Allegations of damaging a colleague’s vehicle
The New York State Police on Sunday announced the arrest of a Cold Spring Police Department officer, identified as Anthony P. Pupczyk, following purported attacks upon a fellow Cold Spring officer’s car.
Photo courtesy of New York State Police
Maj. Michael Kopy, commander of state police Troop K, based in Wappingers, said that the troopers had apprehended the suspect early Oct. 20, and charged him with criminal mischief in the third degree, a felony. The state police alleged that Officer Pupczyk “was caught damaging a co-worker’s vehicle.”
According to a news release from Kopy, another CSPD member “had four of his vehicles damaged during the course of the year and suspected Officer Pupczyk was committing the damage, but was unable to prove it until he was caught last night by Village of Cold Spring Officer in Charge George Kane.”
Kane contacted the state police, who made the arrest, Kopy stated. He added that Pupczyk was released on his own recognizance and awaits an appearance in the village justice court.
When are the citizens / taxpayers of Cold Spring going to wake up and demand that their inept, unnecessary, wildly overpriced unaffordable police department be abolished, as was done in Putnam Valley? All of you who are paying the freight for this agency need to analyze your $2 million budget to see where all the money’s going. It’s a good bet that the alleged perpetrator will not lose his pension and/or benefits, no matter what happens with the case. This should be a wake-up call.
If we should get rid of one of our policing operations, it’s the county’s that I would choose to get rid of, not the local force.
Patty, there’s a reason that your shop is in Cold Spring (a town of 2,000) vs. your hometown of Putnam Valley (population 12,000). I’ve experienced the lack of service provided by the force based in Carmel: a call for assistance at my home was greeted with a big shrug; a following call to the town office to ask if they could contact the local officer resulted in a check of my house and a returned phone call from the officer within 15 minutes.
I grew up in Somerset County, Maine: population 52,000, area 4,000 square miles, sheriff’s budget of about $1.5 million; vs. Putnam County: pop 100,000, 231 square miles, exact sheriff’s budget hard to determine, but a considerable multiple of $1.5 million. They’re too busy manning speed traps on I-84 and campaigning for office to be bothered dealing with Cold Spring’s piddling issues. If Putnam Valley wants to relinquish their responsibility for public safety to the county, then that’s just fine, but we in Cold Spring know better.
I believe all but Officer Kane are part time, which may limit their eligibility for benefits/pension with the Village. Maybe some more research is needed before we cry that it’s time to get rid of the entire department due to one incident. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many of the Cold Spring Police Officers and would hate to see them be forced out of a job because one person allegedly made a bad decision.
Then again, maybe if we get rid of the Police Department the Village could afford to put up new street lights on Main Street so a night patrol wouldn’t be necessary.
Does anyone remember what happened in Brewster when they thought they could save some money and ditch their police?
I would pay $2 million to have them there every morning when I drop my children off at Haldane. Let’s face it: this end of Putnam County isn’t the one that keeps our Republican sheriff in office. In any case, he has his hands full with the towns out east that are understaffed or don’t have police forces. Our sheriffs are great but there’s no special reason to think they will take up the slack of our village force if it were to disband. So our cops are worth a lot more than the $29 an hour we pay them. Since when is an annualized salary of $60,000 a year paid out to part-timers something exotic and uncalled for?
As a taxpayer in Cold Spring, I am more than satisfied with our local police department. There is nowhere in the U.S. I would ever feel as safe as I do right here. Whatever their pay rate, we need to remember there is the daily potential for injury or even loss of life for those who serve as police officers. It’s time to stand and support them, not put them down.
This is exactly the kind of stuff we heard back in the day, before the Putnam Valley PD was abolished. It was predicted that if we got rid of the local cops, our town would be overrun by the drug cartel, criminals from Peekskill, robbers, you name it.
The scare tactics put forth by not just our PD but also their union supporters and other outside agitators from all over New York were designed to instill fear into the townspeople who were choking on the taxes caused by the PD budget. Eventually, thanks to a truly courageous supervisor and town board that voted to abolish the force, we were able to rid ourselves of a duplicative agency that was seamlessly replaced by the sheriff and state police. There was never any crime wave and in fact, less than a year after they were gone, even their most ardent supporters had nothing to complain about.
Cold Spring taxes are not my problem as I live in Putnam Valley. However, as I have a business here and watch what goes on, I find that it’s very interesting to see history repeat itself.
Would love to see what kind of tax savings were achieved when the Putnam Valley PD was replaced by town, county and state resources. Those law enforcement folks are not patrolling Putnam Valley out of the goodness of their heart. Residents are paying for them as well. I would love to see the difference in what local cops were costing per year versus what these folks cost. My guess is that Putnam Valley saved practically nothing.
I happen to know personally some of our Cold Spring officers, having served with them in the New York PD. They are hard working and honest people who do not derive a second pension. Because of my law enforcement experience, I can objectively see their dedication to the people they serve.
While this may not be true of the entire department, they certainly are well trained as my entire brethren of NYPD are. P.O. Pupczyk is an accused person entitled to his Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights. Though he was accused by fellow officers and their attestations are credible, we must wait to find out the truth. A rush to judgement benefits no one. In addition, I feel as though my tax dollars are well spent, as their expertise is immeasurable. There has been criminal activity in Nelsonville, Garrison and Putnam Valley (heroin sales), so this is affordable protection.
Regarding the former PVPD — the year after the department was abolished, our town budget was reduced by nearly $1 million. We were already paying for the Putnam County Sheriff and State Police and we did not see any tax increases for either jurisdiction once our local police were no longer in place. Of course none of these agencies are patrolling out of the “goodness of their hearts.” They are funded by the taxpaying residents of our communities and they have an obligation to perform the services that they do. In the case of Putnam Valley, our local PD was duplicating the work that was being done by the SD and State Police, and not doing it nearly as well as it turned out.
Prior to the abolishment, there were years of public hearings, financial analyses, demographic studies, etc., not to mention numerous lawsuits that were brought to try to stop the town board from acting. All of the information that was generated indicated that there would be a huge tax saving without a loss of services and that is what happened. During the past 15 years we have had ample protection including resource officers in our schools who enhance security in those buildings. I don’t think you will find too many people, if any, who’d want to bring back the force.
I would go the other way. The objective should be a full-time police force. If the officers were full-time and residents of the village, their commitment would be that much greater. I grew up in a town the same size as Cold Spring and we had a full-time police force. Each officer had kids in the schools, knew every merchant and every resident — they were fully invested in their job because it was also their home. Civilization and security come at a price.
I am very happy to have the Police Department, whatever we pay them can never be enough for what they face in the line of duty every day and night of their lives, and remember: We are all innocent until proven guilty, and even then there is reason to doubt.
I guess money is no object around here!
This discussion was brought up because one police officer allegedly made a foolish mistake and for whatever reason, that means we should get rid of the entire police department? I would guess that our Police, Fire and EMS are there within 2-3 minutes of being called – even at 2 a.m. If we get rid of the PD or consolidate with any other departments, that response time will most likely increase drastically. At the end of the day money is always important to everyone. However, it’s not always worth sacrificing quality to save a few dollars. There is a saying that I’m sure everyone has heard before – you get what you pay for.