[NY] Schenectady Police Officer Lewis fired AGAIN. Arrested 7 times since his rehire. He's appealing.

...Mayor Brian U. Stratton said that despite his many arrests, [Schenectady Police Officer John] Lewis, 40, has remained unrepentant. "Perhaps most unforgiving, he has never expressed even the slightest remorse for his actions or made any effort to accept personal responsibility for his conduct" ...

‘AN ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE INVESTMENT OF TAXPAYER MONEY’ IS FIRED FROM SPD
Albany Times Union
April 12, 2010 at 3:56 pm by Mike Goodwin
With his former boss calling him an “an absolutely horrible investment of taxpayer money,” Officer John Lewis was fired from the Schenectady Police Department today. Mayor Brian U. Stratton today fired Lewis, the troubled patrolman who has faced charges in recent year for a slew of alleged offense including vandalism, drunken driving and domestic incidents... “John Lewis was an absolutely horrible investment of taxpayer money,” Police Chief Mark Chaires said... Lewis has been arrested six times over the last two years, most recently for driving while intoxicated. He has also been acquitted in city court twice — once in a harassment case involving his ex-wife, the other this past January for his first DWI... It is the second time Lewis has been fired. In the late 1990s, Mayor Albert P. Jurczynski fired Lewis for using a racial slur, but a judge later reversed the decision and ordered Lewis returned to the payroll. [Full article here]

COP TO APPEAL TERMINATION
Schenectady officer had been arrested five times in past year, officials say
Albany Times Union
By Paul Nelson
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
SCHENECTADY -- A day after being fired from the police department, John Lewis is appealing the city's efforts to get rid of him, according to his attorney, James Tuttle of Latham. Tuttle lamented Tuesday that Lewis, who faces domestic and drunken driving criminal charges, could not testify during the disciplinary hearings that led Mayor Brian U. Stratton to kick him off the force. The mayor's decision Monday afternoon followed a recommendation last week by hearing officer Jeffrey Selchick that the 40-year-old police officer be terminated. "There are two sides to every story, but hearing officer Selchick only heard the city's side of the story," according to a statement from Tuttle's office. "The police department is clearly hauling itself up by its own bootstraps"... In January, prosecutors dropped a contempt charge against Lewis stemming from his alleged violation of an order barring him from contact with his ex-wife. He suffered a stab wound in December during a visit with a girlfriend in Massachusetts. That same month, he pleaded not guilty to a 10-count indictment charging him with eavesdropping, stalking, aggravated harassment, computer trespass, computer tampering and tampering with a witness. In that case, Lewis is accused of using a former girlfriend's computer to hack into his ex-wife's e-mail accounts. Lewis also is facing charges stemming from a fight in January of this year with his brother, also a police officer, before damaging their mother's home. In March 2008, a City Court judge acquitted him of harassment. Prosecutors had argued that he fought with his ex-wife over custody of their son. Lewis filed a notice of claim in which he contends the city conspired with his ex-wife to get him fired. Tuttle said he and attorneys for the city will select from a list of seven arbitrators recommended by the New York Public Employment Relations Board... [Full article here]

FIRED COP CALLED 'HORRIBLE INVESTMENT'
Schenectady terminates police officer who's been arrested multiple times
Albany Times Union
By Paul Nelson
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
SCHENECTADY -- Officer John Lewis' blemished 16-year career with the Schenectady Police Department, which include multiple arrests for drunken driving and domestic incidents, is over.
Mayor Brian U. Stratton announced his decision Monday to accept an independent hearing officer's recommendation to terminate Lewis, who remains behind bars on unpaid leave. He has not been on active duty since March 2008. This marks the second time in 12 years that Lewis has been fired from the police department. Stratton said that despite his many arrests, Lewis, 40, has remained unrepentant. "Perhaps most unforgiving, he has never expressed even the slightest remorse for his actions or made any effort to accept personal responsibility for his conduct," the mayor said during an afternoon news conference in the City Hall rotunda. Stratton said he concluded after reading the report that Lewis "had clearly placed his own interests above those of the public he swore to protect and serve," and that the officer had "time and again acted with complete and utter disregard for the law and for the authority of his superior officers"... The disciplinary hearings focused on the five times Lewis was arrested from April 2008 to January 2009 on charges of harassment and violation of protective orders for his former wife, insubordination during an alcohol-related driving incident, another alcohol-related incident involving property damage and a domestic incident at his mother's Schenectady home... [Public Safety Commissioner Wayne] Bennett said Lewis should never be able to wear a police uniform again. "It's not appropriate for John Lewis to continue in law enforcement anywhere... None of us is more frustrated with the expense and delay than those of us with the management of the city," Bennett said... [Full article here]

Previous posts on blog:

• [NY] Fired, reinstated Officer Lewis arrested for assault on his wife
• [NY] Fired, reinstated, arrested Officer Lewis arrested a 2nd time in 2 months
• [NY] Fired, reinstated, then twice arrested Officer Lewis CLEARED of dv charges
• [NY] Fired, reinstated Officer Lewis arrested 3rd time - after alleged death threats
• [NY] Officer Lewis arrested 4th time - (How much will it take?)
• [NY] Cop-on-cop domestic violence is FIFTH ARREST in 9 months for STILL-A-COP John Lewis
• [NY] Fire Officer Lewis? We'll believe it when we see it. 
• [NY] Fired, reinstated, ARRESTED FIVE TIMES, suspended Officer Lewis is rejecting the plea deal 
• [NY] STILL-A-COP??? Schenectady police officer John Lewis arrested SIXTH time - 
• [NY] Suspended Schenectady Police Officer John Lewis arrested a 7th time since being rehired

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