Dem elites accused of slapping small-town cops with ‘witch hunt’ fines twice their pay

Dozens of officers successful a small-town New York constabulary section adjacent the Canadian borderline person been fined for allegedly taking portion successful an unauthorized labour onslaught during a snowy agelong this winter. 

The national described the fines arsenic retaliation and an maltreatment of powerfulness that denied the officers owed process.

One of the officers says the allegations aren't true. He went to work, participated successful on-duty grooming and adjacent made a drunken driving halt during a span erstwhile it snowed "every day."

"They're upset that we didn't marque them capable wealth and conscionable their perceived summons quota," said Andy Thompson, a Tonawanda Police serviceman and the president of the department's union, the Tonawanda Police Club. 

NEW YORK PRISON GUARDS FIRED FOR IGNORING DEAL TO END STRIKE, THOUSANDS SET TO LOSE HEALTH INSURANCE

Tonawanda Police Chief James Stauffiger aft an grant ceremonial successful March. The section constabulary national is pushing for his ouster aft members were accused of an unauthorized strike. (Town of Tonawanda Police Department)

Tonawanda Police Chief James Stauffiger, whom the national is asking municipality residents to oust, said Thompson's allegations are "without merit."

"I basal down the charges filed against the national with the Public Employees Relations Board and the idiosyncratic officers," he told Fox News Digital. "The process needs to unfold reasonably and thoroughly."

Thompson is among the astir 50 officers accused of going connected onslaught without authorization for 1 hr a time implicit a nine-day agelong and has had 2 hours of wage docked for each of those days, according to a missive helium received that was signed by Tonawanda Town Supervisor Joe Emminger.

BLUE CITY POLICE SERGEANTS SAY THEY'RE PAID LESS THAN SUBORDINATES AS BILLIONS GO TO MIGRANTS

"We didn't strike. We showed up to enactment each day. We did our jobs each day," Thompson told Fox News Digital. "We didn't constitute capable tickets, and we didn't enactment capable wealth successful the town's coffers. And they decided they're going to good each officer."

Ticket quotas are amerciable nether New York law, helium noted, and workplace retaliation tin be, too.

Between precocious January into February, the municipality got truthful overmuch snowfall it ran retired of roadworthy salt, and determination was an summation successful constabulary calls. Officers were besides required to walk 16 hours doing mandatory grooming with caller department-issued guns, each during a staffing shortage aft 7 officers retired oregon near astatine the commencement of the caller year, Thompson told Fox News Digital. 

The Tonawanda Police Department headquarters (Google Maps)

OBAMA-ERA PROSECUTOR'S PROBE INTO BLUE STATE POLICE RACIAL BIAS CLAIMS CALLED ‘UNTENABLE’ FOR TROOPERS

This year, Tonawanda Police has issued 123 tickets, according to a filing with New York's Public Employment Relations Board. Between 2021 and 2024, the section issued betwixt 439 and 653 implicit the aforesaid period. Town leaders alleged successful the papers that the alteration is the effect of officers striking without support successful usurpation of the state's civilian work laws.

"It's unheard of," said Mike O'Meara, the president of the Police Conference of New York, the state's largest constabulary union. "They're making this up arsenic they spell along."

He called the town's labour ailment against Tonawanda officers "unprecedented," arsenic good arsenic the fines, which are treble the hourly wage of officers for each hr they were allegedly striking.

"It whitethorn beryllium somewhat unprecedented to assertion that a simplification successful the issuance of postulation tickets constitutes a strike," said Jerry Cutler, writer of "Legal Guide to Human Resources" and a Columbia University lecturer. "However, the captious contented from a ineligible standpoint is whether the employees person abstained from performing their duties successful the mean manner."

Andy Thompson is the president of the section constabulary union, the Tonawanda Police Club, and was accused of taking portion successful an unauthorized strike. (Andy Thompson)

Experts accidental that, feud aside, it boils down to whoever has much convincing evidence.

"A simplification successful summons measurement whitethorn constituent to a concerted effort to interfere with the employer’s operations, successful which lawsuit the enactment would apt beryllium recovered to represent an unlawful strike," Cutler told Fox News Digital. "Alternatively, the grounds whitethorn suggest immoderate morganatic crushed for the reduced summons measurement – oregon that this is not an apt means of examination – which would pb to a uncovering that the instrumentality has not been violated."

Department leaders accidental officers went connected onslaught to protestation disciplinary measures taken against Tonawanda Officer Bikramjit Singh, a U.S. Army seasoned accused of mishandling grounds portion investigating a imaginable cause deal. 

"He had his assemblage camera on. He opens this h2o bottle. There's a container successful there," Thompson said. "He looks astatine the bag. … He says it's garbage. He wraps it up successful his glove, and helium disposes of it."

However, a suspected cause trader and suspected cause idiosyncratic aboriginal told constabulary determination were drugs successful the bag, and section officials moved to person Singh fired for throwing it out, Thompson said. The alleged drugs were ne'er recovered, but Singh coiled up resigning since being fired could person outgo him his instrumentality enforcement certifications, Thompson said.

Tonawanda Supervisor Joe Emminger speaks during his State of the Town code Feb. 7, 2025. He is progressive successful an ongoing quality with the section constabulary union. (Town of Tonawanda/Facebook)

Tensions were already simmering betwixt the rank-and-file and Stauffiger, an Emminger appointee who they impeach of unfairly forcing Singh retired and withholding paperwork that would let him to find caller employment successful instrumentality enforcement successful different department.

Stauffiger, a 30-year subordinate of the department, was appointed main 5 years agone arsenic portion of an effort to eradicate corruption from the department. Thompson, too, represents caller leadership, having been president of the national for conscionable implicit a year. 

"There's nary owed process, and this full happening was done betwixt the supervisor and the instrumentality steadfast that represents the town, who besides donates ample amounts of wealth to the municipality supervisors' run and the Town of Tonawanda Democratic Party's campaigns," Thompson said, citing nationalist records. "So, it's much of a witch hunt than anything."

Emminger did not respond to a petition for comment. Neither did the town's instrumentality firm. 

Thompson believes the allegations people the archetypal clip the state's civilian work instrumentality has been utilized to punish constabulary officers for failing to conscionable "quotas" aft helium says the municipality mislaid wealth owed to a alteration successful postulation citations issued during the snowfall. 

"This is going to extremity up being lawsuit instrumentality by the clip this is each over," Thompson said. "This has ne'er been done to a constabulary national before."

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The national has launched a nationalist run urging residents to request that section leaders region Stauffiger, who they impeach of retaliation and harassment and withholding "basic gear," including wintertime coats. 

According to the union, during the clip officers were allegedly connected strike, the section inactive made 7 drunken driving arrests, issued much than 300 tickets and responded to astir 2,000 much calls for work than the aforesaid play a twelvemonth earlier with 14 less officers.

"The existent losers are municipality residents," O'Meara told Fox News Digital. "They're saying, ‘Make definite you tag the residents of this town.’"