Federal lawsuit targets race, Clarkstown, Chief Sullivan, special unit
An African-American community group has filed a federal lawsuit against Clarkstown, its suspended police chief and the former head of its Strategic Intelligence Unit, alleging the group and its members were racially profiled.
In legal papers filed Thursday, the group, We the People, and 14 of its members claim the surveillance stemmed from its staging in 2015 of a play called "A Clean Shoot," which was about a white police officer shooting a black off-duty police officer.
A flier advertising the play, which was meant to "spark a meaningful dialogue about race," was brought to the attention of the Strategic Intelligence Unit, which generated an intelligence report on We the People.
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The lawsuit claims that surveillance of the group occurred despite the lack of evidence that any member had engaged in criminal activity, violence or posed a threat to public safety. Indeed, the intelligence report determined there was no reason to believe a "A Clean Shoot" was going to become violent, the lawsuit states.
"As a group, we were judged and racially profiled," Sabrina Charles-Pierre, a member of We the People and a plaintiff, said Thursday. "Our goal and focus as a group is the children and making change in our community by holding and sponsoring different events so that we can all come together to engage in something positive. What was done was wrong and it's sad to see that, in this day and age, how history really repeats itself."
Investigators with the unit have said the word "Shoot" came up in a search, alerting them. They say the unit searches public social media sites and doesn't conduct surveillance.
Police Chief Michael Sullivan, who has been suspended from his $270,000-a-year job since July over a host of charges including condoning illegal surveillance operations, is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, as is former Detective Sgt. Stephen Cole-Hatchard, who led the SIU before resigning after he was placed on leave.
Both men have lawsuits pending against the town. Their lawyers could not be reached for comment on Thursday night but both have previously denied the charges, which surfaced last year in the town's disciplinary action. The town had no comment Thursday on the lawsuit.
We the People's legal papers state the SIU, with Sullivan's knowledge and consent, also engaged in unlawful surveillance of Black Lives Matter, as well as two perceived political foes: Rockland County Sheriff Lou Falco and Town Justice Howard Gerber.
The lawsuit states the SIU was illegally monitoring town Supervisor George Hoehmann's Facebook media posts to identify people who supported his campaign to cut costs within Sullivan's $50 million department.
After Clarkstown's disciplinary charges against Sullivan were revealed at a September Town Board meeting, he and Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe, whose office works in conjunction with the Strategic Intelligence Unit, countered that the SIU performed no electronic surveillance, did not racially discriminate or violate anyone's constitutional rights.
Cole-Hatchard’s lawyer, Joseph Ranni, has said the SIU did not conduct searches specifically related to political figures or issues. Both he and Richard Glickel, Sullivan's lawyer, said Facebook posts and comments were available to anyone and could turn up in broad search terms.
Sullivan hearing to start
Nearly six months after Sullivan was suspended, the most recent charges against him are scheduled to have their first public hearing next week.
Tuesday’s hearing will only concern 19 of the 41 departmental charges against the chief, which center on allegations that he deleted the contents of his town iPhone around the time he was suspended. The town alleges he did so despite knowing the device may have held information relevant to an internal investigation and litigation involving two former police officers.
Glickel has called the town's charges against Sullivan "intentionally false and unfounded." He said all of Sullivan's cellphone emails were backed up on the department’s network, and a record of all calls and phone numbers can be identified through the phone carrier.
Glickel, a former town attorney, is contesting the other 22 charges in court.
Sullivan, Cole-Hatchard and the entire Town Board have been subpoenaed to appear at the hearing, which will be held at Town Hall in New City.
Robert Ponzini, a Mount Pleasant town justice who has heard other disciplinary cases involving the Clarkstown Police Department, has been appointed to hear the charges. The town's special prosecutor is William Harrington.
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