COPS II: SLOPPY SECONDS ABOUND ON PPD ‘LOST RECORDS’ FOLLOWUP
BY DAN VALENTI
PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY
First of Two Follow-up Reports
(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2016) — Useless information so you could win a bar bet at Lach’s Lounge: 55 years ago today at Fenway Park, rookie left fielder Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox got the first of 3,419 career hits off Ray Herbert of the Kansas City A’s. With that, allow THE PLANET to follow up on a story The Boring Broadsheet only published because we forced them when we broke it locally. The BB, of course, has not followed up. Maybe they would care to come on PLANET VALENTI TELEVISION and explain why. Maybe not.
The day after THE PLANET broke the story of The Great PPD Data Loss, rip-n-read local radio answered their master’s voice and aired a “news story” that by law the PPD isn’t required to videotape evidence. The story gave an implicit “how great thou art” to the PPD for going above and beyond.
That’s nonsense, of course. As PLANET poster Joe Pinhead correctly pointed out, if you do bother to videotape, the evidence must be safeguarded to preserve chain of custody. These are court documents, and you have the responsibility to preserve the evidence. The mayor and the PPD want you to believe it was a wild coincidence that the hard drive went HAL after the shameful, shameless booking of an 88-year-old woman after two local cops —
(a) stormed into her home
(b) slammed her to the ground
(c) handcuffed her
(d) and bruised her.
Some Considerations
- After the hard drive when south July 1, 2015, both the Pittsfield Police Department and the District Attorney’s office kept the public from knowing. It was an election season. Why bother the electorate with a trivial matter?
- It took nearly nine months for investigative reporters from Boston to uncover the subterfuge.
- Neither the PPD, DA, nor AG Maura Healey’s office will talk on the record with scribes. “Nothing to see here. You all run along home.”
- It’s still not clear how much information was lost or how many criminal cases will be affected.
- If these offices hid such a critical failure, what else are they hiding?
- Why should we believe the explanation that the hard-drive crash, which came after digBoston reporters sought information on the botched arrest of 88-year-old pie maker Phyllis Stankiewicz, was a “coincidence.” Tell us where has the city earned enough credibility to be believed?
- Why is there a total clampdown on information? Even sources normally forthcoming have pulled a Sgt. Schultz. They “know nothing.” Have internal threats have been issued to potential whistleblowers?
- How representative is the Stankiewicz case of the professionalism of the PPD?
- Can we believe that the PPD — whose records become legal documents used in the arrest, prosecution, and disposition of those charged with crime — did not have backup? If that is the case, will there be accountability? Isn’t that the job of Mike Steben, communications information systems manager for both the police and fire departments? THE PLANET requested comment from Stebens. We’re still waiting. When the phone doesn’t ring …
‘I am having issues with DVR recorder playback …’
Here is the full text of the original email PPD investigator John Bassi sent to Steben on July 1, 2015, at 11:45 a.m. We’re wondering if any techies out there might pick up a clue or two from the wording:
Bassi to Steben:
“I am having issues with the DVR recorder playback and am unable to replay videos, archive them, and I am finding that if I log out and try to log back on it tells me my credentials are incorrect?? When the videos to replay they are often choppy or they freeze up prompting me to have to reboot my entire machine. If I try to “x” out of the application and try to log back in I get the incorrect credential message. I am in need of the system to make some booking videos for the DA’s office.”
Can anyone with technical expertise read anything pertinent hiding between these lines? Also, if there was no backup, does Steben still have a job?
THE PLANET recalls after the Stankiewicz incident, the PPD and the corner office went into a lockdown on all information. Of course, under The Empty Suit, lockdowns and violations of First Amendment rights were as common as M&Ms on Halloween, but this had an unusual taste to it. From the nervousness on the inside, it’s clear something out of the ordinary was happening.
TOMORROW: Cops III
—————————————————————————————————
“I got my paycheck today. Think I’ll spend it like a crazy fool, or I’ll give it all away. Something like the Golden Rule.” — Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, “Payday Blues,” from the album Last Train to Hicksville.
“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”
LOVE TO ALL.
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First time here, Dan. Love the show and the site. Your work has been so important to uncovering the truth of what is going on. I am a city employee. I won’t tell you what dept. but let me tell you the level of fear for whistle blowing is as great as ever. This police story illustrates the point.
Please keep up this coverage. This site give s citizens the only journalism in town.
Welcome aboard, BBABBLE. Good to have you.
Welcome aboard . Watch out for trolls.
If it looks like a Fish, and Smells like a Fish!! This certainly has the DNA.
This says a lot about the credibility of the Chief, the mayor and the district attorney. Since there is probably nothing they can really say that is believable on the subject my guess is that they will stay bunkered up until the public forgets about it. Seems to be a default way of doing things in Pittsfield, Ma.
Perhaps if the chief had a permanent position he might be have more to say on the subject.
The fact that the videos are there and do indeed play are evidence that they can be recovered to another media. Its not a hard drive failure. Its a problem with the security log software in of the machine.
The fact that he says he has to reboot shows it was working. At fist sign of trouble, the hard drive should have been copied to another external media.
Chief Wynn says the hard drive was shipped of at a cost of $1300.00 and only a small part of the data was unable to be recovered. The section containing the Stankiewicz booking.
Now just believable is this? The only part of the hard drive that anyone had an interest in viewing. Erased/corrupted/damaged/gone.
Then the BB prints a story with emphasis that they are not required to make booking videos anyway. Its pretty obvious what is going on here.
You don’t have to be a computer expert to see what’s going on here, you only have to be an expert in knowing you are being fed a crock of shit.
And note that neither the BB article nor the IBerkshires article deign to mention the poor woman that inspired these reporters to investigate to begin with.
F Lee Bailey is on the Krol show.
I do not appreciate the perverted innuendo in todays headline, although it may attract creepy deviants like Donna M and CG.
All these GOBSIGS like disgusting perverted language in their BDSM that why they are always talking about licking boots.
This is the dumbest post I’ve ever seen from you. Take a nap and try again later
Speaking of bootlicking hacks, what up CG?
This isn’t CG, but to answer what up? Not your IQ…. That’s for sure.
I guess you couldn’t remember to switch before Irvin Corey and Donna M? Go back to TOPIX you delinquent freak.
Don’t be such a poser John. FYI your article was awful this week
Interestingly there was a similar arrest on Wilson St. of a Phyllis Stankiewicz, an 88 year old lady who came after police officers with a paring knife. Assaulting or threatening a police officer is a serious offense. My question is, was she ever brought to justice for this offense or did she have the connections to just let her off with a stern warning not to do it again? Hopefully this behavior won’t be repeated.
This is the same case Dan refers to. Your version of events is skewed to say the least.
Well Romen, he was talking about a sister-in-law,Elizabeth, maybe that’s why I was confused.
Sorry Thomas. So then you’re saying the PPD arrested and assaulted *two* 88 year olds? I guess I’m the confused one now!
The police admitted they went to the wrong house. The house they were actually called to was one block up. The actual call at 3:50 p.m. June 2015 was for a report of a disturbance involving someone with a baseball bat. Not for an 88 year old women peeling potatoes. I’d be a little confused too if the police came bursting in. That’s not the best of neighborhoods. Police should have used a little more common sense.
TM
Mrs. S was released, the DA declined to prosecute, and the charges were dropped. The police clearly made a mistake, and there was no case.
I was surprised you bit. Didn’t you hit a double or something off massetti the day Yaz got his first hit?
Thank you Dan…now was that SO hard?!? (I’m speaking to the Eagle there) That’s the first real follow up on the original story and what the result was since last June when it first happened!!
Surprised the Planet didn’t include the pictures of the aressting officers from digboston, or the G Man on his show, just to show what the Old Lady was up against.
The pictures are within the digboston article.
One summer’s day in 2002, I came home to find a half dozen officers from MSP, the Sheriff’s Office and PPD in my yard. They were on a warrant sweep. I hear my tenant screaming my name, so I ran upstairs and they had her against a wall while they were searching her apartment.
Apparently, they had a warrant for a young man and my address was the address on the warrant. They figured this guy was her boyfriend.
After a conversation with the officers, I told them that I never saw any visitors to the house, and certainly not the guy they described. I let them look through my house, garage and cellar as well since there were 6 of them and one of me.
While we were outside, I said I was confused and asked to see the warrant they were attempting to serve, and they showed it to me. As soon as I looked at it, I told them they had a problem – they were at the wrong house. The guy they were looking for lived at the same street address in HINSDALE. clearly marked on the warrant. My street name exists in a couple of other towns besides Pittsfield, and it is a fairly low number. But, I would expect they would check the community first, no?
I understand that mistakes can happen, but I will tell you that neither me nor my tenant ever received an apology. I will tell you that I believe my tenant received a cash settlement from both MSP and the Sheriff’s Office (PPD was actually not involved until I came home and they searched my place with my consent).
as they always say, the cover-up is generally worse than the crime…
Confusing HINSDALE with PITTSFIELD … that’s the sort of mistake that can’t be allowed. Thanks, SE, for your story and your contributions.
Yes, and the constitution should be upheld in cases of unreasonable searches and seizure as happened in the headlining story and Southeast’s. I am surprised with all the good Samaritans on here that no one has offered to help Elizabeth Stankiewicz get legal representation for her pain, suffering, and embarrassment in this humiliating encounter with the police. I guess someone that lives in the Wilson Street projects doesn’t really have anybody to carry her water.
Wilson Street is not part of the housing projects. Wilson Project is named after the piece of Wilson Park it once was.
I would not be surprised however if she is being represented.
Po ta toe … Po ta to
http://pittsfieldhousing.org/developments/wilson-park/
Behold, the power of the internet.
right – Wilson Park is on Memorial Dr. – not Wilson St. The houses on Wilson St are privately owned. Cousins lived on Wilson St during my youth – the projects were behind Ronnies.
It’s the same ‘hood, the same people, the same drug dealers and hoodlums, whether its Mohawk or Wilson. Just because they aren’t owned by the Housing authority doesn’t mean they aren’t section 8, likely impoverished, and probably criminal.
Shakes, Elizabeth has no problem. Like the cops, your at the wrong house.
Babble-This is a site where for the most part, the intelligent post. There is some chaff that posts here but we all have to put with individuals who are reality challenged. You can also follow Dan on his tv- as well as watch another good show THE Gaetani Pittsfield News Hour which are aired fridays and are always informative Both Mr.G. and Dan were born in Pittsfield and love our city dearly. After reading this site and folowing the two shows you will become very informed. We hope you will join the NON-GOBSIG GROUP THAT Mr. G. is putting together.
I went through the city council agenda and saw Collingwood’s report on water/sewer. Conspicuously missing is any mention of the guy who designed and built the water plants in question. Shouldn’t he have been asked to be on this committee? I’m not so sure most of the folks on the committee know much about water and sewer other than watering their laws and flushing toilets.
They can’t ask him. He’s dead.
Truth.
I suggest that you speak with former DPW commissioner William Forstell and ask him about who built the water plants. Forstell is still very much alive and an honest man who will give you the scoop . Until you speak with him please refrain from your nonsense posting . I hope that the informed intelligent posters ignore you.
good point, Donna M
Forstell was on Collingwood’s committee to study the current problems in the system. Wonder why he didn’t ask Gaetani to join them?
I wonder if he remembers when CG fell off a ladder he had no business being on and turned around and sued Krofta (the plant engineer)?
I don’t mind humorous posts if they are good natured. But some of these people are truly mean spirited and contribute nothing of substance to this blog. Can we get rid of these low information low intelligence posters?
What’s the over and under of how many different names The Water Boy uses on this blog? I say at least 5 aliases the Water Boy uses.
Pointing out that the inventor and designer of the water intake treatment system in Pittsfield has passed from his earthly body and watches us from the Lord’s kingdom is hardly low intelligence, but rather a statement of fact.
What makes you think was talking about SHH? But if the shoe fits it’s yours.
The Berkshire Eagle currently has a breaking story that there was a car accident in Boston. What would we do without their all knowing, all telling eye in the sky news reporting? What a Berkshire gem.
While the accidents in this city are not reported on. We get more details on things that happen at the other end of the state because God forbid we might think Pittsfield isn’t perfect.
1. Thanks Joe P for waking me up.
2. July 4, 15 shootout at Christian Center
3. PPD files open. Give me a break
4. Union PPD president steals from members
5. TES son involved with an appointment.
6 Are these the only problems ?
Pat and Dusty, well said, wouldn’t it be nice if we could get local information from our “local paper”.
Dusty, that car was traveling to Pittsfield. It had an economic engine in the trunk.
Did the car stop and collaborate with TFB? Watch as the election season gets closer how many times “enjoyed The Final Buffet” (TFB) uses the terms: “collaborate,” “a collaborative effort,” “will continue to collaborate.” College students could fashion a drinking game to The Final Buffet’s (TFB) use of that word.
Part of the extra 24 pages of filler and fluff they pumped in. If they have 24 extra pages jeez give DV a column and watch circulation soar instead of sore.
1. Thanks Joe P for waking me up.
2. July 4, 15 shootout at Christian Center in the missing
info?
3. PPD files open. Give me a break
4. Union PPD president steals from members
5. TES son involved with an appointment.
6 Are these the only problems?
Could have been one of our own dusty, they spend a lot of time over there.
Have any luck with Moron, G Man?
Moran?