Cops’ kin fight killer’s parole bid

THE FAMILIES of two cops murdered 47 years ago want to make sure their killers stay locked up.

Relatives of police officers Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini arrived at the state Parole Board’s Midtown office Friday to present their argument for killer Anthony Bottom, 66, to die behind bars.

Bottom — imprisoned for 40 years — is up for parole in June. It will be his ninth appearance before a parole panel since 2002.

Bottom’s partner in the killing, Herman Bell, was paroled in April. A third accomplice, Albert Washington, died in prison.

Piagentini’s widow Diane and Jones’s siblings Manny Jones and Gwenna Wright offered victim impact statements to the board.

“There’s been a coup in the parole (board),” Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association President Patrick Lynch said of Bell’s surprise release.

“Right-minded commissioners have been removed,” Lynch said. “Those with political agendas with no common sense have now taken over.”

State corrections spokesman Thomas Mailey noted that the Parole Board is an “independent body” and that state law requires the board to weigh inmates’ “institutional accomplishments” and “potential to successfully transition back into the community.”