City, police union at odds
Lawsuit is latest round in battle over open position
A vacant police captain’s position has led to a court battle between the city and the Troy Police Benevolent Association, which is pushing for one of three sergeants to be promoted.
This court action brought by the city comes as Sgt. Randall French, the highest-scoring sergeant on the promotional list, has been passed over each time an opening occurs. Sources within the department attribute French’s failure to win the promotion to the politics surrounding his fatal shooting of Edson Thevenin in an April 2016 DWI traffic stop.
The city sued the PBA in late January to block an arbitrator from hearing the case brought by the union after Mayor Patrick Madden’s administration made no effort to fill the captain’s post vacated when Chris Kehn was promoted to assistant chief.
French, Sgt. Salvatore Carello and Sgt. Stephen Seney filed the grievance
with the PBA, claiming that one of them should have been promoted within 30 days of Kehn’s change in rank. The city rejected the grievance, leading the PBA to file for the matter to be put before an arbitrator.
The city has filled three other captain slots opened by promotions and retirements, leaving only Kehn’s former job empty. The captain’s list expired in December, and the city civil service commission has not yet certified a new one.
In its response, the city cites the expiration of the list as well as claiming it doesn’t have to fill the vacant position. It also argues that the grievance was not filed in a timely manner, and says the city didn’t agree to arbitration.
The PBA wants the city to either promote one of the three sergeants — retroactive to Oct. 2, 2018 — or to pay each of the three candidates at the rate of
pay for a captain. (A captain’s budgeted base salary is $93,188, compared to $77,288 for a sergeant.)
“The PBA is looking forward to having our day in court,” said Officer Nick Laviano, the union president. “It’s unfortunate, however, the city has filed such an unnecessary lawsuit, wasting taxpayer money.”
French has been a popular choice for the promotion among many members of the police department, but is considered to be a political liability in the community. A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, French is currently assigned to the detective bureau.
He was assigned to patrol in April 2016 when he shot Thevenin. French told investigators that he fired eight rounds from his service weapon, killing the unarmed 37-year-old when Thevenin’s car rolled into the officer’s legs, pinning him against a police cruiser following a brief pursuit.
Former Rensselaer County District Attorney
Joel E. Abelove presented the shooting case to a county grand jury just days after the incident. When French testified, he was not asked to waive his immunity to prosecution — a decision that made it virtually impossible to bring charges against him. The grand jury didn’t indict French in the case.
The state attorney general’s office investigated Abelove’s handling of the case, and filed a firstdegree perjury charge and two counts of official misconduct against him. Those charges were subsequently dismissed by a judge who said the attorney general’s actions exceeded the office’s authority over the case.
Abelove was defeated in his re-election bid in November.
A federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Thevenin’s widow is pending against French and the city. Officials have estimated the city will spend $250,000 to defend the case.