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Jul 13

2020

Former Bills great recalls beating by police

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On a cold winter night in 1987, Booker Edgerson was driving down Bailey Avenue, just a few blocks from where he then lived on Buffalo’s East Side. Suddenly, a flash in his rearview mirror: a police car signaling him to pull over. So he pulled into a parking lot — a “mistake,” he later called it, “because it’s dark up in there.” Within a few minutes, he was on the ground, surrounded by several cops, nightsticks raised. “They beat the shit out of me,” he said. It was a familiar experience for a black man in America. But the fact[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jul 8

2020

Heaney discusses suspended cop on WBEN

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Lt. Michael DeLong has been investigated 36 times by the Internal Affairs unit of the Buffalo Police Department and suspended four times. His recent vile outburst directed at a woman recording him on her cell phone makes five. Jim Heaney discusses with NewsRadio 930 WBEN.

Posted 5 years ago

Jul 7

2020

Suspended cop has been disciplined a lot

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 Updated: 1:55 p.m. The Buffalo police lieutenant suspended last week for his vile insult of a woman filming him has previously been suspended four times during his career and been the subject of 36 misconduct complaints lodged by citizens or the department. Twelve involve inappropriate use of force; three have involved domestic incidents.  Investigative Post obtained the disciplinary records of Lt. Michael A. DeLong under the state Freedom of Information Law. His “disciplinary card” lists a 30 day suspension in November 2018 for an unspecified “domestic” incident; a one-day suspension the year before for a violation of procedures; a[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jul 5

2020

News outlets struggling to varying degrees

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The state of local news media in Western New York was in a precarious position before anyone heard of COVID-19. Now that the virus has wreaked its havoc on both public health and the economy, the situation is that much more concerning. The problems of The Buffalo News have been well documented previously in this column: smaller staff, less news coverage, shrinking circulation, much thinner profit margins, now in the hands of a chain carrying more than a half-billion-dollars of debt. Yet, The News continues to make money – or was, prior to the pandemic – and puts out a[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jul 1

2020

Vulgar insult by cop only the half of it

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Further details about the incident Sunday in which a Buffalo police lieutenant verbally accosted a woman suggest police didn’t know how to properly handle a mentally ill man or the woman who taped the episode. The incident, which resulted in Lieutenant Michael DeLong getting suspended without pay for calling Ruweyda Salim a “disrespectful little fucking cunt” began at the home of Monica Lynch, whose son was subject of police attention at a 7-Eleven convenience store. pic.twitter.com/JXiPFslWIE — رويدا سالم (@ruweyda_salim) June 29, 2020 Lynch said she was shocked to hear police tell Salim on the video that her son attacked[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 29

2020

Police suspend cop over misogynist insult

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Updated: 9:01 p.m. Buffalo police have suspended a lieutenant without pay Monday night and launched an Internal Affairs investigation into an incident captured on video Sunday in which he called a woman a vile name when she questioned why 10 officers were called to deal with a man who appeared high on drugs.  In the video, Lieutenant Michael DeLong calls Ruweyda Salim a “disrespectful little fucking cunt.”  Police Commissioner Byron Lockwood responded by ordering an investigation by the department’s Internal Affairs unit and then later suspending DeLong. Lockwood was responding to the wide circulation of the video, shot by Salim[...]

Posted 5 years ago

Jun 28

2020

HarpData tries, tries again

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HarpData, already months behind completing a project to provide wi-fi access to thousands of Buffalo students, sought work on another school district job earlier this year and is now complaining it didn’t get the contract. The district’s purchasing director rejected the company’s bid, deeming HarpData a “non-responsible bidder.”  Now, three months later, HarpData is crying foul. Two weeks ago, months after the deadline to object had passed, the company filed a formal protest with the School Board, alleging irregularities in the procurement process and bias on the part of the district’s purchasing director.  But district officials are adamant they had[...]

Posted 5 years ago
Investigative Post