As the campaign season continues to heat up, local law enforcement officials from Oneida and Madison County are expressing concerns with the current NY-22 Representative Anthony Brindisi.

An open letter was written and signed by union and agency leaders addressing it to the voters of NY-22. The letter talks about 'deep concerns' these leaders have with certain public officials and their attitude toward law enforcement. The beginning of the letter is very vague as to who the officials are writing about, but later in the letter they specifically call out Congressman Anthony Brindisi.

The letter points to their displeasure and concern with Brindisi voting for HR 7120. The main issues law enforcement leaders have included the following bullet points,

  • Strip local and state police agencies of decommissioned surplus gear from the Defense Department, which over the past few years has provided over $3 million to local agencies and $1.5 million to the New York State Troopers –at no cost to local taxpayers. This equipment saves lives and aids our budget-strapped departments to serve their communities, effectively and efficiently.
  • Allow trial lawyers to sue police officers individually for actions on duty, regardless of their intent or propriety. This would force officers to defend themselves in civil actions that could bankrupt them personally with legal bills, even where police were found to be in the right.
  • Publicly disseminate online all complaints and disciplinary actions against an officer, even if they were found to be innocent or the charges were unfounded. In an increasingly anti-police climate, this dangerously exposes police to harassment or worse by bad actors for false allegations.

The open letter concludes by asking Brindisi for an explanation as to why he voted for this bill. Brindisi joined 'First News with Keeler in the Morning' on WIBX 950 Friday. In response to the letter Brindisi told Keeler, "It's unfortunate that those individuals are believing what Tenney is selling them." He went on to discuss how the Fraternal Order of Police was heartened by the George Floyd Act.

The letter was signed by the Sherrill Police Benevolent Association, the Camden Police Benevolent Association, Fred Robenski, Officer-in-Charge, Boonville PD, Todd Hood (Madison County Sheriff), Michael Carpinelli (Lewis County Sheriff), Don Hilton (Oswego County Sheriff), New York State Troopers Police Benevolent Association (Tom Mungeer, President), New York State Police Investigators Association (Tim Dymond, President).

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