Michael D'Onofrio

mcdonofrio@lohud.com

NEW CITY - Police surveillance of African-American community groups. Communications about local elections. Drawing up critical fliers of political opponents.

These were some of the issues Police Chief Michael Sullivan was questioned about at the start of the second round of disciplinary hearings against him on Tuesday, as a small crowd of supporters looked on.

Sullivan, who remains suspended with pay from his $270,000-a-year job, testified for nearly three hours in a meeting room on the second floor of town hall. Robert Ponzini, the hearing officer, oversaw the proceeding.

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This second round of disciplinary hearings centers on the most significant charges against the chief, some of which originally led to his suspension.

The charges include how Sullivan handled Supervisor George Hoehmann’s order to reassign former Detective Sgt. Stephen Cole-Hatchard from the Rockland County Strategic Intelligence Unit in 2016. He is accused of insubordination, dereliction of duty, disobedience and incompetence, among other failings.

Cole-Hatchard was called to testify but did not appear. He also did not appear for testimony during the first round of hearings.

Defiance or politics?

The hearing began with opening statements by prosecution attorney William Harrington and defense attorney Richard Glickel.

Harrington said Sullivan had defied orders and, along with Cole-Hatchard, misused police information to "attack those they perceived to be political enemies of the police department." He said Sullivan's actions “violated not only the general orders of the police department but the public’s trust as well."

Glickel countered that the Town Board's objective has been to remove Sullivan as the town's top cop.

“The charges ... were created in order to justify a goal that the town supervisor had even before he took office in January 2016," Glickel said. "One of those goals was to get rid of this man: Chief Michael Sullivan.”

Harrington then grilled Sullivan for hours, touching on sensitive communications within the department, much of which involved Cole-Hatchard.

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Harrington argued that Cole-Hatchard, as director of the SIU, and Sullivan had violated department regulations and federal law by conducting unwarranted criminal surveillance on two African-American community groups — We the People and Black Lives Matter.

The two groups were included in SIU reports targeting gangs, violence, police riots and drugs.

Sullivan, Harrington argued, failed to properly oversee Cole-Hatchard.

But Sullivan testified he was not informed about the surveillance until after he was suspended. He maintained while intelligence had been gathered on We the People, the report was not a “criminal investigation.”

Although the SIU is run by the Rockland District Attorney’s Office, Cole-Hatchard was required to keep Sullivan informed of the unit’s investigations.

In an department email revealed at the hearing, Cole-Hatchard flagged We the People for surveillance for sponsoring a play, called "A Clean Shot," in late 2015 in Haverstraw. Harrington also revealed an SIU report that was compiled about We the People over the production.

The report included the names of the group’s members, an analysis of their social media posts and photos. The members of We the People also were run through a police records database and no criminal backgrounds were found, according to the report.

“Although the individuals involved in the organization have strong opinions, there is no cause to believe this event is going to become violence,” the report said.

We the People filed a lawsuit earlier this year alleging that the SIU engaged in unlawful surveillance and racially profiled the group and its members.

Targeting political opponents

Sullivan was also asked to respond to departmental emails targeting political opponents.

Harrington revealed emails from Sullivan discussing his displeasure with a decision that exonerated Clarkstown Justice Howard Gerber from an ethical complaint the chief filed against him in 2015, and whether the department should respond by releasing information supporting the complaint.

The exoneration came soon before the 2015 election, in which Gerber was a candidate for town justice; the police department ultimately did not release anything.

“I did not want to interfere with an election at all,” Sullivan said Tuesday.

Harrington also brought up emails between Cole-Hatchard and Sullivan regarding the 2015 candidacy of Rockland Sheriff Louis Falco.

In the run-up to the 2015 election, Cole-Hatchard had sent Sullivan a political flyer that criticized Falco. Sullivan said he believed he deleted the email, and that he told Cole-Hatchard that it was not acceptable.

“This is the opinion of one man," Sullivan testified. "This does not speak for the police department."

The hearing will continue Friday at 9:30 a.m. at Town Hall.

Ponzini has yet to render his recommendations to the Town Board regarding the charges covered in the first round of hearings.

The Town Board will ultimately vote to accept or reject Ponzini's recommendations regarding both sets of disciplinary charges.

Meanwhile, Sullivan recently announced he is running for supervisor. The Democrat is bidding to face Hoehmann, a Republican, in the November election for a two-year term as town leader.

Twitter: @mikedonofrio_

