SO-CALLED MOUNT VERNON LEADERS FAIL TO ADDRESS SENSELESS VIOLENCE PLAGUING CITY; SQUANDER AWAY TAX DOLLARS

Mount Vernon is on track to surpass the murder rate of 2008.  While our so-called leaders have been ineffective at containing this senseless violence, many have used this violence as an opportunity for a photo-op and to propel their campaigns forward at the expense of taxpayers. 

The embattled Mount Vernon Police Department has its own internal management issues that it must deal with. This management in the MVPD is substandard and until it is changed Mount Vernon can expect this same level of service and production from the MVPD.  Very few top brass, if any reside in the City of Mount.  It is had been rumored that Commissioner David Chong is resigning at the end of the year and is heading to White Plains to be top cop there.  Operation Protect Phase II currently under way is not protecting Mount Vernon residents. It is evident that there is a lack of leadership in the Mount Vernon Police Department and this shortcoming is adversely affecting the entire Mount Vernon community.  Quality of Life in Mount Vernon is deteriorating at record speeds.  The Mount Vernon Police Department must be proactive instead of reactive to the concerns of the Mount Vernon community.  True Community Policing is absent from Mount Vernon Police Department policy.  True Community Policing is taking input from the community and going back and implementing the data that was gathered into Standard Operating Procedures. 

Earlier this year, Westchester County Executive Andy Spano announced that he was going to spend $3M of taxpayer money to purchase a system called shot spotter.  Spano called this “a sense of urgency and a sense of emergency.”  Shortly thereafter, this was approved by the Board of Legislators.  This system would cost Mount Vernon taxpayers $300,000 annually to maintain. County Legislator Lyndon Williams was excited about this system and even used this in his campaign literature, but he did not provide any studies or research to the public that warranted the spending of this excessive amount of tax dollars. Legislator Williams appears to do things backwards.  He votes on legislation and then goes out into the community and holds public forums that are scarcely attended.  Is this to avoid public scrutiny? Williams also stated that he advocated for public safety, $1.5M for a high-tech gunshot detection and camera system to deter gun violence.  County Legislator Lyndon Williams did not take into account that perpetrators would stop using guns and would begin using knives as the weapon of choice.  It is just a matter of time before Mayor Young and Company convince Mount Vernon taxpayers that they have a bridge for sale in Idaho or that we should now invest in a Knife spotter System.

The $300,000 that is going to be wasted annually on this system could have been put to better use.  This money could have been used to hire 8 additional officers per year, fixing the cameras that are not working in all but 1 patrol car, purchase new bullet proof vests that are outdated, or purchase worthwhile equipment that will make our officers more effective and more efficient to fight crime in our communities.  Hard earned tax dollars are not to be squandered away.

PRESS RELEASE ANNOUNCING SPOT SHOTTER

Oct. 27, 2009

Westchester County Executive Andy Spano and Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young announced Tuesday that the ShotSpotter gunshot detection system is up and running in the city of Mount Vernon and has already helped to solve a crime.

The system’s ability to pinpoint the precise location of gunshots helped Mount Vernon and New York City police  retrieve valuable ballistics evidence blocks away from where the shooter was apprehended.       

“Mount Vernon is a safer city already because of the installation of this sophisticated technology,” said County Executive Andy Spano who, along with other officials, got a demonstration of Mount Vernon’s new system. “It is a tremendous tool that helps us keep our residents and communities safe.’’

Mayor Clinton Young said, “Here in Mount Vernon we are on an aggressive mission to rid our streets of illegal handguns. With the help of ShotSpotter, all those who seek to terrorize our streets with the use of these weapons will be arrested and brought to justice.  I thank the County Executive who has been a true partner in this fight.”

The ShotSpotter system uses a sophisticated network of sensors to detect gunshots and identify their location within seconds after gunfire sounds. This enables police officers to respond to the scene immediately, even before receiving a 911 call.

With the support of the Westchester Board of Legislators, the county allocated $3 million in capital funds to install the proven crime detection and prevention system in Mount Vernon and Yonkers. The two cities will assume the costs of maintaining and updating the systems.         
                                           
County Legislator Lyndon Williams of Mount Vernon said, “…I believe ShotSpotter will have a tangible impact on reducing gun violence in Mount Vernon.  Its implementation will not only serve as a deterrent, but will provide our police department with crucial information, enabling them to solve gun-crimes more quickly and restore peace of mind to our residents.”

Board chair Bill Ryan of White Plains said, “This technology is an effective tool for local police. It will send a strong message to individuals who use illegal guns – fire a gun in Mount Vernon or Yonkers, and law enforcement will find you!”

County Legislator Vito Pinto of Tuckahoe, chair of the Public Safety Committee, said, “As chairman of the Public Safety Committee, I am happy to see the coordination and partnership between county and local governments in efforts to protect the public. This is another example of Westchester County government helping communities throughout this county serve their residents better.’’

Gunshot detection technology, which is used in cities and counties around the nation, has been credited with helping police to apprehend shooters before they can flee;locate witnesses who were present when a crime was committed; allocate resources more effectively in response to data about where gunfire is occurring and find gunshot victims quickly and get them medical attention, including in cases where no one has called 911.

ShotSpotter uses acoustic sensing technology to identify and report gunshots to police within seconds. The sensors, which can differentiate gunfire from other loud sounds such as fireworks or construction noise, use wireless transmitters to send the information to a police dispatch center. The sensors can determine how many shots were fired, how many shooters were involved and whether the shooters were stationary or moving (as in a drive-by shooting).

The sensors also trigger a program that calculates the direction that the sound came from – a process known as triangulation. This is done by comparing the slightly different times at which the sound hits different sensors in the area. Triangulation permits the detection system to pinpoint a very precise location – usually within 25 feet – of where a gunshot was fired. The location is transmitted to a police computer that displays a map and the closest address to the gunfire.

Earlier this month, two NYPD officers from the 47th Precinct heard gunfire while on patrol near the Mount Vernon-Bronx border. The officers drove toward the shots and observed a man running down the street near Mundy Lane in Mount Vernon. They pursued the man into Mount Vernon and, with the help of Mount Vernon Police, took the suspect into custody and recovered a handgun. Using ShotSpotter, Mount Vernon police were able to locate the specific address on Mundy Lane where the shots had been fired and police later recovered a number of shell casings in the back yard.

Racism in the Democratic Party

American Heritage- Slavery, Democrats, Civil Rights amendments

NEWLY HIRED CITY OF MOUNT VERNON EMPLOYEE EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION DEEMED SUSPICIOUS

On Wednesday November 11^th, 2009 Mount Vernon Exposed reported that 23 year old Chanell Hyde was recently hired as a Drug Market Intervention Coordinator at the Mount Vernon Police Department.  Her hiring has stirred up controversy and has angered many taxpayers throughout the Mount Vernon community.  Ms. Hyde was hired for a temporary part-time position rewarding her $65K annually.

Mount Vernon exposed obtained the complete employment application for Ms. Hyde through a Freedom of Information request.  This particular document does not seem to follow other formats and protocol of other employment applications that we receive on a regular basis from the City of Mount Vernon.

All employment applications are time stamped by the Civil Service Commission once they are received.  Although Ms. Hyde signed and dated her employment application October 6^th, 2009, it was not time stamped by the Civil Service Commission. We will seek documents to establish Ms. Hydes first day on the Mount Vernon Police Department payroll.   It is unclear it if there was even an employment application on file prior to Mount Vernon Exposed inquiring about it.  Employment Applications are also initialed by the person administering the paperwork.  There are no initials whatsoever on Ms. Hyde’s employment application. 

Mount Vernon Exposed also discovered  that Ms. Hyde did not yet graduate from Fordham University even though her starting salary is nearly double the starting salary of a Mount Vernon Police Officer.  It could not be verified if Ms. Hyde is still attending college while collecting a paycheck courtesy of taxpayers. We still were not provided with documents substantiating the hiring of Ms. Hyde, details of her job description, or additional qualifications that she may possess for this position.. On her employment application question #5

5. Have you a license, certificate, or other authorization to practice the trade or profession    that you are applying? 

* Ms. Hyde answered yes to this question.  She states she is the director of a nonprofit agency

Ms. Hyde attended New Rochelle High School, The Ursuline School, and Fordham University.  We are not sure what investment, if any, that Ms. Hyde has made in the Mount Vernon Community prior to her organizing the non-violence rally after the death of her cousin Shamari Knox.  

Racism: Democrats Vs. Republicans, Part 2 (Civil Rights)

Racism: Democrats Vs. Republicans, Part 1 (Slavery)

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR WAS A REPUBLICAN

HISTORY OF SYSTEMATIC RACISM IN MVPD; BLACK POLICE OFFICERS DENIED TRAINING

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

Mayor Clinton I. Young has had a number of issues that have tainted his administration which leads to question his leadership abilities. The murder rate is Mount Vernon is the highest it has ever been.  There appears to be systematic racism in the Mount Vernon Police Department when it comes to promoting Black and Hispanic police officers.  

One of the issues that we will discuss is the stagnation of Black and Hispanic police officers . The Mount Vernon Police Department apparently is in disarray. The leadership to begin with is not one that supports its Chief because she is not one of the 'good ole boys' and not the choice of the Police Commissioner. She has not been given the respect due to her by the Deputy Chiefs  because she is the choice of embattled Mayor Clinton Young. The Chief has been referred to by one Captain at the time of her appointment, as a “Bitch”.

With that being said, the question now becomes what is the purpose of the Deputy Chief's when prior to 2002 there was no need for a Deputy Chief at all.  One of the Deputy Chief’s had  3 sons and a daughter in law working as police officers for the Mount Vernon Police Department and were given all of the training that even seasoned officers could not and would not receive.  It is evident that the interests of this Deputy Chief lie elsewhere.  Subsequently, all 4 officers have gone on to other departments. Mount Vernon taxpayers should not be responsible for training police officers for other police departments, nor should Mount Vernon be a dumping ground for police officers that were first rejected and not accepted by other departments. 

The demographics in the City of Mount Vernon since 2006 are approximately 65% Black; 25% White; 15% Hispanic or others. The demographics in the Mount Vernon Police Department are approximately 70% white; 20% Black; 10% Hispanic. It is the opinion of Mount Vernon Exposed that the demographics of The Mount Vernon Police Department reflect the communities in which the officers serve.

There are several specialized units in the detective division; we have the narcotics unit, the general investigations unit, intelligence unit, gang unit, the youth unit and the major case unit.

THE NARCOTICS UNIT  

This unit since 2007 has had only black officer working in the unit for the most part at any one time and has been extremely unsuccessful especially within the last year in their responsibilities. The productivity in this department is extremely poor compared to other units in the Detective Division. Many would point to the leadership of that unit for the reason for this. 90% of the arrests are persons that are African-American but this division is total opposite. It is believed all but one Detective are not residents of Mount Vernon. The unit now has 1 Black officer, 3 Hispanic officers and 2 White detectives and 2 or 3 White officers. This unit could use some diversity.

THE GENERAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT

This unit has remained consistent throughout its existence and the unit is made up of different ethnic backgrounds and all are detectives. Though many of the Black and Hispanic detectives do not have the same training as their White counter-parts this unit is very well trained and apparently good at what they do. Diversity and training in the general investigations unit is good and many of these detectives are Black, White and Hispanic and either lives in the City of Mount Vernon or near by.

INTELLIGENCE UNIT

This unit is fairly new, yet not one person that has lived in the City of Mount Vernon has worked in this unit and no Black or Hispanic officer has ever worked in this unit. The officer that previously worked and the officer that is currently working in this unit is White and neither has ever lived in the City of Mount Vernon. One has to ask how accurate has that information been coming from this and could it have been improved if there were officers or detectives working in this unit from the City of Mount Vernon? With the demographics 70% Black, why aren’t there any Black police officers in this unit. It is believed that 95% of the intelligence coming into this unit comes from officers that reside in this City. This unit has only 1 Black supervisor who is familiar with the city and who at one time or another lived in the city. This unit could use some diversity.

GANG UNIT

This unit is fairly new; the department almost got this one right. There is 1 Black detective and 1 Black police officer and at least one of the officers is from the City of Mount Vernon, but there are only 2 people working in this unit and the are approximately 30 different gangs with more than 15 people in each of these gangs and some with as many as 50.  This unit could use some diversity and a lot more manpower.

YOUTH UNIT

This unit was successful in the 80’s and 90’s and was disbanded in the early part of 2000 and then re-established in 2004. Since its re-establishment in 2004 this unit has been successful even though there were only 2 detectives working in the unit and at times, only 1 detective. There are over 20,000 youths in the City of Mount Vernon. There are now 4 detectives working in this unit and that is not enough.  All of these officers are Black and all are from the City of Mount Vernon,  but this unit could use more diversity.

MAJOR CASE UNIT

This unit since 2004 has been one of the most successful units in the State of New York and the County of Westchester. The major case unit from 2004 till July of 2009 had solved most of its cases and or has had leads in the unsolved cases. This unit usually consists of the best of the best in systematically and methodically putting cases together and only will take calculated risk when necessary.  They avoid being reckless in the follow-up of the investigation. There is small margin for error. The detectives in this unit have a tremendous amount of experience in court room testimony. Other members of the department are not exposed to trials and hearings like the major case detectives.

Now we ask some serious questions- How does the supervisor of a successful unit become the supervisor of an outstanding unit?  Why have the personnel in the major case unit been asked to leave the unit when the same supervisor from unsuccessful unit became their supervisor? Why is the only Black detective, who is also a resident of the City of Mount Vernon, in that unit reassigned to the youth unit? Why would the most seasoned detectives in the unit ask out of this unit? Why would the supervisor who once supervised the most successful major case unit since 2004, ask to leave this unit? How do the detectives that have never investigated a case become major case detectives?  Why wasn’t anyone asked in the General investigations unit to work in the major case unit?  The individuals that worked in General Investigations have the most experience investigating cases outside of the individuals that have investigated cases in the major case unit. Since July 2009 there are no Black or Hispanic detectives in this unit,  and even more shocking there are no Black or Hispanic supervisors. How does this happen when 90% of the victims and suspects apprehended are Black and Hispanic? The present Police administration is only creating an environment for more violence with less experienced people investigating these crimes. 

In the last 3 years since the present Commissioner has taken office there has been 28 homicides and almost twice as many victims of shootings. The commissioner has promoted approximately 13 supervisors. Of the 13 that were promoted, 1 of them has been Black, 2 have been Hispanic and 10 have been White. The homicide rate has risen and the opportunities for Black officers and detectives from this city have declined. The supervisors promoted during Mayor Young’s administration have done nothing but collect a paycheck. They have not invested in this community like many of their fellow officers from the City of Mount Vernon. They have not done anything to make this city safer. The Mayor ran on an agenda that spoke about the youth and public safety. The public safety part of his agenda has failed miserably. It appears that the administration in the Mount Vernon Police Department does not care for the Mayor because they have not developed anything close to diminishing crime and have set the City and its citizens on a course for disaster. One can come to the conclusion that the Mayor just doesn’t know or he just doesn’t care about the safety of Mount Vernon residents. Neither is good.

The first female to ever work in both the narcotics unit and the homicide unit is Black and was reassigned to the youth unit without an explanation. This woman should have been acknowledged for her accomplishments. There are Black officers who request to go to trainings and to specialized units but they are constantly denied, however their White counterparts are constantly placed in specialized units and are constantly trained. This is not because of their accomplishments but because of who they know.  Did you know that not one White female officer works in the streets?  They all work inside of headquarters.  Did you know that all Black female officers work in the streets? I ask you to look at the records of who has been trained the most and I am sure you will find it is divided along racial lines. The whole department is going through racial turmoil due to the lack of accountability of the supervisors. Police brutality has also risen. It appears that the citizens in the City of Mount Vernon are paying taxes for the Police officers to abuse their and their children's civil rights.  Parents are being arrested for beating their children when they do wrong, but its okay for police officers and Sergeants to beat their children when they are just walking the streets.

FINDINGS OF FACT

There are some serious racial issues in the Mount Vernon Police Department.  Black Police officers do not receive the same training as their white counterparts. There is a lack of Black and Hispanic Officers in supervisory roles in the Mount Vernon Police Department.More Diversity is needed.   This can lead to the Black Police Officers resenting and rebelling against their White superiors and unwillingness to effectively do their job.  This had lead to a hostile work environment and a crime rate that is unmanageable. It is our belief at Mount Vernon exposed that a police department reflect the community that they serve. Extreme emphasis must be made to hire Mount Vernon residents as police officers.  Mayor Young must take control of this situation immediately. The City of Mount Vernon must enact legislation that will prevent taxpayers of Mount Vernon from training police officers and then they seek employment elsewhere.  Failure to act on this will jeopardize the quality of life in Mount Vernon for generations to come. It is our recommendation that an Independent Civilian Police Advisory Board be created with the power to subpoena

MAYOR YOUNG'S SISTER ALLEGEDLY DOES NOT POSSESS QUALIFICATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT

SPECIAL REPORT

Immediately upon taking office Mayor Clinton Young hired his sister Mary Young to be Commissioner of Management Services.  Mayor Young also showed no respect to Mount Vernon taxpayers by increasing his sister’s salary from $87,060 to $97,460.  The practice of nepotism, cronyism, and favoritism would become an intricate part of the day to day operations of Mayor Young’s administration.

Mount Vernon Exposed through a freedom of information request has obtained Mary Young’s resume and employment application due to the overwhelming outcry from Mount Vernon residents demanding her qualifications for her positions.  When we received our request through the law department we were provided with strange documents.  Corporation Counsel Loretta Hottinger, wife of Mount Vernon Democratic Committee 2^nd Vice Chairman Ronald Detres, provided us with a redacted copy of Mary Young’s resume.  When Hottinger was asked as to why she provided a redacted copy of the resume, Hottinger stated there was a clause in the Freedom of Information law to protect an employee’s age.   That statement by Hottinger was 100% false.  Date of Birth’s are not protected from disclosure.  In fact, we have obtained the voting records for Mary Young and her date of birth was attached.  Mary Young was born December 29, 1961. Corporation Counsel Hottinger allegedly was fully aware of the actions her husband was a party to and was doing what she was installed to do; filter information and carefully screen the F.O.I.L requests that come through her department.

Mount Vernon Exposed re-submitted the request and informed the Law Department of the law and we received the following response.

·         Please be advised that an un-redacted resume you requested contains information of a personal nature. New York State Public Officer’s Law §87 (2) (b) allows public entities to withhold records that “if disclosed would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under the provisions of subdivision two of section eighty-nine of this article.”  It is the City of Mount Vernon’s policy to redact information that falls within this category.  Therefore, we are unable to provide you with an un-redacted copy of the requested report.

In the past Mount Vernon Exposed has obtained several employment applications and resumes and the dates were not redacted.  Being the fact that this was Mayor Young’s sister and her qualifications were “questionable” we were not able to get the information that we were seeking. 

It is alleged that Mary Young does not possess a degree in Business Administration and Economics from Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama as stated on her employment application.  It is further alleged that Mount Vernon Democratic City Committee 2^nd Vice-Chairman Ronald Detres was very instrumental in getting Mary Young fired from the Mount Vernon Board of Education during her stint there from 1990-1992. Mary Young was Deputy Clerk of the Board, Business Department.  Her brother, Mayor Young served as a school board trustee during that time. 

By her own admissions, Mary Young states that she is not qualified to hold the position that she currently has.  On her employment application, Question # 5 states-

·         Have you a license, certificate, or other authorization to practice the trade or profession that you are applying?  Mary Young answered no to this question.

The dates on the application are also suspect and should be of great concern to Mount Vernon taxpayers.  Mary Young was hired and took her position soon after her brother was sworn on as Mayor.  Her employed application was time stamped on August 14, 2008 by the Civil Service Commission and was signed by Mary Young on June 29, 2008.  It is unclear if Mary Young was receiving paychecks prior to those dates.

MAYOR YOUNG AND ANDY SPANO SILENCE COMMUNITY ORGANIZER AT THE EXPENSE OF TAXPAYERS

SPECIAL REPORT

23 Year Old Drug Market Intervention Coordinator Chanelle Hyde and Andy Spano

Embattled Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young

Issues of safety are of great concern to Mount Vernon residents.  Violent crimes are at an all time high in Mount Vernon and the current administration does not seem to be concerned with the ever increasing murder rate in Mount Vernon. The summer of 2008 was the bloodiest summer in Mount Vernon’s history.

One murder in particular sparked outrage throughout the community that led to marches and several protests through the streets of Mount Vernon.  19 Year old Shamari Knox was gunned down on the South Side of Mount Vernon.  Knox was a popular figure in the Mount Vernon and many of Mount Vernon’s young people were deeply saddened by the loss of his life.

A new organization was formed from this tragedy.  Mother’s of Mount Vernon (M.O.M.) was founded by Knox’s cousin 23 year old Chanelle Hyde.  Her organization began to make strides and was beginning to catch the attention of various City officials, including Mayor Young, MVPD Commissioner David Chong, Westchester County Executive Andy Spano, and Westchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore.  Ms. Hyde had staged public rallies and demanded that Mayor’s Young’s administration get a handle on the violence that was tearing Mount Vernon apart.  She also demanded that jobs be created for the youth and for a technical high school to be opened so that the youth of Mount Vernon can obtain the necessary job skills to compete in today’s workforce.

Although many residents saw Ms. Hyde’s actions as positive, many residents also took offense and were not happy with Ms. Hyde’s actions especially because she was not a mother.  Residents also were upset that she was masquerading as a Mount Vernon resident when she was indeed a resident of New Rochelle. 

Ms. Hyde was being used as a political pawn and it is unclear if she knew the perfidious intentions of the powers that be.  This was a big election year and several top County seats were up for grabs, including Westchester County Executive and Westchester District Attorney.  Elected Officials could not take the chance that Ms. Hyde’s movement would awaken a sleeping community and bring attention to the lack of sub-standard services being provided to Mount Vernon residents.  Ms. Hyde was immediately rewarded for her silence in hopes that her organization would fade away and she would join their team in surpressing the truth to Mount Vernon residents. 

Mount Vernon Exposed through a freedom of information request obtained Chanelle Hyde’s employment application and her salary information.  It is alleged that Chief of Staff Yolanda Robinson told Ms. Hyde to come see her after she graduated from college and that she would take care of her.  The Young administration is notorious for hiring personnel that reside outside of Mount Vernon city limits.  Prior to Ms. Hyde being employed in Mount Vernon, she worked for full-time from June 2009-September 2009 as an intern and Government Operations Aide for Westchester County Executive Andy Spano.  The powers that be wanted to make sure that Ms. Hyde was not able to influence Mount Vernon residents about the poor job the District Attorney was doing and the lack of action from the Young administration in solving these homicides.  This was a highly contested race and Janet DiFiore could not afford to lose votes from Mount Vernon.  As the saying goes “If you can’t beat them, join them.” 

Mayor Clinton Young and his cronies wasted no time in securing a position for Ms. Hyde in Mount Vernon.  On August 12, 2009 the City Council adopted an ordinance allowing the Mayor to enter into an agreement with the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services.  This grant at the expense of taxpayer, would allow Mayor Young to purchase the silence of Ms. Hyde by rewarding a temporary part time position in the amount of $65K.  She would also be entitled to fringe benefits at an additional $19.5K. The starting salary for a Mount Vernon Police Officer that endures months of vigorous training is approximately $35K.   Her new title would be Drug Market Intervention Coordinator.   We at Mount Vernon Exposed could not obtain a list of Ms. Hyde’s job description.   It is unclear if Ms. Hyde was trained for her new position.   The grant that enabled Ms. Hyde runs from a period of 9/21/09-6/30/10.  It could not be determined if this new position would be created on a permanent basis in the 2010 budget or if Mayor Young would be able to keep this position exempt and excluded from civil service testing requirements.  Mount Vernon Exposed reached out to Ms. Hyde for an interview prior to this publication.  She declined our request for an interview. We were unable to determine if Ms. Hyde is still active and vigilant in her efforts to combat violence in Mount Vernon or if she has saw that the grass is "greener" on the other side.