Topline: Police officers on Long Island are being fired for wrongdoing at a date most convenient for them.
Seven cops at the Suffolk County Police Department admitted to fireable offenses like drunk driving or revealing the identity of an undercover colleague. Instead of being terminated immediately, they signed settlements allowing them to remain employed until their total length of service reached 20 years — letting them collect a pension on their way out.
Newsday reported that the seven cops collected $7 million in salary after the county already determined they should be fired. Taxpayers have spent an additional $652,104 funding two of their pensions since 2018, Open the Books’ database shows.
Key facts: Suffolk County legislators and police executives refused to explain the questionable practice, but Newsday believes it’s a result of collective-bargaining deals.
In Suffolk County, union contracts dictate that only an independent arbitrator — not the police commissioner — can discipline officers. Oftentimes, the commissioner tries to fire an officer, but the arbitrator sides with the employee and gets them off scot-free.
By convincing officers to agree to generous settlements, the county can avoid arbitration and guarantee that the officer will eventually be fired, even if it doesn’t happen for several years.
“If the department could just fire the person right then and there, they would,” Lou Civello, president of the local police union, told Newsday. “The reason is they couldn’t. They negotiate the settlement because they think it’s in the best interest of the department.”
In 2017, the police department found that officer Jose Estrella had used police computers to search license plates for reasons other than official business. He was allowed to remain on the force until he becomes eligible for a pension in 2031. He has since collected $1.7 million in salary.
Officer David Mascarella admitted to drunk driving in a 2020 car crash that injured a 2-year-old boy. He was allowed to return to work and retired last year with a pension, Newsday found.
Mascarella’s colleague, Kevin Wustenhoff, forged Mascarella’s Breathalyzer test to make him appear sober. Wustenhoff was allowed to work another four years and left this January with a pension.
Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com.
Critical quote: “This is an alarming practice that nearly completely defeats the purpose of the discipline in the first place,” Josh Parker, deputy director of policy at New York University’s Policing Project, told Newsday.
Parker said he had never heard of another police department delaying an officer’s termination and added it is one of the “worst practices for an evidence-based system of police accountability.”
Summary: Police budgets are supposed to stop crime, not reward those who have admitted to committing them.
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