'We should know what happened:' Fishkill, Middletown, Deerpark police get $900K for cameras

Fishkill police do not wear body cameras.

Though several agencies in recent years have adopted the tool, Town Supervisor Ozzy Albra said Fishkill didn’t prioritize incorporating them, as the technology is expensive and the department was involved in relatively few violent interactions.

“But two years and two months into my term as supervisor, there was a shooting,” he said.

On Feb. 27, Fishkill police responded to a reported domestic dispute and shot at least one resident.

Though both residents shot survived, the incident is being reviewed by a Dutchess County Grand Jury. Several details have yet to be revealed; while state police have said Fishkill police shot a man, Michael Becerril, they have not said who shot the woman with him.

“If we had these body cameras, we would know exactly what happened, and there'd be no ambiguity with it," Albra said.

In the future, Fishkill, and at least two other Hudson Valley agencies, will have an additional tool at their disposal.

The federal government is giving $900,000 for departments in Fishkill, Middletown and Deerpark to purchase cameras and other technology. Each come through community projects budget its submitted by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring.

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“The fact is, we do have reforms (related to policing) to make and there are things we can do,” Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring, said during a roundtable event announcing the funding Monday. “One of the most interesting developments … is that both law enforcement and people arguing for reform in law enforcement agree that body cameras are some of the best technology we can invest in.”

Maloney was joined by Albra, Middletown Mayor Joe Destefano, Middletown Police Chief John Ewanciw and Deerpark Police Chief Richard Sztyndor at Middletown City Hall.

Fishkill will receive $600,000 in federal funding for body cameras and the appropriate video storage technology. The Deerpark Police Department will also receive federal funding — $30,000 — towards body cameras and video storage technology.

“All of us believe that we should know what happened," Maloney said about interactions between police and pedestrians. "If good officers are doing it right, we want to know that. If there's misconduct, we want to know that too.”

The City of Middletown Police Department, which already uses body cameras, is also set to receive $300,000, which will go toward providing additional security cameras and license plate readers throughout the city. This technology, Ewanciw said, will be an important tool used by Middletown Police when investigating crimes and locating suspects.

The Deerpark funding was included in the recently approved federal budget, while the Fishkill and Middletown projects were submitted for next year's process, Maloney announced this week.

Maloney said he believes the addition of body cameras in Fishkill, Deerpark and other municipalities will not only shed light on shootings such as the Feb. 27 incident, but also expose misconduct by police officers and exonerate officers falsely accused of misconduct.

All three officers involved in the Fishkill shooting at the Views at Rocky Glen apartment complex off Route 52, Sgt. Gerald Cocozza and officers Joseph DiPalma and John Hurtado, are on administrative leave, Albra said.

Police said the suspect, Becerril, 29, had a knife and refused police orders to drop it. Fishkill police officers used a stun gun to try to stop Becerril, but it was ineffective, state police said. Fishkill police then shot Becerril during a struggle in which he grabbed one of the officers guns, according to state police.

The woman was shot while attempting to intervene, according to state police, who initially said she was shot by Fishkill police. A state police spokesperson later recanted that statement and said that was still under investigation.

Of cameras in general, Maloney said, "We want more evidence of what happened, and we aren't afraid of that evidence."

He added that officers wearing body cameras will be encouraged to be on their best behavior.

"If you are walking up to a vehicle, you are going to be mindful of not just the usual considerations, but also that you are going to be held accountable for how you ar acting," he said.

Erin Nolan is an investigative reporter for the USA TODAY Network's Hudson Valley region. Reach her at enolan@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Poughkeepsie Journal: Fishkill, Middletown, Deerpark police get $900K for cameras, tech