According to a press release sent from James McCartney, president of New York University Police Officer’s Union, university police at Plattsburgh State delivered PSUC President John Ettling a vote of no confidence in their management against Chief of Police Arlene Sabo, Assistant Chief Jerry Lottie and Vice President of Student Affairs William Laundry at 3:30 this afternoon.
According to the press release, the vote of no confidence stems from the fact that the university police system is a de-centralized system within SUNY, which allows for police management "to operate outside of the rules with no consequence or repercussion."
"We do not take this vote lightly, this no confidence vote illustrates a crucial need for change at SUNY Plattsburgh," McCartney said in the press release.
Within the vote of no confidence, Sabo, Lottie and Laundry are accused of refusing to work in good faith with the labor force, failing to support its officers, mismanaging policy, procedures, staffing and case management, having had a history or poor decision making and creating a hostile work environment through things such as manipulation and intimidation.
According to this document, these reasons, along with others not mentioned within the document, were reasons the vote of no confidence was issued to Ettling.
Within the document it states that Sabo, Lottie and Laundry have harassed officers, saying that in the past, officers have been told they cannot talk to each other while on duty and have been "questioned and ridiculed" because of union involvement. It went on to say that Sabo and Lottie "constantly belittle, intimidate and threaten officers."
The document also states that Sabo, Lottie and Laundry are in the middle of a civil lawsuit for violating the rights of an officer within the department. It went on to state that incidents at PSUC have been "down-played or covered-up," while negative influences to the overall safety of the college have been ignored. Also, the document stated that Sabo and Lottie "favor politics over justice and safety when evaluating officer’s actions and arrests," and that there has been an abuse of power.
In addition, the document states that Sabo, Lottie and Laundry "seldom discuss labor issues," and that there has been a break -down of communication, leading to a "my way or no way" stance from Sabo Lottie and Laundry.
Ettling said he has still not determined what course of action he wants to take on the matter, since he has never been involved in a situation of this sort.
"Once I find that out I’ll call them (university police) and set up a meeting at some point," Ettling said.
Ettling said he received calls on the issue from local media outlets today before the vote of no confidence was even given to him.
"Somebody wanted it out in the hands of the local media before it was given to me," Ettling said.
The vote of no confidence was signed by officers Kevin Phair, Robert Light, Darren Barcomb, Jon Bombard, Paula St. Clair, Erich Pflanz, Thomas Sullivan and Eric Zielinski.
19 comments
In response to Feb 27, 8:59, I hope that President Ettling does the right thing and supports his officers instead of supporting his management. The UP management does not deserve to be supported. I am sure that the entire force probably would have signed this vote of no confidence if they weren't afraid of the repercussions. Let's see some of the examples of the contributions to the campus and community that has come from these three individuals. In my opinion, any personnel that has a civil law suit filed against them becomes more of a liability than a contribution. Let's "step up to the plate" and support our campus police officers.
Laundry - $127K
Sabo - $100K
Lottie - $88K