What SHOTS FIRED? What EMPLOYEE INJURY? What ASSAULTS? What SEX CRIMES and BURGLARIES?

Sometime late last year, thanks to the Freedom of Information Law, for the first time I came across a monthly report from the Hudson Police Department which detailed what our police officers, detectives and police chief were spending their time doing.  It is called the HPD Incidents by Type report, and it is a list that is typically more than two pages long.  I don't know if HPD is required to create this report or even why they bother compiling it, but it is possible that it is meant to be seen by few, if anyone, outside of HPD, and possibly just by the mayor.  I have never once heard mention of this report by name at an informal council meeting in the 10 years I have been attending meetings, and I would bet a few dollars that not one current common council board member, including Tom Depietro, is aware that HPD's monthly Incidents By Type reports exist. 

But every one of those members should be aware of every month's report, and they should all be aware of the latest report before they arrive to the informal meetings. The entire report should be read to the council and the public -- slowly -- by the Police Chief or whoever shows up to give the HPD report.  This would allow the council and the public to more realistically understand what is actually going on at HPD, what they are spending their millions of dollars on, problematic issues and trends related to crimes as well as, perhaps most crucially, allowing the council and public to ask the questions of HPD that need to be asked.  The much too brief verbal HPD reports given to the council at informal meetings by our Police Chief aren't much help in the full disclosure arena.  In my mind, it's pathetic how brief Mishanda Franklin's reports last and how little important information they disclose.  This has been the case for far too long, including Mishanda's recent predecessors.

During Chief Mishanda Franklin's (once again) very brief report to the council at February's informal meeting, during which she tried her best to inform the council and the public what her department had been up to the previous month, she mentioned just 1 of the 81 items listed on her own department's Incident By Type report for January.  It's true; just 1 of 81.  (That entire report is below, in 3 portions with the last toward the end of the article.  Click on them to enlarge and read more easily.)

I have chosen 16 "incident" types from the report's extensive list of January's activity at HPD (just 20 percent of the total!), including the number of each incident type, each of which Mishanda made no mention of and no council member or member of the public asked her about (how could they ask if they were ignorant of the information?).  I consider these quality-of-life issues/"incidents," some quite serious, to be grossly, suspiciously and unacceptably omitted form Mishanda's HPD report.  She could have mentioned all 16 of them -- and others -- but she chose not to, as she does every month.  It seems to me that there is an obvious question or two that needs to be asked of our police chief:  Why on earth are you not mentioning the important information found on your monthly Incidents By Type report every month during the council's and the public's only public forum?  Have you ever even considered doing so?

Are you ready for the unmentioned "incidents"?  (Sounds so innocuous, doesn't it?)   Here they are:

5 Assaults (were there any arrests?  How bad were the assaults?  Any injuries?  Were any HPD officers assaulted?)

2 Burglaries (Home break-ins?  Any arrests?)

17 Detective Investigations (for what?  Do we have a gang or drug problem?  Is that average for a month?)

21 Domestic Disputes (Any arrests?  Any injuries?  Is this a typical amount?  Did they take place in a certain ward or were they spread around the city?)

1 Employee Injury (what type of injury?  Was the officer forced to stay home or in the hospital?  Is the police force down an officer, and if so, for how long?  What were the circumstances leading to the injury?)

22 Hazards (Of what type?  Anything we should be concerned about?)

1 Internal Affairs (What can you tell us about this?  What officer(s) did it involve?  Who is reviewing this?  Is it the result of a complaint from the public?  Was excessive force involved?  Will the council and public be informed of the results of an investigation into a Hudson officer, or will this be kept under wraps forever?)

18 Larcenies (18!?  Is that high, low or average for a month?  Were they Grand Larcenies? Petit?  How severe were they?  Any arrests?)

16 Parking Complaints (What are the typical reasons for the complaints?  Are there areas or streets that get more complaints than others?  Is this a typical number for a month?  High? Low?)

14 Remove Persons (Please explain!  Removed from where? Any arrests?)

1 Sex Crime (please offer the details you are able to. What, if anything, can you tell us about the victim?  Arrest?)

2 Sex Offender Registrations (should we be concerned?)

8 Special Detail (Such as?)

9 Trespass (criminal or civil trespass?  Did any involve other crimes?)

22 Traffic Complaints (Offer a few examples, please.  What are the results?  How many of the complaints are related to speeding?)

5 Vandalism (Such as?)

Apparently, Mishanda didn't feel that even one of the 148 individual "incidents" during the month of January 2025 -- some of them serious and concerning crimes -- was worth mentioning to the council or the public.  Not one.  No information, no explanations, nothing, not a peep, as if none of it happened or was information the council and the public would be interested to know about.

If that doesn't concern you, I don't know what would.

This certainly should.  On two occasions over the past several months, a line in an HPD Incidents By Type report was titled Shots Fired.  Subsequent to both of those "Shots Fired" incidents, Mishanda failed to mention to the council or the public anything about a gun, or guns, being fired or how many bullets were shot and where the bullets wound up.  Here is a portion of December's report, with the Shots Fired "incident" line outlined.

There can be no debating that it is serious cause for concern when there have been shots fired in our city -- regardless of how many specific incidents occurred or what the circumstances were -- while the police chief fails to mention anything about it during her HPD report.  When is it a good time for our police chief to mention incidents of gunshots to the council and the public if not at a council meeting?  What good is a verbal HPD report at an informal council meeting -- a summation of the previous month's activities at HPD -- if it doesn't include mention that gunshots were recently fired, even if the police chief is unable to give any specifics and even if most people are aware of the occurrence and local media has reported on it? 

And there are more omissions of concern.  It should be noted that one female HPD officer, Jessica Mausolf, hired in 2019, has been out on maternity leave for at least a few months.  Who knows, maybe she has no plans to ever return to HPD.  Maybe she already quit.  Mishanda has never made mention of Officer Mausolf's absence.  One Hudson cop (a good one, I might add) quit in late January (read about former officer Martinez's departure here: Why Did An HPD Officer Quit The Force?).  Given two opportunities at subsequent meetings, Mishanda has made no mention of a decent and respected officer leaving HPD.  Good luck finding a replacement of that former officer's caliber and experience.  

All of that might pale in comparison to this.  In over two months and two meetings, our police chief has not bothered to mention that a young officer was added to the police force in January.  How on earth is this possible?  Apparently, since it couldn't have slipped Mishanda's mind to announce that we have a new police officer keeping us safe and upholding the law, that information was also on our police chief's extensive list of BE SURE NOT TO MENTION TO THE COUNCIL activities and "incidents" at HPD.  It's not just a blue wall we have at 701 Union Street; it's a huge black hole surrounding a tall blue wall.

From a January 30th posting on the HPD facebook page.  That's
our freshest recruit, Officer Hoose, towering over Chief
Franklin.  (The officer's first name was not offered.)  Mishanda
saw no reason in mentioning this event to anyone outside HPD.

Mishanda's February HPD report to the council lasted all of one and a half minutes!  She began by mentioning 6 "incidents" that occurred during January, only one of which can be found on January's Incidents By Type report.  That was, as she said, "emotionally disturbed persons," or mental health as it is depicted on the list in the report.  It took Mishanda just 25 seconds to mention the incidents that she felt the council needed to know about. this included: emotionally disturbed persons (nine); body cam info concerns (none); use of force incidents (none); arrests and charges (32/49, with no specifics); drug overdoses (none); and vehicle accidents involving pedestrians (none).  Mishanda wrapped up her report by mentioning a "fire seat event" (I hope she meant "baby seat event") that took place yesterday, spending 28 seconds on that information alone.  Our police chief spent more time informing the council and the public about an upcoming baby seat event than she did informing us about what her officers were spending their time doing the previous month responding to a total of, according to the January Incidents By Type report, "708 incidents."  

This is beyond credulity.  Why isn't our police chief reading the entire report to the council and the public, or at least half of it?  Would it take her too long?  Would Tom Depietro not allow it?  Would the extra time informing the council and the public about Mishanda's department's activities interfere with her child rearing?  Does Mishanda think all that insightful information would be too much for the little brains at the council to handle?  Does Mishanda have any respect for the council or the public?

The last portion of January's Incidents 
by Type report from HPD.

Why would our police chief be continually making so little effort to offer a clear, comprehensive and true picture of what is going on at HPD?  Is it because "this is the way it's always been done" (which it has)?  Is it because it would paint an awful picture of what is really going on in Hudson and at HPD?  And what else is our police chief not telling us about that isn't on the report that she ought to be?  This all begs another question, doesn't it?  That is, how on earth is the Common Council satisfied with monthly HPD reports that usually last no more than a minute and a half?  Is it because none of them care to actually know what is going on at HPD and how officers are spending their days and nights and our money?  I can tell you for sure that neither of my third ward reps, Shershah Mizan nor Lola Roberts, gives a crap about what goes on behind the black hole blue wall at HPD, nor what is detailed on any HPD Incidents By Type report, even if they were to be made aware the reports exist.  Mishanda probably knows this, too!  Why bother mentioning anything from the report if she knows they and others don't care?  As long as those two useless council members (and several others) get their money and health insurance, they'll stick around for as long as possible and not say one critical word -- or ask any worthwhile questions -- of anyone at City Hall, including the chief of police.  They will just shut up and do nothing but allow Hudson continue to rot, hold no one accountable to anything, and let the workings of City Hall be as opaque as mud.  

Too much information, no progress, dinner getting
cold at home. No mention of shots fired.

Some HUDseen readers may not be aware that there was a time not too long ago when each department had their own monthly meeting. Then Tom Depietro decided to lump every department report into the informal meetings, making them an exercise in patience, paying attention and staying awake.  For instance, a DPW or HPD department meeting might have had a half hour or 45 minutes of scheduled time every month to allow plenty of time for a report and other matters, including time for questions and comments from the public toward a department head in no rush to make way for another department report (I can assure you, though, this was not always the case for DPW meetings!).  For the past 5 years or more, informal meetings include every department report, so, along with all the other meeting necessities, it should come as no surprise that everyone, including Tom Depietro, just wants to get the meetings over with as soon as possible. ("Dinner is waiting at home!" "I think I hear my baby crying.") There's too much going on, too much information, too little time for pause and examination and DISCUSSION.  This is how public engagement with City Hall, accountability, transparency and democracy are lost.  This is how a police department report is able to gloss over the issues that affect Hudson residents most.  And this is exactly the scenario that Tom Depietro and Kamal Johnson, regardless of what they might say to the contrary, prefer.  They, along with Rob Perry and possibly Mishanda Franklin, are our MAGA representatives.  

If you, like me, feel that there is no reason that Mishanda Franklin's monthly HPD report to the council and the public shouldn't include all, or most, of the previous month's Incidents By Type report, who do you suppose is going to require this of her or any future police chief?  Might it be Tom Depietro?  How about Kamal Johnson?  Are you fucking kidding me?  They might as well all be wearing red hats. 

Can you guess how long it took our police chief to get through her HPD report during March's informal meeting, held two weeks ago?  Does one minute and four seconds sound about right?  That may be her shortest report to date; they only seem to be shrinking by the month.  Does that sound acceptable to you, as it does to Mishanda, Tom, Kamal and the entire useless Common Council?  

Mishanda didn't mention anything about gun shots being fired in the city last month, but that doesn't mean there weren't any shots fired, does it?  Soon after HUDseen receives February's Incidents By Type report, you can read all about it here, gaining insight into what is really going on at HPD and in our city and what quality of life issues our police chief continues to keep to herself.  

It needn't be this way!