Tag: buffalo new york

Gov. Hochul’s security detail under investigation

State Police investigators are probing whether troopers in Gov. Kathy Hochul’s security detail have been cheating taxpayers by claiming they’re on the clock when they’re actually blowing off their shifts, The Post has learned.

The probe is focused on members of the governor’s detail stationed in New York City — and those troopers under scrutiny have already been removed from their post and could face disciplinary action if the allegations are confirmed, state police officials told The Post on Monday.

The governor’s detail includes a rotating group of more than 40 troopers and supervisors, law-enforcement sources said.

The New York State Troopers’ Internal Affairs Bureau is probing claims that at least some of them had their records falsified so that they could still get paid even when they weren’t working, sources said.

Some of the troopers are specifically accused of having colleagues sign them in on timesheets and then simply not showing up for their shifts, sources said.


New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s state-police security detail is under investigation because some members may have falsified records to get paid while blowing off their shifts.
The Washington Post via Getty Images

IAB investigators grilled several troopers in Hochul’s detail last week about the allegations, with more officers expected to be questioned later this week, according to sources.

The probers also are reviewing everyone’s timesheet, sources said.

In a statement Monday, state police spokesman William Duffy confirmed that the agency “has launched an administrative investigation into time and attendance issues involving members of the Protective Services Unit.


Gov. Kathy Hochul's security detail is under investigation.
The governor’s security detail is the focus of an internal state-police probe.
Larry Marano

“Integrity is one of our core values and we thoroughly investigate any claims of wrongdoing,” Duffy said. “If our investigation determines that our policies were violated, the state police will take appropriate disciplinary action.”

Hochul, who was elected last year after taking office in 2021 to replace disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is assigned three different security details to protect her: in Albany, New York City and when she is at her home in Buffalo. 

The sources said each of the Albany and New York City details consists of four troopers and one supervisor when they’re on duty, with the details drawn from the larger group.


Gov. Hochul has more than 40 state troopers in her revolving security detail for when she is in New York City, Albany and Buffalo.
Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

Members of the same rotating group guard Hochul when she’s at home in Buffalo, although it is unclear how many personnel that involves. 

The state police said it does not confirm details of security deployments or how many troopers are assigned to each location for safety reasons.

The allegations of time-clock cheating surfaced earlier this month, the sources said. 

Officials in the governor’s office did not respond to requests from The Post seeking comment on the probe Monday. 

Additional reporting by Zach Williams in Albany

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Original Source

Suing Big Guns and Big Oil is just cynical political posturing

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced last week that the Queen City had filed a “first of its kind” lawsuit targeting and blaming firearms manufacturers for the rising gun violence there. It’s not remotely the first, despite invoking a new “public nuisance” state law, and it’ll fail: Suits against Big Guns over crime, like those targeting Big Oil over climate, are just lawyer-enriching, and posturing-pol-promoting, bunk.

“The City of Buffalo is not going to let these gun industry members continue to flood our city with illegally possessed guns. We must hold them accountable,” Brown declared of the case against such gunmakers as Beretta, Smith & Wesson, etc., as well as distributors and local gun shops — plus, ghost-gun retailers like Polymer 80.

Maybe there’s a case against the ghost-gun crew, but all the other targets have weathered similar litigation before, starting in the ’90s. As long as the defendants obey the laws on serial numbers, background checks and so on, they’re not liable for third parties’ illegal use of their products.

The lawsuit blames gun manufacturers for the high number of illegal guns in Buffalo.
Corbis via Getty Images

Blame racist gunman Payton Gendron, not the gun industry, for the Tops Supermarket massacre. Local thugs and gangbangers are responsible for the terrible street violence in Buffalo and urban areas across New York.

Brown, like many pols before him, is trying to dodge his real duty. Lawyers are eyeing fees, or in some cases just hoping friendly judges will ignore the law to help them shut down the “evil” industry.

It’s much the same with litigation pretending that Big Oil has deceived the public about carbon fuels and climate change. Suit after suit has failed because the evidence just isn’t there — which hasn’t stopped New Jersey from filing a new suit because its politicians want to posture.

Reality check: Oil’s used precisely as intended to run our cars, heat our homes and keep the lights on. Lacking practical alternatives, society has chosen the emissions despite environmental costs. (By the way, global coal-burning rose this year, for the same reason.)

And while some petro-companies have questioned some claims of the anti-carbon lobby, they haven’t lied about what’s known, or even about what their private research has found.

Again, the hope here is that ideology will triumph in the courts where it hasn’t when it comes to writing laws. Lawyers get some work, politicians get to wax indignant — and they can all hope for a windfall if enough judges play along.

It’s not a bold struggle for justice; it’s a racket.

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Original Source

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