Here's A Story That Should Have Made It On The Front Pages of the Register-Star and Times-Union

Inside a recent HPD Monthly Incidents report I received as part of a Freedom of Information Law request, one thing stood out from all the typical incidents HPD responds to (and that Chief Franklin never mentions during her monthly reports to the council).  It was titled "Internal Investigation."  No other information was offered. But because there is no outside oversight of cases involving corruption, misconduct and shenanigans at the Hudson Police Department -- a department with an extremely long history of misconduct and corruption -- we may never know what that recent internal investigation was about or what its outcome might have been or will be.  How many internal investigations has HPD conducted recently, say, under Mishanda Franklin's watch?  Who is conducting the investigations, particularly when the Chief of Police is away on maternity leave for months?  Does dealing with parking matters interfere with Chief Mishanda Franklin's and Captain David Miller's ability to investigate their own officers properly, thoroughly and in a timely fashion?  How would the residents of Hudson know if Mishanda Franklin or David Miller were being investigated for misconduct, let alone a patrol cop or two?  What Hudson Police Department cop or investigator was the focus of that recent internal investigation by the Hudson Police Department, and what were the results?  Good luck getting answers to any of these questions. 

HPD Misconduct   (click to read the article)

The only reason that Sammy Sussman and Chris Gelardi were able to write an article exposing misconduct made by one person at three local Hudson Valley police departments, including HPD, is that they requested internal documents from the departments and received them, something the Register-Star and the Times Union have no interest in doing or time to do.  Like at all police departments, what happens inside HPD -- especially the bad, embarrassing conduct -- typically remains there.  This can and should change with the creation of some sort of local police misconduct review board made up only of people outside HPD.  It's the right thing to do, and there are plenty of good reason that most cities operate with some sort of outside oversight of their police departments.  For some strange reason, Hudson City Hall and HPD have chosen not to.

A little over a year ago, I received from HPD several internal investigation documents (with lots of redactions) regarding an incident over three years ago of an extremely drunk and combative off-duty Hudson police officer who is still on the force.  The incident the officer was investigated for is shocking and disturbing; anyone else besides a Hudson cop would have been immediately handcuffed and arrested.  And had that Hudson police officer been arrested, it would have been on the front page of the papers the next morning.  But perhaps more disturbing than the misconduct incident and the result of the investigation (it was absurd!) is the fact that none of that important information that all Hudson residents have the right to know about -- and should know about -- never made it outside of 701 Union Street, at least at the time.  HUDseen may publish those documents soon -- documents that no one else outside of HPD besides me has likely ever read.