Tag: City Hall

Aug 6

2020

Heaney talks police contract on ‘Pressroom

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Following up on Geoff Kelly’s report last week, Jim Heaney talks about provisions of Buffalo’s contract with its police union that make it difficult to discipline officers and deprive the department’s leadership of many management rights. Heaney, speaking on The Capitol Pressroom,  noted that while Mayor Byron Brown has harshly criticized the union and its contract for being an obstacle to reform, city negotiators have failed to propose changes.  

Posted 4 years ago

Jul 20

2020

Police misconduct costing Buffalo millions

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 A cop shooting and paralyzing a teenage driver.  A police tow truck driver running a red light and slamming into a passenger car. A cell block attendant ramming a handcuffed detainee’s face into a door at Central Booking. The incidents all led to lawsuits against the City of Buffalo and its police department, and subsequently settlement agreements. Since 2015, a total of 16 settlements have cost taxpayers $11.9 million. Most involve excessive use of force or negligent driving. Those figures trouble Samuel Davis, a local defense attorney.  “I find it alarming that that much money has been paid out,”[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jul 20

2020

The roots, and consequences, of WNY’s racism

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Note: This column originally appeared in Buffalo Spree. Our nation has a lot of work ahead of it if it is to address the structural racism laid bare by COVID-19, the killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed. Buffalo and Western New York have an even heavier lift. Much of the initial focus has been on reform of the Buffalo Police Department, and that’s certainly a good place to start. But the region’s problems run deeper – much deeper. They begin with segregation, which, going back generations, has advantaged whites at the expense of blacks in any number[...]

Posted 4 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 4 years ago

Jun 23

2020

Heaney discusses Buffalo Police on ‘Pressroom

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Jim Heaney talks the pitfalls and politics of policing during an interview with David Lombardo of The Capitol Pressroom. Investigative Post has reported extensively on policing issues since 2016, including coverage of anti-racism protests in recent weeks.  

Posted 4 years ago

Jun 12

2020

Online petition seeks Brown’s resignation

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A group of local community activists have launched an online petition demanding the resignation of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. The activists say Brown has failed to show leadership in the two weeks since demonstrators took to the streets to protest police brutality. The petition states: From the start on Saturday, May 30th, protestors were met with lines of militarized police. Cops were armed with rubber bullets and tear gas while helicopters occupied the sky and armored vehicles occupied the streets.  Among the results, the petition continues, were assaults on activists Myles Carter and Martin Gugino — the latter attracting national[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jun 10

2020

Analysis: Brown’s police reforms are modest

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Updated: 9:36 p.m. The police reforms announced today by Mayor Byron Brown fall well short of demands made by protestors and actions being taken by some of his big-city peers. Brown, after several lengthy meetings over the past week with a coalition of activist groups, outlined at a Wednesday press conference the first steps the city is prepared to take.  Among them: more police training; greater use of de-escalation techniques; replacement of the Emergency Response Team, whose members resigned en masse last week, with a new unit; and establishment of a commission to study further reforms. Other aspects of the[...]

Posted 4 years ago

Jun 9

2020

School contract was failure waiting to happen

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To hear senior staff tell it, the Buffalo school district never should have gone through with a contract awarded to HarpData to provide wi-fi service to students in two low-income neighborhoods. The firm’s finances were suspect, according to the district’s purchasing director, and the district’s unusual decision to waive a performance bond put the school system in a precarious financial position should the project falter.  There were questions about the propriety of meetings between the vendor and district staff, including the chief technology officer, prior to the project being put out to bid. And there were doubts whether the project[...]

Posted 4 years ago
Investigative Post

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