Categories for Co-produced with WGRZ

Jul 24

2020

Judge bars release of cop disciplinary records

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Updated: 9:21 p.m. A state Supreme Court judge has at least temporarily blocked the release of most disciplinary records of Buffalo police officers.  Judge Frank A. Sedita III, responding to a complaint from the Police Benevolent Association and Buffalo Professional Firefighters Association, issued a show cause order Friday afternoon that prohibits the release of most disciplinary records until a hearing scheduled for Aug. 26. The police department has received several dozen requests under the Freedom of Information Law for disciplinary records since the state repealed 50-a, a state law that shielded from public disclosure the personnel and disciplinary records of[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jul 20

2020

Police misconduct costing Buffalo millions

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 A cop shooting and paralyzing a teenage driver.  A police tow truck driver running a red light and slamming into a passenger car. A cell block attendant ramming a handcuffed detainee’s face into a door at Central Booking. The incidents all led to lawsuits against the City of Buffalo and its police department, and subsequently settlement agreements. Since 2015, a total of 16 settlements have cost taxpayers $11.9 million. Most involve excessive use of force or negligent driving. Those figures trouble Samuel Davis, a local defense attorney.  “I find it alarming that that much money has been paid out,”[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jul 20

2020

Buffalo police release disciplinary records

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 The disciplinary records of police officers across the state have been a well-guarded secret until last month, when the state Legislature and governor changed the law to make them public. Some of those records involving Buffalo police are now being disclosed, including 50 pages released Monday to media outlets including Investigative Post after we filed a request used the Freedom of Information Law. The records involve the disciplinary records of officers who have been investigated most often by the department’s Internal Affairs unit in the past five years. Buffalo police released information on the 10 percent of officers who received[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jul 14

2020

Furloughs at OTB despite federal aid

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Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. has furloughed two-thirds of its workforce after accepting more than $3 million from the federal government intended to keep employees working during the pandemic. The Batavia-based OTB has been forced to shutter most of its operations since March. Its casino at Batavia Downs, the largest source of revenue, is closed under state order. OTB’s 19 betting parlors, located around Western and Central New York, have reopened at 50 percent capacity. The harness racing season at Batavia Downs is scheduled to start on time July 25 and run through  December. The shutdown has cost OTB an[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jul 7

2020

Suspended cop has been disciplined a lot

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 Updated: 1:55 p.m. The Buffalo police lieutenant suspended last week for his vile insult of a woman filming him has previously been suspended four times during his career and been the subject of 36 misconduct complaints lodged by citizens or the department. Twelve involve inappropriate use of force; three have involved domestic incidents.  Investigative Post obtained the disciplinary records of Lt. Michael A. DeLong under the state Freedom of Information Law. His “disciplinary card” lists a 30 day suspension in November 2018 for an unspecified “domestic” incident; a one-day suspension the year before for a violation of procedures; a[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jun 26

2020

DA wants out of police brutality case

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 Erie County District Attorney John Flynn has requested that his office be recused in an investigation to determine whether two Buffalo police officers – Ronald Ammerman and Michael Scheu – should be criminally charged for using excessive force, Investigative Post has learned. Sources told Investigative Post that Flynn’s office is making the argument there is a conflict of interest because it’s also prosecuting Quentin Suttles, a man arrested during the incident. Suttles was charged with tampering with evidence as well as resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration and two traffic infractions.  Multiple videos of Suttles’ May 10 arrest[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jun 25

2020

Ali Ingersoll tells WGRZ about brutality claim

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Ali Ingersoll spoke with Michael Wooten and Maryalice Demler on WGRZ about a May 10 altercation between two white Buffalo police officers and an African American man who filed a notice of claim Thursday alleging brutality. As Investigative Post previously reported, Quentin Suttles, 30, was pulled over by Officers Ronald Ammerman and Michael Scheu as he drove the wrong way down a one-way street by East Eagle and Madison streets. The stop escalated into a tussle between Suttles and the officers, and a witness shot a video that showed Ammerman repeatedly punching Suttles in the face. Suttles, who suffered a broken[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jun 18

2020

COVID-19: Senecas face economic uncertainty

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As reopenings across the country begin, the impacts of COVID-19 continue to threaten the economies of Native American governments, including the Seneca Nation here in Western New York. Many tribes rely on casinos and other Native-owned businesses to fund services and capital improvements, but how soon those enterprises bounce back is uncertain. Of particular concern are casinos and their related bars, restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues, as those industries across the county are expected to recover slowly from the impacts of COVID-19. That imperils the economic pillars of the Seneca Nation of Indians, three casinos run by the Seneca Nation[...]

Posted 4 years ago
Investigative Post