It is indeed my pleasure to present the 1998 annual report of the activities of the Glens Falls Police Department.

Nineteen ninety-eight was a busy year for the Glens Falls Police Department. It was a year filled with many changes. Sergeant Gary Bain retired from our force after over 23 years of faithful and dedicated service. Patrolman Donald L. Morrell also retired after 14 years. Sadly, ten year veteran Dispatcher William Gorrie lost a valiant fight with cancer very shortly after retiring during 1998. Bill was a dedicated member who served with honor; it is a loss we all feel.

Our technological advancements continued in 1998 with the installation and implementation of Automatic Vehicle Locators (AVL) and computerized mapping. AVL uses the Global Positioning System with a receiver mounted in the patrol car to place the vehicle on a computer generated map of the city. Computer mapping will also help us for crime analysis purposes. As a matter of fact the "pin maps" attached to this report were created using this technology. These latest advancements were funded by a Problem Solving Partnership Grant (# 97PRWX0523) from the United States Department of Justice. In addition the only reason we were able to get this technology implemented was because of the outstanding contribution of our own Sergeant Robert J. Ash. He has single handedly seen this project through to fruition. Sergeant Ash has spent countless hours of his own time in unselfish devotion to this project. He truly deserves to be commended for his contribution.

We continued our pro-active efforts throughout 1998 to reach kids and stop problems before they start. Our Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) Program continues to reach a large number of children. We presented the program through our outstanding D.A.R.E. officers, Patrolmen Jeffrey Crotty and Michael Anuszewski. We reached a total of over 700 kids through our K-4, 5^th grade and 7^th grade programs.

Our Police Athletic League (PAL) continues to be popular with kids and parents. The purpose of PAL is to provide fun and athletic things for kids to do with good role models. Police officers volunteer their time to provide PAL programs to our youth. In 1998, 560 children participated in PAL activities such as full contact and flag football, football camp, basketball camp, soccer camp, horseback riding and mountain bike rides. PAL activities are offered to the youth of our community at little or no cost.

The City's financial plight made the budget preparation this year a very difficult time for the Police Department. The 1999 spending plan is not adequate for us to perform in the same manner that we did in 1998.

Historically, training has been one of our major concerns and efforts. During 1998 we had an extraordinary 5,289 hours of training. The total cost of that training was $7,114. That means that our training cost an average of $1.34 per hour. Unfortunately, for 1999 we are budgeted only $3,300 for training. Of that figure, $2,400 is earmarked for the Zone Five Regional Law Enforcement Training Center and $600 is for educational reimbursement that is required by contract. That leaves virtually nothing for outside training seminars. I would recommend the Common Council consider adding additional funding for training. We know that we are more effective and efficient when we are well trained.

The total mileage the Police Department patrols consistently averages just under 200,000 miles per year. In 1999 there is no money in the budget to replace aging police cars. In addition during 1998 one police car was a total loss as a result of an accident and that vehicle has not been replaced. The concern I have about these set of circumstances is that we will not be able to recover and our fleet will consist of all old vehicles that constantly need to be repaired or replaced. You will note the yearly mileage report attached which indicates the odometer readings for each vehicle. Once again I would recommend the Common Council consider additional funding for a minimum of two patrol cars.

The drug problem continues to be an issue we fight on a daily basis. Drug arrests are up 33% over 1997. Thankfully the 121 drug arrests for 1998 are still much less than our all time high of 178 in 1996. In addition to a significant crack cocaine problem, on November 20, 1998 we experienced two unrelated arrests for possession of methamphetamine. This drug can become absolutely devastating to a community. We can only hope it does not take hold here.

In 1998 our felony arrests went up 21% from 301 in 1997, to 365 in 1998. One does not need math to see that there is an average of one felony arrest each and every day of the year. That 365 felonies for 1998 is the highest of the last five years on record, with 1996 being second with 346 felonies. The total of all our arrests, 2235, is only 6% above 1997's number.

Our Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) arrests had consistently been going down every year from 1994 through 1997. In 1998 we experienced an increase of 32% from 123 in 1997 to 162 in 1998. Once again this year we continue to experience a trend of recidivism with 14% of the DWI arrests being predicate offenders.

Other traffic tickets not including DWI went up 44% from 1391 to 2009. This could be due in large part to our aggressive participation in occupant protection enforcement. During 1998 we issued a total of 507 traffic tickets for not properly using occupant restraints. We remain convinced that these efforts are making our residents safer. If our enforcement convinces people to make using occupant restraints a habit there is simply no question lives will be saved as a result. Nothing that we do is more important that safeguarding human life. I am very pleased and proud of the efforts the members of the Police Department have made that will make a difference.

Interestingly enough we issued 233 less parking tickets in 1998. However the City collected $14,145 more in parking fines for 1998, a 30% increase. We would attribute this to a scofflaw program that we began in 1998. With this program the Department of Motor Vehicles will not allow a motorist to renew a vehicle registration until the fines are satisfied. Even with these efforts there are still a large number of motorists that individually owe the City many hundreds of dollars each. It would seem that the only way to ensure the City obtains that money it is owed is by instituting a system of booting violators that have a large amount of unpaid fines. The boot could pay for itself with the first use. The only reason for enforcing parking violations is for the purpose of managing parking. Issuing the tickets and collecting the fines are the tools of parking management. A system of booting flagrant violators who owe hundreds of dollars in fines is simply a good, inexpensive way to help manage our parking problem.

The police department is also responsible for generating fines from criminal cases and vehicle and traffic cases. In 1998 the City took in $41,755 in revenue from these fines. For 1998 the total of all fines collected from parking, criminal and vehicle and traffic activity was $102,950.

We had assigned Detective Sergeant Kevin Conine to the full time responsibility of pursuing accreditation. Unfortunately, due to the fact that Sergeant Gary Bain has not been replaced, Sgt. Conine has had to take over some of Sgt. Bain's duties and that has forced accreditation somewhat into the background.

In 1998, Administrative Assistant Debbie Cameron put the finishing touches on computerizing all of our budget accounts. This now allows us to keep track of the status of our budget in real time without regard to the difficulties encountered by the City's computer system. Mrs. Cameron has performed an outstanding service for the Police Department that has enabled us to very effectively manage our resources.

All of the outstanding and dedicated members of the Glens Falls Police Department perform their duties with willing zeal. They simply must have the resources it takes to get the job done. As you can see from this report these dedicated police officers are performing a vital and necessary public safety function. Vital public safety functions need funding. In addition to funding of the previously mentioned items, the Police Headquarters continues to be an issue that needs to be addressed. The quarters that our officers are forced to work in were inadequate years ago and they continue to be an embarrassment. Something needs to be done.

The members of the Glens Falls Police Department are dedicated to doing the right thing. We will get the job done and we will do it in a professional manner. We consider it our privilege to serve with knowledge, courage and integrity.

Richard P. Carey,
Chief of Police

Highlights of 1998 Detective Division Cases

Prepared by

Detective Sergeant Kevin W. Conine

• January of 1998 started out busy with some unusual and interesting cases. The director of Liberty House was arrested after an investigation into falsifying business records.
• Local CSEA treasurer was arrested, charged with embezzling funds from his union.
• A Glens Falls man was arrested for giving marihuana to school children in exchange for sex.
• A foster mother was charged with having sex with her foster son.
• A Lake Luzerne man was charged after briefly holding a woman hostage at knife point at Burger King.
• Another Glens Falls man was charged with selling crack cocaine out of his home on Bay Street.



• In February after a lengthy investigation into the sale of crack cocaine by a group of men from Glens Falls and Hudson Falls, they were charged with federal counts of conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine in this area. All have since pled guilty and are serving minimum 10 year sentences.
• A South Glens Falls woman was charged with stealing more than $100,000 from a local doctor's office where she had been employed as manager.
• Another Glens Falls man was charged with selling crack in Glens Falls.



• March of 1998 an employee of the Glens Falls Hospital was arrested after she falsely reported that she had been robbed while at work inside the Hospital.
• A Glens Falls man was charged after breaking into a city home and beating one of the occupants.
• We brought a Glens Falls man back from Oklahoma after he took his 8 month old child out of the state illegally. The child was safely returned to his mother.



• April 1998 a convicted sex offender was re-arrested and charged with sexually abusing school children after giving them marihuana. During a search of his residence numerous children's teeth were recovered. The suspect explained that he kept them as souvenirs.
• We conducted another raid on a crack house on Sherman Avenue and arrested two men from out of the area charged with sale and possession of crack cocaine.



• In May of 1998 we continued with Project 21 and arrested another store clerk charged with selling alcohol to a minor.
• On Ridge Street a parolee was arrested with one ounce of crack packaged for sale.



• June 1998 a South Street mother and her boyfriend were arrested for giving their teenage children marihuana on a regular basis.
• We also assisted the New York State Police in an extortion arrest where the suspect had taken the victim to a bank in Queensbury to withdraw $10,000. The suspect was arrested at the bank after a brief foot chase.



• Over the summer months along with continuing drug investigations and daily routine investigations we again began to pursue accreditation and have since issued numerous updated General Orders that should streamline our Standards and Procedures Manual.
• We also arrested a city man who was selling marihuana and hash oil. This is the first seizure of hash oil in our area.
• In September we conducted an investigation with the New York State Police into an international telephone scam. Five individuals from Pakistan, Canada and other middle eastern countries were charged with stealing more than $100,000 worth of long distant telephone service from apartments located throughout Glens Falls, Lake George, Hudson Falls and other communities in upstate New York.
• A Queensbury man was charged with selling marihuana, more than 3 pounds of marihuana was seized during his arrest.
• Together with the local drug task force we also arrested a Glens Falls man after an investigation and raid. He was charged with possession and sale of crack cocaine.
• Finally in September we arrested a 19 year old Glens Falls man for making counterfeit money on his home computer. More than $1,000 worth of counterfeit money was seized during the arrest.



• In October a Glens Falls man and his girlfriend were charged with robbery first degree after breaking into a home wearing masks and assaulting the owner. An investigation showed that the robbery was drug related.
• Five residents of Brooklyn were charged after a raid on a crack house on Elm Street. All were charged with possession of cocaine with intent to sell. Crack cocaine and a 1992 Acura Vigor were seized as a result of the investigation.
• Two Albany area men representing a corporate lending agency were charged with scheme to defraud after an investigation into a home improvement loan scam in Glens Falls.



• November 1998, during a sweep of downtown with the New York State Police and the New York State Division Parole a Troy man was arrested for having a half an ounce of crack with him that was packaged for resale. The sweep was conducted after a crack dealer had escaped from police custody in Cohoes and was supposed to be in our area. Later in the same week a Glens Falls man from Henry Hudson Townhouses, where the escapee had been linked to, was arrested and charged with rape in the first degree.
• We also assisted the Warren County Sheriff's Department in an investigation of a multi-county burglary spree. The suspect was arrested in Warrensburg after a pursuit. He has been charged with three burglaries and for stealing two cars in Glens Falls.



• And finally in December of this year a Glens Falls man was arrested after an investigation into larcenies occurring by the suspect generating worthless business checks from his computer and cashing them in Glens Falls and Queensbury.
• A city man was arrested for assault after he assaulted a driver on Warren Street. This was one of the first road rage arrests in the area this year.
• A Brooklyn man who recently moved to Glens Falls was arrested after an investigation into a reported robbery at Xtra-Mart.



• Also in 1998 we identified a suspect in a series of burglaries through DNA testing for the first time, and another serial burglar was again identified through a successful fingerprint match, from a fingerprint lifted at one of the crime scenes. The evidence in these cases was processed by our own certified evidence technicians. In both cases the suspects are already in custody and additional charges will be filed.
• In 1999 we will continue our enforcement efforts against the crack cocaine problem that seems to be on the rise again.

                               1997            1998

ARRESTS


Felonies                        301             365
Misdemeanors (including DWI)  1,006             929
Violations (including other)    500             637
Warrants                        300             304

Total                         2,107           2,235

DRUG ARRESTS

Felonies                        29               37
Misdemenors                     13               25
Violations                      49               59

Total                           91              121

VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT

Traffic Tickets              1,391            2,009
DWI Arrests                    123              162

Total                        15.4%            14.2%

PARKING TICKETS

Tickets Issued               4,985            4,752

Fines Collected(parking)    $47,060          $61,205
               (Criminal)   $37,206.15       $41,755

Total Fines                 $84,266.15      $102,960

ACCIDENTS INVESTIGATED

Fatal                             0                0
Personal Injury                 123              115
Property Damage                 662              593

Total                           785              708

                               1997             1998

LOCKUP DETENTIONS

Total Lockups                   835              538

ELECTRONIC INTRUSION DEVICE RESPONSES

Unfounded (false)               808              718
Founded                           0                4

PROPERTY CHECKS

                                 55               40

DOORS FOUND OPEN BY OFFICERS

                                116              188

COMPLAINTS-POLICE ACTION

Total Complaints             17,088           17,600

DETECTIVE DIVISION

Cases Assigned                  466              301
Arrests                         255              319

ASSET FORFEITURE PROGRAM

Shares received by police     $9,999.95         $4,108


                                                1997       1998


ODOMETER READING

                       YEAR ENDING 1998         MILES PATROLLED

Car 10                     40,576              8,756      6,908
Car 10A                    74,027              6,664      9,327
Car 10J                   134,888              6,291      8,597
Car 11                      4,030              5,615      6,569
Car 12                     74,596              6,240      7,288
Car 13                     59,682             16,064     13,896
Car 14                     66,848             21,303     20,146
Car 15                      2,988             23,931     14,759
Car 16                      2,321             16,777     17,097
Car 17                     58,492             22,169     21,013
Car 18                     32,330             19,904     24,756
Car 19                     53,500             19,509     19,212
Car 20                     34,764             20,816     24,759

Total                                        194,039    194,327

Bicycles                                        1,889      3,863


OVERTIME

Total Hours                                    5,991      5,655

TRAINING

Total Hours                                    5,766      5,289

SCHOOL CROSSING GUARDS

   There are fourteen intersections covered by 14 Crossing
   Guards. The cost to the City for salaries amounted to $62,007.


1998 SALARY SCHEDULE

TITLE             NUMBER OF POSITIONS      SALARY SCHEDULE

Chief of Police           1                $47,038

Captains                  2                $38,648 - $39,194

Sergeants                 5                $35,560 - $37,196

Detective Sergeant        2                $36,559 - $37,104

Police Officers          25                $27,338 - 34,859

Secretary to Chief        1                $21,312

Desk Officers             4                $19,302 - $26,000

Traffic Aides             1                $22,381

School Crossing Guards    14               $62,007 (total)

Chief RICHARD P. CAREY

Captain STANLEY N. WOOD
Captain JOSEPH W. BETHEL

Sergeant HAROLD W. MORRISON
Sergeant JOHN A. WINCHELL
Sergeant ROBERT J. ASH, JR.
Sergeant HARRY McDONALD

Detective/Sergeant KEVIN W. CONINE
Detective/Sergeant LLOYD J. SWARTZ, JR.

Investigator PAUL R. FRETTOLOSO

Patrolman RICHARD H. TOUGAS
Patrolman WILLIAM H. CASEY
Patrolman PETER M. HITLIN
Patrolman STEVEN D. HUNTINGTON
Patrolman PHILLIP A. LINDSEY
Patrolman WAYNE S. SCOVILLE
Patrolman JEFFREY M. CROTTY
Patrolman DANIEL J. WELCH
Patrolman JAY A. WELLS
Patrolman JAMES M. FIORINI
Patrolman MATTHEW P. EVANS
Patrolman JOSEPH R. AFFINITO
Patrolman JOHN P. NORTON
Patrolman MICHAEL A. ANUSZEWSKI
Patrolman STEVEN STOCKDALE
Patrolman CHRISTOPHER EGGLESTON
Patrolman KEITH KNOOP
Patrolman PETER CASERTINO
Patrolman MICHAEL O'CONNOR
Patrolman LEROY M. CHITTENDEN
Patrolman WILLIAM F. VALENZA
Patrolman GLEN E. VIDNANSKY

Dispatcher MATTHEW P. SUDERS
Dispatcher JOHN T. WELLS
Dispatcher JASON CLOUSE

Traffic Aide MARY B. GOODEN

Secretary DEBBIE A. CAMERON

ANIMAL CONTROL REPORT

                                       1997               1998

Complaints Handled                    1,406              1,605

Animals Sheltered                       148                115

Animals Returned to Owner                86                104

Animals Redeemed                         85                 57

Animals Adopted                          14                 23

Animals Euthanized                       44                 35

Animals DOA                             123                147

Animals Hit by Car                       17                 29

Wildlife                                257                264  

Total Animals Handled                   626                699

License Fees (Original)           $1,496.00          $1,227.00

Redemption Fee                    $2,349.50          $1,574.00


License Fees Renewal              $3,281.00          $3,661.00

Total Fees                        $7,126.50          $6,462.00

Dangerous Dog Cases                    8                     6

Other Police Agency Calls              9                    11
                                                      
Town of Queensbury Calls              24                    36

Rabies Cases NYS                   1,266                 1,096

Warren County                          3                     5

Rabies Cases - City of Glens Falls     0                     2