(Greece, N.Y.) -- While the Greece Police Department which is under criminal investigation, its chief, Merritt Rahn, is suspended. Now there's a call to disband the department altogether.
Taxpayers are shelling out $2,700 a day for an independent internal probe of the Greece Police Department.
Greece Town Supervisor John Auberger called for it and says investigators report directly to him.
One citizens' tax group says that's part of the problem.
"What comes out in the community is controlled by Town Hall… We do not know if there will ever be a report above what they want us to know," said Bev Strehle of C.A.R.E.
It’s not the first time the reach of the supervisor's role has been questioned. In January, the Greece Police Department nearly lost state accreditation because there were no written policies for hiring.
Oral interviews were given by the Greece Town Supervisor and did not involve the police department at all.
Joe Muscato is a former Greece Police officer who sees firsthand how hiring policies have changed. "The system which used to work very well in this town has been turned around to where the supervisor has complete authority to hire and fire," he said.
How Much Supervisor Control Is Too Much?
In Greece and every town with a police department, the supervisor names the chief of police. It is not an elected position. Taxpayers have no say in who gets the job or gets to keep it when the department falls into controversy.
Greece’s current police chief and the two others before him have been suspended or demoted.
One Greece resident says it's time to abolish the department altogether in favor of metro police.
Greece resident Vincent Yodice said, "That would remove the favoritism in the towns when it comes to promotions and the good-old-boy-network that exists --that would eliminate that.”
Supervisor Auberger says he will make the final report public.
As for the accreditation, he blamed incomplete written records and said police supervisors have indeed been involved in hirings.
Gary Pignato and Nick Joseph are two indicted Greece Police officers whose hiring is now under scrutiny. They were hired six and seven years ago respectively, under the old system which was not red-flagged in the accreditation process.
The call for metro police is heard mainly in debating circles.
Yet the idea of abolishing the police department is one that has been considered—but rejected in both Webster and Holley in Orleans County as a way to save money.
The Town of Webster says the idea is no longer on the table.
The village of Holley residents voted on it back on December 6, 2007. They voted in favor of keeping the Holley Police Department.
