 124(21). April 19, 1996.
Prior to his position as a teacher, Wiley was director of public safety for the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. In addition, he served as assistant director of police and as a police officer for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He was also a police officer for the Baltimore City Police Department.
"University Appoints New Police Chief; Former U. of Maryland Chief Takes Reins." University Update 20(1). September 4, 1996. http://www.albany.edu/updates/1996/9-4/otherarticles.html.
From 1983 to 1989, when his position was specified, was generally identified as the "UMBC Police Public Information Officer" or "spokesperson." While that technically might be a "police officer," one suspects it did not involve physical fitness, qualifying with a weapon, patrolling, etc.
In 1990 Wiley was given a new position, "Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Police for Community Relations" or "Coordinator of Community Support Services."
This summer, Chief Nielsen of the Campus Police "put his money where his mouth is" by incorporating a new position into the police department's administrative staff. This new position is one of a series of plans designed to educate students and the local community about the programs and services available to them. For some time, Nielsen has wanted the police department to become more service-oriented and increase student awareness. This semester, with the help of the new Administrative Assistant to the Chief of Police for Community Relations, Frank Wiley, the department will work towards these goals.Hawley, Pam and Peggy Foster. "New Police Position Designed to Serve Campus Community." The Retriever 26(1). September 5, 1990.
It would require something of a stretch of the imagination to turn that into "Assistant Director of Police for the University of Maryland Baltimore County" or "Chief of Police at the University of Maryland [...] Baltimore County."
Among other issues above are the competing claims to have worked as a "police officer for the Baltimore City Police Department" for three years, from 1977 to 1980, and to have worked there only about a year, from about October 1979 to October 1980.
How does one resolve such discrepancies?[Frank Wiley] was a police officer in the Baltimore City Police Department from 1977 to 1980.
"Police Chief Finalist To Visit UNM." Albuquerque Journal. April 24, 1995: 16.
[Frank Wiley's] resume includes the Baltimore Police Department, where he worked as an officer for a year through October 1980.
Odato, James M. "Top cop a cop?" Albany Times Union. June 1, 2009.
dirty UAlbany police "chief" Wiley's film credit in horror film featuring rape, full frontal nudity, lynching & "Darktown Strutter's Ball"
The Passing (1988) directed by John Huckert
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365617/fullcredits
The Passing is a little-seen film shot in Baltimore, where Wiley slouched from, and features credits thanking the UMBC Police Department (for which Wiley "worked") and thanking "Officer Frank Wiley." That's kind of amazing, and were he not a man who facilitates rape, gang rape, retaliation for reporting sexual assault, etc. might be a mark vaguely in his favor (the film isn't pro-rape or pro-lynching), at least for those who might favor some kind of underground/forgotten low-low budget film cred.
One of the funny(?) things about J. "Frank" Wiley's horror/sci-fi/head film-movie background is that, according to John Monfasani, UAlbany's crack team tried to make something out of my horror and/or Hitchcock film scholarship. Here Wiley is with a credit in a film in which a man is strung up to die by a rope with his penis in full view, an object rape involving one man shoving a wrench up another man's rectum, and the soundtrack features an early jazz standard with the derogatory name for African-American neighborhoods in the title and which had decidedly racist sheet music artwork. Mind kinda blown!
Lynching...
A wrench...
A wrench about to be used for an object rape as a man's junk dangles, you know, like in most movies that have credits for university police?!
From the tripping balls scene, something else common in movies made with the help of university police?
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
UAlbany, home of hazing, itself engages in hazing
Another student, who requested to remain anonymous in fear of retaliation from EOP officials, also remembered being put on “lockdown” for 48 hours. She explained that to satiate her need for human contact during those days, she forced herself to make undesired small talk with her EOP Student Assistant (SA).It should surprise no one. Hank Nuwer was quoted in the article commenting about UAlbany. I first wrote Nuwer about UAlbany's hazing problem FOUR YEARS AGO.Matias said her orientation group was put on group-wide “lockdown” twice.
Another punishment is known as “isolation,” and is given to students who commit individual conduct violation such as “showing shoulders,” or wearing clothing that reveals shoulders.
Matias explained that “isolation” was identical to “lockdown” but only for the student who had violated policy. Students on “isolation” in addition to not being able to speak with anyone, are required to remain with the group during free time, but are forced to sit apart from their peers.
Lembo-Stolba, Stefan "'Cult-Like' Atmosphere Found in UAlbany Summer Program." The Asp. October 25, 2016.
http://www.albanystudentpress.net/cult-like-atmosphere-found-in-ualbany-summer-program/
Monday, September 26, 2016
"Police Legitimacy," or, how to have conflicts of interest in plain sight and get away with it
2015-16 Diversity Transformation Fund Award Recipients […]There’s AMPLE evidence Wiley’s incompetent and corrupt and it’s not at all hard to find. No scholars in their right mind would work with him. But OK, it seems Wiley and Worden are buds and that their friendship transcends logic, fairness, and impartiality.James Acker, J. Frank Wiley, & Robert Worden
Fair and Impartial Policing: A Training and Research Initiative to Identify and Guard Against Implicit Biases Police Training/Implicit Bias
http://www.albany.edu/diversityandinclusion/diversity-transformation-fund-awards-2015-16.php [emphasis added]
When it comes to reaccrediting the SUNY Albany "Police," Worden makes the motion to have his bud Wiley’s corrupt and incompetent police department - at Worden’s own university - reaccredited (rather than, say, Worden recusing himself due to obvious potential conflicts of interest). Motion passes unanimously (perhaps with Worden's own vote?), despite ample evidence it should never have been accredited in the first place. Wiley accepts the reaccreditation certificate. Despite this obvious sham, Worden’s specialty is supposedly matters of police ethics!
[Law Enforcement Accreditation Agency] COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:Sergeant Louis Dini – Suffolk County Police Department, PCNY
Chief Marvin Fischer – SUNY Police Farmingdale
Chief Mark Henderson – Brighton Town Police Department
Chief Charles Koenig – Ballston Spa Police Department
Sheriff Gary Maha - Genesee County Sheriff’s Office
Deputy Thomas Marano – Orleans County Sheriff’s Office
Sheriff Philip Povero - Ontario County Sheriff’s Office
Supervisor Edmond Theobald – Town of Manlius
Mr. Richard Wells – Police Conference of New York
Robert E. Worden, PhD - Associate Professor, University at Albany School of Criminal Justice
[…]
SUNY Police Albany
Chief J. Frank Wiley
Deputy Chief Jennifer Fila
Deputy Chief Aran Mull
Inspector Jennifer Baldwin
Inspector Paul Burlingame
Captain William Yankowski
*Sergeant Steven Grassmann
[…]
SUNY Police Albany – Dr. Worden made a motion to reaccredit the agency and Chief Fischer seconded the motion. Chief J. Frank Wiley accepted the Certificate of Accreditation and Sergeant Steven Grassmann was awarded the John Kimball O’Neil Certificate of Achievement as the program manager. how to have conflicts of interest in plain sight and get away with it
Motion carried – 11 ayes, 0 nay
http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/pio/open-meetings/9-8-2016-leaac/LEACPacket.pdf [emphasis added]
Rob Worden is a political scientist whose research revolves around questions about the accountability and responsiveness of criminal justice institutions to the public. [...] Most of his research has focused on police behavior and police programs and reforms [...] Professor Worden is currently engaged in studies of: (1) police legitimacy, procedural justice, and accountability; (2) police misconduct and early intervention systems; (3) citizen oversight of the police; [emphasis added]
Fair and impartial policing training was afforded to UPD through a grant created by Distinguished Teaching Professor, James Acker and Distinguished Professor Emeritus, David Bayley, and funded through UAlbany’s Office of Diversity and inclusion. UPD is also backed by a research-based component: an advisory committee, chaired by School of Criminal Justice Assistant Dean Diana Mancini and Associate Professor Robert Worden, an expert scholar in criminal justice accountability and responsiveness.I think the accreditation just goes to show that the accreditation process is seriously flawed! Ask Wiley's victims, those he's threatened, or who he's backed threats against, or those he's chosen not to help, and I think quite a different story would be told. Heck, Wiley's own Assistant Chief had claimed in court that he'd been improperly trained. Setting aside the possibility that the court testimony was false, there's some of that easy-to-find evidence right there.[Wiley said,] "Of course, there is no guarantee there will be public acknowledgement of what we do, but accreditation and our other accomplishments demonstrate that the best possible policing is being done here." [emphasis added]
Paul Berger testified that he has been the Assistant Chief of the UPD since 2002. He is the night commander for the afternoon and overnight shifts. He was aware of the decoy bag operation. He was not aware of the provisions of the Personal Property law prior to the use of the decoy bag on December 13, 2007.As I'd written the former head of the SUNY Police, R. Bruce McBride:http://vertumnus.courts.state.ny.us/claims/html/2012-032-004.html
Wiley had either failed to be responsible for the training of his Assistant Chief, or Wiley had been responsible for the training of his Assistant Chief but failed to have his Assistant Chief prosecuted for lying in court testimony.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." [emphasis added]
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?
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention", McBride had replied, but of course he was not at all interested in rooting out systemic corruption in a corrupt system he'd helped forge....
The State University of New York University Police, in concert with the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany, today announced the formation of an Academic Advisory Committee to assist the SUNY University Police in evaluating emerging policies and practices related to law enforcement for the university system.Police Commissioner R. Bruce McBride said that this is an exciting undertaking in terms of improving University law enforcement services to the SUNY community, especially in light of national police issues related to the use of force and interactions between police and community members. [...]
Members of the Committee include faculty from the University at Albany's nationally ranked School of Criminal Justice -- James Acker, David Bayley (Ret.), and Robert Worden, all experts in community policing.
Joining the academics are State University Chiefs of Police J. Frank Wiley of UAlbany, Tim Faughnan of Binghamton University, Gerald Schoenle of the University at Buffalo, Stony Brook University's Robert Lenahan, and Deputy Commissioner Paul Berger of the SUNY University Police [formerly of the UAlbany Police].
"SUNY, UAlbany Form Advisory Committee to Evaluate Campus Police Practices and Policies." June 11, 2015. https://www.suny.edu/suny-news/press-releases/june-2015/6-11-15-police/suny-ualbany-form-advisory-committee-to-evaluate-campus-police-practices-policies.html
“The way we do policing is fundamentally ineffective,” [Wiley] said.Mr. Acker seemingly has either never looked into Wiley's credentials or he's aware they're practically nonexistent and he's just being hypocritical. As for "conversations," Wiley's not big into them. He ignores calls for help from the public, refuses to answer journalists' questions, lies when he does speak or write, and is willing to back threats against freedom of speech and facilitate crime. What a sham that forum was!His suggestions were to create a concrete code of “officer behavior” and a policy to enforce this code, to allow for system complaints, to increase transparency, to conduct climate surveys, and to incorporate direct observations through the use of body cameras. [...]
Dr. James Acker, also a professor at UAlbany’s School of Criminal Justice, was present as well, and spoke about the importance of choosing police officers correctly.
“[The police] are special people because we entrust them with special powers,” he said.
Because of this, he said that we need to look at what qualifications they should meet, what kind of diversity a force needs to be successful, and what kind of training and dialogues the officers need to have to earn the trust of their community. He also said that conversations such as these were beneficial for creating trust and respect on both sides.
“When we do have these conversations, we’ll find that we hold a lot more in common than what separates us,” he said.
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
did somebody tip Nancy Zimpher off about an investigation?
She's taking taxpayer's money and running:
http://blog.suny.edu/2016/05/a-letter-to-the-suny-family
It's the SUNY way, sadly.
More than a year after she abruptly left her job as president of the State University of New York at Albany, Dr. Karen R. Hitchcock was Topic A on her former campus yesterday after revelations that she had faced a state ethics inquiry into her actions while she led the university.Baker, Al and Michael Slackman. "Questions at SUNY Albany on Why Ex-President Left." N.Y. Times. February 26, 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/26/nyregion/questions-at-suny-albany-on-why-expresident-left.html
Good riddance to Ohioan Nancy "Systemness" Zimpher, but one does really wish she'd been indicted before resigning. Dannemora would have been a great home for her - about as far from Ohio as one can get in New York.
Monday, May 9, 2016
"take one down, pass it around"
"Ms. Agudio, an exemplary young woman and an excellent student who has never previously been in legal trouble, asks that people not rush to judgment in this matter."Being an (allegedly) "exemplary young woman and an excellent student who has never previously been in legal trouble" does not mean that a person is incapable of committing a crime! It also doesn't mean they've never committed one before - perhaps they've never been caught, or never been sentenced, or had a juvenile record expunged. It's true that one should not rush to judgment, though in this case much of the evidence has been publicly available for months. It's perhaps ironic that Ariel Agudio would ask that people not rush to judgment in this matter:Del Valle, Lauren, with Ray Sanchez and Haimy Assefa. "Upstate NY students who claimed bias attack plead not guilty to charges." CNN. February 29, 2016. http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/29/us/new-york-albany-assaults-pleas/
January 29, 2016 post on Twitter about plan to go out underage drinking:
ari [Ariel Agudio]
@ariYELLmyname
I really should stay in drink tea, eat soup and cuddle myself tonight but I'll cure myself with shots and dancing instead 😂
11:37 AM - 29 Jan 2016
https://twitter.com/ariYELLmyname/status/693155954808979457?lang=en
January 30, 2016 911 call after getting off the "drunk bus" (misidentified here as the 12) less than two hours later:
ARIEL AGUDIO: Now I’m walking towards Empire but I was just on the 12. Me and my three friends got drunk… ah, jumped. It was a racial crime. They were calling us n[*****] and all this stuff, and if someone doesn’t come? and, and and take this down? or something? I’m going to call the news, because it was ridiculous. They ripped out all of our hair and everything.
January 30, 2016 posting on Twitter within less than an hour of the incident, within perhaps less than a half hour of the 911 calls, to one of the witnesses who recorded parts of the incident and contradicted her story:
February 1, 2016 retweeting typical rising politician Marc Cohen:ari [Ariel Agudio]
@ariYELLmyname
@sennypede don't tell me to watch my attitude, I got beat up by 20 people screaming racial slurs. Don't you dare tell me what to do
1:46 AM - 30 Jan 2016
https://twitter.com/ariYELLmyname/status/693369695936888832?lang=en
February 1, 2016 UAlbany Professor Schalk live-tweeting the rally:ari [Ariel Agudio]
@ariYELLmyname
“@MarcCohen_: Massive turnout at the #DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany Rally for social justice ”thanks everyone
6:37 PM - 1 Feb 2016
February 2, 2016 (campus?) police interview:Sami Schalk
@DrSamiSchalk
Black women students sharing list of demands #DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany 1. Expel students who committed violence
3:46 PM - 1 Feb 2016
When one goes back to the January 29th post with the plan to go out and illegally consume alcohol, it's somewhat funny to note that what really seems to have provoked the three women to commit assault was another young woman who'd perhaps illegally consumed alcohol singing about consuming a massive amount of alcohol.POLICE: And at no time you heard the N-word or any other, um, racial..."
ARIEL AGUDIO: No, no.
Tucker, Anya and Rachel Yonkunas. "Video of police questioning 3 women accused in CDTA bus assault released." News10 ABC. May 4, 2016. http://news10.com/2016/05/04/video-of-police-questioning-3-women-accused-in-cdta-bus-assault-released/
In one woman's statement, it was a passenger's obnoxious singing of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" that got things started.If only they'd all really been exemplary young people and excellent students!Lawrence, J. P. “Court, UAlbany documents shed new light on CDTA bus incident; 3 UAlbany students plead not guilty as their statements, UAlbany report surface.” Albany Times Union. May 4, 2016.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Court-UAlbany-documents-shed-new-light-on-CDTA-7393885.php
I still wonder where the underage drunks on the bus might have obtained alcohol.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Mishler v. Burlingame, Round 2! Pillow fight: BEGIN!
permissible or not, hearsay evidence (for example, Inspector Burlingame telling the Board what he says someone else says they heard or saw) is not deemed to be very reliable and is not considered to be the best way for a fact-finder to make factual determinations. Both Burlingame and Brennan basically told the Board - - ‘trust me’, ‘I’m an experienced police officer/ administrator’, essentially saying, ‘do what I tell you, because I’m very smart, I have reached a conclusion as to what happened on the bus - although I was not there - and you should accept what I tell you’. That is not really how the fact-finding process is supposed to work.Mishler had been up against Burlingame in Abdul-Wahhab v. State of New York, a case Mishler probably could not have lost more badly had he been paid to lose it. See older posts here, particularly "Albany attorney Mark S. Mishler's snow-job" and "'No Justice, No Peace' sums New York up pretty well".Mishler, Mark S. "Re: Appeal of Ariel C. Agudio." April 26, 2016. Letter. https://web.archive.org/web/20160504040418/http://www.caami.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Appeal-of-Ariel-Agudio-Mark-Mishler.pdf
It probably wouldn't have hurt to cite an authority when stating, "That is not really how the fact-finding process is supposed to work"?
Or, how about another student, who in a videographed interview with UPD, in response to a question about whether there were racial slurs used on the bus, acknowledged that some people said they had heard this, and added that the “n” word can be said in a “non-racist” way.Above, at least, Mishler comes closer to making a good point - though he elsewhere criticized hearsay, and a witness agreeing with the interviewer that some people said they heard racial slurs certainly sounds like hearsay as opposed to a witness statement volunteering the clear information "I heard racial slurs. What I heard was: [x]."Mishler, Mark S. "Re: Appeal of Ariel C. Agudio." April 26, 2016. Letter. https://web.archive.org/web/20160504040418/http://www.caami.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Appeal-of-Ariel-Agudio-Mark-Mishler.pdf
Can "the 'n' word can be said in a 'non-racist' way"? I think Larry Wilmore, who said it to the President of the United States, would say yes, it can be, though in many (most?) contexts it has been said in a racist way. Was the witness stating that word had actually been used, though? From Mark Mishler's description of the statement, it would seem not.
Mishler also dropped the ball in contrasting that particular video with a statement by UPD's "Chief":
“We took this incident very seriously and did a thorough and careful investigation,” said UPD Chief J. Frank Wiley. “The evidence shows that, contrary to how the defendants originally portrayed things, these three individuals were not the victims of a crime. Rather, we allege that they are the perpetrators.”While J. Frank Wiley is both incompetent and corrupt, if he was lying about ALL witness statements denying that ANY racial slurs were directed at the three women, one would hope one of the witnesses would have come forward to contradict him by now. If he was lying, one would hope that the defense attorneys in the case would call him out for lying and present their proof.“I especially want to point out that what happened on the bus was not a ‘hate crime.’ We spent a great deal of time carefully reviewing the audio recordings to determine whether any racial slurs were used. The only person we heard uttering racial epithets was one of the defendants. And it is important to note that no witness reported hearing any racial slurs directed at the defendants. And those witnesses were people from a variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds” (emphasis added).
http://www.albany.edu/news/images/University-at-Albany-Police-Department-Incident-02770-16.pdf
From: [Me]So, Masai, why haven't you taken issue with Mark Mishler handling the UAlbany bus incident case, given his record and the fact that he's employed by UAlbany, etc.?Subject: UPD Officer Nagy, named as arresting officer of Alexis Briggs
Date: February 25, 2016 at 11:07:48 AM EST
To: Masai Andrews [...]
If Mark Mishler becomes the lawyer for the three women, I’ll be disturbed by that. Mishler’s lost at least three cases for UAlbany women against UPD; for the last one of which I’m aware see ABDUL-WAHHAB v. THE STATE OF NEW YORK, # 2012-032-004, Claim No. 116205 http://vertumnus.courts.state.ny.us/claims/html/2012-032-004.html
Monday, April 25, 2016
James Hockenbury, UAlbany's UKids, and crime tips about pedophiles going ignored?
48-year-old James Hockenbury faced a judge on those charges and also confessed in graphic detail to police in a written statement. The statement says he has been sexually interested in children since 2004, when Hockenbury worked at UKIDS, a daycare center at UAlbany."Lawyer blasts release of Hockenbury statement." CBS6 Albany. April 19, 2016. http://cbs6albany.com/news/local/police-man-engaged-in-sex-act-with-child
James C. Hockenbury's salary as a full-time staff assistant at UAlbany:
2008 $25,020
2009 $25,437
2010 $26,274
2011 $26,894
2012 $26,894
2013 $28,032
http://state-employees.findthedata.com/d/a/James-Hockenbury
Over a year later, still waiting on a crime tip address for New Yorkers that actually works! Sickening.My name is Jim Hockenbury [...] Began working with kids again in 2004 when I got a job at UKIDS; a daycare center for the teachers, students, and staff of the University at Albany. I started there as a Teacher's Assistant. It was here that I discovered my sexual interest for children. I had never acted on this interest before working at UKIDS or during my time there but there were times that I would get excited while working with the children at UKIDS. Instead of acting on this desire, I would go into the mensroom and masturbate to alleviate sexual tension or desire. That happened, from 2005 through 2014, maybe five times. [...] Also while working at UKIDS, I met the [redacted] in early 2014. They came to UKIDS for daycare services for their [redacted] came there at about 8 months old to the infant room. My now wife, [redacted] started working at UKIDS in 2005. We were introduced by other staff there and dated from 2006 through 2007 and ultimately got married in November 2008. My wife started working with [redacted] as she was the Pre-School teacher and floater since 2013. [...] I stopped working at UKIDS in the spring of 2014 but remained friendly with the [redacted] and would be called upon to watch or babysit [redacted] from time to time. The last time this happened was Saturday April 6th, 2016.
https://mgtvwten.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/james-hockenbury-criminal-complaint-april-19-2016.pdf
UKids Child Care Center
A satellite of Campus Children's Center, Inc., the mission of the center is to provide the University of Albany community and Capital Region families with the highest quality child care. The Center provides a diverse, educational, friendly, nutritional, and safe environment that meets the needs of its children.
Clarence and Karen McNeill have served on the Board of Directors of the Campus Children's Center, Inc. https://web.archive.org/web/20080705015246/http://www.campuschildrenscenter.com/BoardofDirectors.htm (providing child care on the Harriman campus adjacent to UAlbany and on the UAlbany campus itself) - a center arguably not well served by the UAlbany Police mismanaging its campus sexual offender registry for years, or J. "Frank" Wiley and John M. Murphy falsely claiming in their Clery Act reports that the registry was being maintained, and probably not well served by Clarence L. McNeill's chronic lying and lack of concern for the safety of people on campus, young and old.
Is there another crime tip or crime victim address that actually works? New Yorkers could really use one.
https://www.muckrock.com/foi/new-york-16/mismanagement-of-crime-tips-concerning-suny-albany-10741/ [emphasis added in all cases above]
Thursday, March 10, 2016
#qualityinjournalism ?
"That young man, as far as I'm aware, did withdraw form the university, so he's no longer in this community," Jones said initially.Does the TU still have editors? That would be news!Carleo-Evangelist, Jordan. “Witness threatened after UAlbany bus incident was no longer a student; School says former student never registered this term.” Albany Times Union. March 1, 2016. http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Witness-threatened-after-UAlbany-bus-incident-was-6861347.php [bold emphasis added]
The argument, also being made my Mark Mishler, the Albany attorney for Agudio, is that the students can't testify at a campus hearing without the risk of incriminating themselves — and, obviously, getting thrown off campus isn't as worrisome as a criminal conviction.
Churchill, Chris. "'Lynching' claim adds fuel to UAlbany bus attack fire." Albany Times Union. March 9, 2016. http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Churchill-Lynching-claim-adds-fuel-to-UAlbany-6880953.php [bold emphasis added]
Both articles are behind a paywall. I don't begrudge newspapers paywalls; they might have been smart from the very beginning to have all of their content behind a paywall. However, seeing the TU seemingly trying to profiteer off a very public incident at the university for which their publisher is the President of the Board of Directors of the University at Albany Foundation gives one an icky feeling.
That first article in particular shouldn’t be one that the TU is using to try to gain new digital subscribers. The article, for those who've read it (as I have), naturally fails to mention the relationships that the TU and the TU's publisher has with UAlbany.
Aside from that, the story that "Will" had dropped out because of the threat that he actually was sent ("Hope the police get to you before I do.") is one that is still being spread online (perhaps offline as well). The fact that the article in which the TU reported that he was not a student is not available for free to most people might factor into why that story about him dropping out is still so persistent. (Some racists liking the narrative is probably also a factor.)
After the article was put online, another TU writer claimed that "Will" himself had lied about dropping out because he'd been sent a threat.
J.p. Lawrence If there's proof for the claim that "Will" himself had lied, it's not in that tweet nor in the article, is it?@JpLawrence3
Student who "withdrew" in wake of bus incident was fibbing. #justiceforwill wasn't enrolled.
http://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/Witness-threatened-after-UAlbany-bus-incident-was-6861347.php
12:18 PM - 9 Mar 2016
https://twitter.com/JpLawrence3/status/707661854034829314 (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/6fuLsxwSS )
#justiceforwill for that matter does not seem to have been reported to be the Twitter account of "Will," aside from which it's not an account it's a hashtag seemingly used by people who knew he was threatened and apparently thought he left school (or consciously lied about him leaving school) because of the threat.
TU tweeter who "exposéd" in wake of bus incident was fibbing? #ethicsinjournalism ?
Which is not to defend the guy beyond that, indeed the concern is more about the ethics of journalists not so much him. Whether he saw the bus incident from on the bus or off, his Tweets about enjoying the fight were obnoxious.
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
is the idea of non-violence still current among activists?
4. NON-VIOLENCEOne of the most mystifying things to me about the bus incident is the apparent acceptance by some that escalating to violence is an acceptable response to (alleged) verbal provocation. No matter how ugly or offensive something a person might say can be, physically assaulting the person is not consistent with Green values, or, if I'm not mistaken, most activists' values.It is essential that we develop effective alternatives to society's current patterns of violence. We will work to demilitarize, and eliminate weapons of mass destruction, without being naive about the intentions of other governments. We recognize the need for self-defense and the defense of others who are in helpless situations. We promote non-violent methods to oppose practices and policies with which we disagree, and will guide our actions toward lasting personal, community and global peace.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
feeling safe
Sami SchalkIt must be nice to make assumptions that other people feel safe in their own bodies. No, actually that isn't nice.@DrSamiSchalk
"It must be nice to feel safe in your own body" speaker at #defendblackgirlsualbany
3:15 PM - 1 Feb 2016
It would, on the other hand, be nice to avoid divisive mind-reading cognitive distortions.
Sami SchalkI haven’t felt safe going on that campus for about five years. That speaker was protesting on campus; clearly felt a lot safer than I do!@DrSamiSchalk
"I do not feel safe...if anyone in administration had a problem with how I feel, that's YOUR problem" speaker at #DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany
3:51 PM - 1 Feb 2016
"UAlbany follows all of New York’s laws regarding weapons"
"UAlbany follows all of New York’s laws regarding weapons and, in addition to that, it has its own set of rules under its code of conduct."UAlbany seems not to have been even clear on all of New York's laws and SUNY's policies regarding weapons, much less to have been actually following all of them. E.g.:Muscavage, Nick. "Weapons on Campus." Albany Student Press. March 8, 2016. http://www.albanystudentpress.net/weapons-on-campus/
http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2013/07/are-law-enforcement-and-investigative.html
http://minervawept.blogspot.com/2015/10/preventing-campus-shootings.html
UAlbany: where a Director of Media Relations doesn't know, and can't be bothered to look up, what a firearm policy is. UAlbany: where a Director of Media Relations can't be bothered to ensure the University President knows whether a widely-circulated story about a student dropping out due to a threat from an alleged victim's brother in connection with an incident is true or not prior to the both of them hosting a Press Conference about the incident. UAlbany: where incompetence is excellence!Does the "S." stand for SUNY?
Disclaimer:Prior results cannot and do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome with respect to any future matter, including yours, in which a lawyer or a law firm may be retained. Also, please note that the material on this site has been prepared by the Law Office of Mark S. Mishler, P.C., for general information purposes only; it does not constitute legal advice. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.
One imagines a sort of Zeno's Paradox or Catch 22 - before seeking professional counsel, one must obtain professional counsel. Before obtaining professional counsel, one must seek professional counsel. Before seeking professional counsel, one must obtain professional counsel. Before obtaining professional counsel, one must seek professional counsel. Before seeking professional counsel, one must obtain professional counsel....
One thus is never able to acquire professional counsel because one is never able to seek professional counsel, and vice versa.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Fascist Diva Nancy Lauricella
The University has been asked on more than three occasions to hold off on their proceedings and to let the criminal justice process run its course. They have outright refused and denied that they are the [sic] stated, “[t]he Student Conduct Hearing will proceed as scheduled for Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 9:30 a.m. Regards, Nancy Lauricella” In addition, the level of intellectual dishonesty is shocking as Ms. Lauricella has stated, “The University at Albany is not the complainant in the criminal case. The criminal charges are being brought forward by the Albany County District Attorney's Office, on behalf of the People of the State of New York, and not the University. The Student Conduct Process at the University is a separate administrative process and, as such, the University will not delay the student conduct process to accommodate the criminal process.”"Fascist Diva" Ms. Lauricella! The name is familiar. Questions posed to the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights a few years ago, questions they mostly did not answer:Brewington, Frederick K. and Mark Mishler. “University at Albany Seeks Pound of Flesh and Disregards the Rights of Three African-American Female Students.” Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington. March 7, 2016.
Eastman, Katie. ”Attorney: UAlbany Disregards Rights of Students Accused in Bus Attack.” Time Warner Cable News. March 7, 2016. http://www.twcnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2016/03/7/attorney-says-ualbany--disregards-the-rights--of-3-students-accused-in-bus-attack.html
FOIA response page 2 of 181:Lauricella like her (former?) boss McNeill and like his former boss Murphy must be cool with all such things?“[OCR:] How did you first become acquainted with the complainant?
“The witness [Clarence L. McNeill] stated that he received an email that was sent to the University’s general conflict resolution mail box in the spring of 2011 about the University’s academic integrity policy and Code of Conduct. He said that he contacted the complainant and suggested that he meet with him so that he could walk him through the process and explained all the different scenarios that could take place once he became part of the process”
QUESTION #3: May I have a copy of the recording of OCR’s interview with McNeill? The recording presumably ought to have been covered by the FOIA request, unless it’s exempted for some reason - in which case that should have been indicated somehow.
QUESTION #4: Why was Mr. McNeill not questioned regarding his falsehood about the first time he’d become acquainted with me?
QUESTION #5: What e-mail of mine and what e-mail of Clarence L. McNeill’s was Clarence L. McNeill referring to from spring of 2011?
I have, for example, one of May 12, 2011 2:58 PM that was sent to crcr@uamail.albany.edu (Conflict Resolution and Civic Responsibility) but it was also sent to Mr. McNeill directly (contrary to his testimony, if it’s the one he’s referring to), as well as Sally D’Allessandro, Nancy Lauricella, and Karen Murdock. McNeill did not explain all the different scenarios that could take place once he became part of the process. I wasn’t reporting something per se, but asking if free-riding on group assignments (“Contributing less, little or nothing to a group assignment and then claiming an equal share of the marks”) constituted academic dishonesty - something that should have been easy for any of them to answer, yet which none of them would answer. I didn’t expect all of them would answer, I just wanted to ensure that some one of them would by bringing the question to everyone’s attention.
The reply from “Conflict Resolution” on May 19, 2011 11:54 am was “This conversation would probably be better suited occurring over phone, but in regards to your question - the information provided in the ‘unauthorized collaboration’ definition should cover it. Approved group work is acceptable, depending on the instructor/discipline/assignment, etc…”
I wasn’t asking about unauthorized collaboration. I was asking about free-riding (refusing to engage in authorized collaborating by doing nothing) on group work and sharing fully in the grade of the person or persons in a group who did do the work, and whether that constituted plagiarism or some other form of academic dishonesty at UAlbany. I replied on May 19, 2011 5:24 PM indicating that “e-mail is the only good way for me to communicate”, which was true; I wanted something in writing. They did not reply. I still don’t know what UAlbany’s position on it is, but presumably as with so many other forms of academic dishonesty that they permit in practice, they permit it.
[...]
I would have to check my own records further, but I believe the first interaction Mr. McNeill and I had might have been the following, four years prior to the Spring 2011 date Clarence L. McNeill stated in his testimony to OCR:
From: Clarence L McNeill
Subject: RE: Standards of Conduct for professors?
Date: March 14, 2007 11:40:52 AM EDT
To: [Me]
[...]
Among other communications Clarence L. McNeill had with me prior to Spring 2011:
From: Clarence L McNeill
Subject: RE: alcohol policy & ASP writers
Date: April 19, 2007 11:24:01 AM EDT
To: [Me], John M Murphy
[...]
Thank you very much for concern.
I appreciate your respect both for the code of conduct and your peers [sic] right to "free speech”. I will confer w/Associate Vice President Murphy regarding the content of the articles and develop a follow up plan.
Thanks again.
——Original Message——-
From: [Me]
Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 8:01 PM
To: John M Murphy; Clarence L McNeill
Subject: alcohol policy & ASP writers
I’m writing both of you, since both of your names appeared on the page regarding the Alcohol Policy.
I wonder if you have read James Whittet’s “Dick jokes for a living” in his “Unqualified Advice” column in the Monday, April 9, 2007 ASP, page 6?
Or Tara House’s “69 Things I Just Gotta Do Before Graduation” in her “House Rules” column and Lucinda Hark’s “Think before you chalk” in her "Red Couch Confessions" column in the Monday, April 16, 2007 ASP, page 7?
At best, they’re joking about, at worst, advocating: underage drinking, blackouts, near-lethal B.A.C.s, fake IDs, drunken nonconsensual sexual contact, smoking marijuana, growing marijuana, and driving under the influence of marijuana. While on the one hand, I don’t want to attack free speech, on the other I’m wondering if this writing runs contrary to the University’s Standards of Conduct and Alcohol Use Policy. It certainly runs against the Social Norms Campaign on alcohol to have that many ASP staffers writing about abusing alcohol and drugs. They are also, in effect, in my community both on campus and in the Capital District and the behavior they are again, at best trivializing, is potentially dangerous to me, to others, even to themselves if they are engaging in it or encouraging it rather than merely writing it.
Whittet’s column also notes he has a website, http://www.thedrunklife.com (when his Facebook account, if true, indicates he’s under the legal drinking age). On that website he writes, accompanied by a photo:
I am pleased to report that Igor briefly slept next to a drunk girl. Uninvited spooning with an intoxicated minor is a drastic step towards date-rape… err, wait, so maybe this isn’t so good.
Regardless, it makes for a great photo op. Needless to say, no penetration took place, although the victim remains steadfast that she is ‘scared for life.’”
Frankly, a lot of the sexual behavior and attitudes they have (particularly House and Whittet) I also find troubling, but I directed comments on those to the Task Force on Sexual Assault.
Apart from legal and safety issues, I do plan on pursuing a degree through UAlbany, and I don’t want to see it regain its reputation as a ‘party school.’ A degree from UAlbany I think would mean something less to me knowing that people like these can have their behavior condoned and graduate without consequences.
[...]
I never heard back from Clarence L. McNeill or John M. Murphy regarding any “follow up plan” they developed.
“An interesting name choice for this College Professor
“[Whittet’s screen capture of faculty webpage of Sho-Ya Wang, Professor of Biological Sciences]
“O Chinese people, when will you learn?”
Whittet, James. “Cream of Sum Yung Gi?” The Drunk Life. September 5, 2008 @ 11:38 pm
Sunday, March 6, 2016
University at Albany Police lacking in decorum... but not decoration!
US Code section 176 (d): "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery. It should never be festooned, drawn back, nor up, in folds, but always allowed to fall free. Bunting of blue, white, and red, always arranged with the blue above, the white in the middle, and the red below, should be used for covering a speaker's desk, draping the front of the platform, and for decoration in general.
Laws: why should the University at Albany Police care about 'em? Why not flaunt disobedience instead?
https://web.archive.org/web/19991128185410/http://police.albany.edu/
https://web.archive.org/web/20060812075748/http://police.albany.edu/
University at Albany Police Pledge of Allegiance
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, which makes a great tablecloth for arranging still-lifes, under my gun, and uniform, with room for handcuffs and all.”
The 7 1/6 Minute Gap
The University at Albany Police have generally in the past put out two annual reports, one called the “University Police Annual Report” and another that is the “Annual Security and Fire Safety Report,” the latter in connection with the federal Clery Act.
The last Clery Act Report posted is from 2014 http://police.albany.edu/ASR.pdf I’m not sure when the 2015 report will be posted. March 2016 seems rather late, and maybe it won't even be posted until sometime after March.
I’m not sure if the “University Police Annual Report” has been issued since 2012, and if not why they stopped issuing them. Regardless, those reports from 2009 to 2012 all stated this:
99% of calls for service were responded to within four minutes or less.
http://police.albany.edu/UPDAnnualReport2009.pdf
http://police.albany.edu/UPDAnnualReport2010.pdf
http://police.albany.edu/updannualreport2011.pdf
https://police.albany.edu/UPDAnnualReport2012.pdf
Of course, what does “responded to” mean?
They picked up the phone within four minutes? Sent someone out within four minutes? Had someone arrive on scene within four minutes? Are they including calls that had been transferred, or only direct calls? There's any number of ways of lying with statistics.
it still took seven minutes and 13 seconds before an agreement was reached to send police. [...]If the time is from call to an officer being sent, UAlbany's average of 240 seconds is far, far worse than 30-60 seconds. 433 seconds is execrable. Granted, the caller in the bus incident was having side conversations, not providing specific information, etc. Granted, she didn't call during the incident. Granted, the 911 operator shouldn't have gotten into an argument about who said "thank you" first and probably should have asked more direct questions to get the necessary specific information. 433 seconds remains in need of an explanation. The city and the university, unsurprisingly, aren't offering one.A third-party 911 dispatcher who spoke to Time Warner Cable News says the average time from reported assault to officer response should be 30-60 seconds, and should include questions about the potential victim's medical condition and whether the caller is in danger or needs medical aid.
Redick, Geoff. "Moving Target: Police Response Unclear in UAlbany/CDTA Case." Time Warner Cable News. March 4, 2016. http://www.twcnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2016/03/4/moving-target-police-response-unclear-in-ualbany-cdta-case.html
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