Remember another State Police scandal
Adirondack Film Festival will kick off Thursday night in Glens Falls
By Ken Tingley
Twenty-one years ago, Rep. John Sweeney drove his 2001 Jeep Laredo off the road after a January night of skiing at Willard Mountain. It was not snowing.
Sweeney was beginning his second term in Congress and was a rising star in the Republican Party after helping to shut down the presidential recount in Florida after the 2000 election. President George W. Bush had christened him “Congressman Kickass.”
Sweeney was a political insider in the state Republican Party. He had served as executive director and chief counsel of the state Republicans from 1992-1995 and played a key role in the re-election campaign of Gov. George Pataki in 1995 before resigning to run for Congress.
As Sweeney drove down the hill form Willard and turned onto Vly Summit Road in Easton that night, he failed to negotiate a turn, drove off the side of the road and sliced a utility pole in half that left the ski area briefly in darkness.
State police responded to the accident. Rep. Sweeney was not hurt and he was not charged nor ticketed for the accident.
It took four hours to open the road and eight hours to restore the power to Willard.
But when a Glens Falls (NY) Post-Star reporter did cop checks the next morning, he was not told about the accident nor the power outage at Willard. Nor the day after that.
Reporters and editors began hearing rumors the congressman had been in an accident.
It was eight days before the newspaper was able to confirm the crash in Easton. On the ninth day, the reporter asked why the accident had been kept quiet by the State Police.
Capt. Frank A. Pace denied that Sweeney had been given any preferential treatment. The congressman refused to talk about it with a reporter. The congressman’s chief of staff said he would not discuss it either.
A bartender at the ski area confirmed Sweeney had drank some wine before heading home, but did not seem intoxicated. State Police did not allow the officer who was at the scene to talk to the reporter about what he had seen.
It all smacked of a cover-up.
The trooper who responded to the accident initially told the reporter he had not contacted a supervisor. Five years later, State Police sources told the reporter it was Capt. Pace who had been contacted after the crash and made the decision not to issue tickets.
This was the first entry in what became an increasingly murky reputation for Sweeney. It culminated when it was revealed just days before Election Day there had been a domestic violence call from Sweeney’s wife a year earlier.
Kirsten Gillibrand won the election.
Eventually, the truth come out about these things if you are willing to wait, and if you have veteran reporters with institutional knowledge.
That was the case here and I recount the Sweeney saga in my book “The Last American Newspaper.”
In the weeks after the loss to Gillibrand, the Times Union reported there were “dueling” State Police reports about the 9-1-1 call to Sweeney’s residence.
It appeared efforts were made at the highest levels of the State Police leadership to protect Sweeney before the report was leaked. The same Post-Star reporter who unearthed Sweeney’s accident coming home from Willard five years earlier, found out the State Police captain who decided not to issue Sweeney a ticket after the accident had been involved with the 9-1-1 call. After an investigation, he had been reassigned and his salary lowered.
I was reminded of the Sweeney saga when the State Police’s current superintendent Kevin Bruen resigned last week after he was accused of mishandling workplace complaints.
Bruen, who was once an assistant district attorney in Warren County and is married to former Warren County DA Kate Hogan, was not with the State Police during Sweeney’s years, but it showed there can still be problems at the highest levels of law enforcement.
Days after Bruen’s resignation, the head of New York’s Police Beneveolent Association was placed on leave and sources said that expense reports were being reviewed. The PBA’s counsel also submitted his resignation.
Over in Fort Edward, the police chief and a sergeant were both convicted of lying about completing police training they never took. Both have left the force and the village is considering eliminating its police force altogether.
At the time of the Sweeney’s accident 21 years ago, the Glens Falls newspaper was accused of trying to make Sweeney look bad and being part of the “liberal media” that was playing politics.
Sweeney later admitted that he was a “professional alcoholic” during his years in Congress.
It took 10 years, but the newspaper reporting was proved correct. It was the State Police who were playing politics.
Energy prices
For those that follow the news, you are probably aware a spike in gas prices is expected because Saudi Arabia and Russia agreed to cut production of oil by 2 million barrels a day to boost their profits.
Nevertheless, I expect we will see a rash of social media posts in the coming weeks blaming this all on President Biden.
Repeat: It’s supply and demand when it comes to economics. Presidents have very little control over the world economy.
Heading to Denver
After a fellow journalist read by book “The Last American Newspaper,” she asked if I was available to speak to some of her colleagues.
So I will be heading to Denver to speak to the Denver Press Club about the state of newspapers and journalism.
It’s encouraging to see my book is resonating with so many professionals in the newspaper business and readers.
Film festival
Reminder that the Adirondack Film Festival kicks off on Thursday night with the opportunity to watch movies all day Friday and Saturday. You can buy tickets for one day at a time or for the entire festival. You can also buy tickets to watch the moves online at home.
I will be moderating a panel discussion on Lyme Disease with the directors of “The Quiet Epidemic” at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Crandall Library. The documentary will be shown at 2:30 p.m. Also on the panel is SUNY Adirondack professor Holly Ahern.
I highly recommend the movie to your attention. Both of the directors Lindsay Keys and Winslow Crane-Murdoch have Capital District roots and have dealt with Lyme Disease. They met at their doctor’s office and the early planning for the movie took place in Queensbury where they reached out to Ahern for her knowledge on the subject.
Check out the movie and stay for the discussion afterward.
I heard that Sweeney was going to be the next Saratoga County Republican Chairman. Some things never change.
I remember the Sweeney incident well. A local politician was also involved in the cover up. I worked at Willard on the weekends. It was quite the topic of conversation.