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| NEWS > 17 April 2007 |
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Fitzgerald put light on dark s
EXPECTATIONS were not high when Tony Fitzgerald, QC, was appointed 20 years ago to inquire into allegations of illegal activities within the police force and in high places. Queensland had lived through inquiries before with minimum effect on the way of life.
But as Fitzgerald was to find, corruption was endemic. His appointment followed six months' work by this newspaper after it set out to identify key figures running the seamier side of life in Fortitude Valley despite police assurances prostitution was unde... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Hunterdon Review - Lebanon,NJ,
17 April 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Two police officers charged wi
CLINTON TWP. - The county prosecutor’s office and the Clinton Township Police Department are continuing an investigation into the township police following charges that a hit-and-run accident by Patrolman Jason Peltack, 27, was covered up about a year ago by a fellow Clinton Township officer, Patrolman Christopher Szymanski, 26.
Both were charged with official misconduct last Tuesday, April 10, and then released on their own recognizance, authorities said. The two men have been suspended without pay from the Clinton Township Department, police said.
Both men have pleaded innocent.
Peltack is slated to be arraigned this Friday, April 20, on a completely separate charge that he was carrying a 12-gauge shotgun without a license when the emotionally distraught officer was arrested on Monday, April 2. Peltack was stopped by police in Raritan Borough while he was on his way to Immaculata High School in Somerville. The incident caused a lockdown of the high school.
Regarding the most recent incident, Sgt. Daniel Hurley of the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s office said an ongoing investigation had resulted in an affidavit alleging that on Aug. 24, 2006, Peltack, who was off duty at the time, struck another vehicle in the parking lot at Finnagel’s restaurant and bar off Route 31 and had driven off.
The affidavit said that Szymanski, upon receiving a report of the license plate number, failed to report that Peltack was the registered owner of the vehicle which reportedly left the scene of the accident. Peltack then allegedly logged onto the Clinton Township Police Department’s computer system and created an accident report that “fails to document his (Peltack’s) involvement in the accident,” according to the affidavit.
Neither Hurley nor the police in Clinton Township would comment further on the continuing investigation.
“Though it’s unfortunate that these things occur, this does not reflect the majority of the men and women in the Clinton Township police department,” said township Lt. John Kuczynski last Friday. “We are striving to keep our standards high and we want to ensure the public that the integrity is intact in this department.”
Investigation
He said the department’s internal affairs officers had worked with the county prosecutor on the investigation.
Clinton Township Police Director Robert Manney said that such allegations of police misconduct “are always discouraging, and it affects each and every officer not only within the town, but within the law enforcement community when it’s alleged officers are involved in this kind of conduct.”
In the meantime, Manney said the police department would continue to serve the public with “professionalism and dedication.” He said he could not comment further on the investigation.
Peltack had already been on desk duty for reasons that township police refused to specify before his arrest on April 2 in Raritan Borough. Peltack was hospitalized as a condition of his bail as a result of that incident, and missed his first arraignment date on the weapons charge, which had been scheduled for Tuesday, April 3. However, he was present in state Superior Court in Flemington to plead innocent to the misconduct charge last Tuesday.
Szymanski also pleaded innocent, according to his attorney, Anthony Fusco.
Peltack, a three-year veteran of the force, had moved up the scale in the police contract in March to begin earning $62,175. Szymanski, whose second anniversary with Clinton Township police is this month, had been earning $48,044.
Some officers had been contending that the department has been short-staffed. In addition to Peltack and Szymanski being suspended without pay, another officer is on long-term sick leave and Police Chief Steve Clancy, when he retired last year, was replaced by Manney as police director.
The decision to hire Manney, who started in March, instead of a police chief from within, was a controversial subject, but the mayor and Township Council referred publicly to problems within the department that could not be discussed in public.
Mayor Nick Corcodilos said last Friday that over the past year, he and Council President Kevin Cimei, along with the rest of the council, “have been working hard (towards) zero tolerance and expecting complete accountability” from all township departments.”
Manney said on Monday that the department was “assessing our manpower needs prior to this incident and certainly this doesn’t help in that regard.”
“We’re managing, but it’s certainly becoming more difficult,” he said.
Manney said the issue of staffing in the police department would be addressed “in the near future.”
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