The Ugly Side of Bedford

This is a long blog, but I hope that you will read it.

So when I refer to the ugly side of Bedford, am I talking about a neighborhood with which you have no familiarity? Is there some offensive eyesore in town for which we should be demanding some Town action to fix? Has some section of our town become a wasteland of garbage and debris? No, to all of the above.

I'm instead talking about the ugliness that we have witnessed in Bedford since the Quesada home invasion on Proclamation Court on a dark night in November.

The initial news of such a heinous event in a private and privileged Bedford neighborhood most definitely shocked all of us. We somehow seem to think that we're immune from such horrors here in our little Bedford bubble. But of course the sad truth is that in today's world, none of us are ever totally protected from the actions of those whom should be caged for the protection of all of us. When the unthinkable happens close to home, it's a stark reminder that boogie men do roam the earth, and they wreak horrible damage.

Understandably, residents of the Proclamation Court neighborhood reacted with extra shock and concern. It's unnerving and startling to learn that violence has occurred just yards away from where you were sleeping or were perhaps watching a movie with your family. It's mind-boggling to think that you were driving down your street and maybe saw a car whose occupants had havoc in their minds that they would inflict on your unsuspecting neighbors.

None of us knew the details of the Quesada home invasion, but all of us shared a profound sadness for the Quesada family, and we together experienced a new sense of fear. However, we quickly learned from the Bedford Police Department that our town was not under seige, and that like most crimes, the Quesada home invasion was an anomaly rather than something for which we needed to barricade ourselves and turn our homes into bunkers.

The Department held a Proclamation Court neighborhood meeting to assure residents that they were not in danger, and that the Quesada home invasion was an isolated incident which should not alter their normal lives. While some residents remained jumpy, most were able to recognize the truth in this, just as other residents throughout the town also did. Did most of us become more diligent in making sure that our doors were locked and that we pay more attention to personal safety? Of course we did, just as we would have probably checked our smoke detectors if a home in our neighborhood had burned to the ground. We always become more vigilant after a disaster.

During the aftermath of the Quesada incident, we learned that the Bedford Police Department was on the scene within minutes of the first call to the police. We learned that the neighborhood was immediately secured to protect its residents from harm. We learned that it was difficult for police to get complete information from a badly injured and traumatized Mrs. Quesada, who had managed to escape the house to seek help. We learned that our police officers literally ran into a situation despite having no knowledge of the dangers that might have lurked in the dark and secluded area. We learned that in the course of minutes, they devised a successful plan to gain entrance into a home where there could be unknown personal jeopardy to first responders. We learned that they successfully rescued a horribly injured Dr. Quesada, and safely removed a two-year old baby from the chaos. We learned that all available resources were brought in immediately to both protect Bedford residents and to begin the painstaking investigation of what happened and who was responsible for it.

Was every detail of the crime or the ensuing investigation made public? Of course not. The dissemination of that information would not only have nullified a successful investigation, but later down the road, almost certainly could have resulted in the crime perpetrators going free to inflict more mayhem elsewhere. One needs neither a law degree or an advanced degree in criminal justice to figure out that.

But yet, despite everything being done right, our Bedford Police Department came under fire. And the bullets didn't come from outside, but were fired from right here within our little Bedford bubble.

Sitting in the comfort of their easy chairs, we heard some Bedford residents questioning why it was necessary to ascertain danger before our police officers entered a dark and unfamiliar building with unknown peril, despite the fact that such was accomplished within a very short timeframe of police arrival on the scene. We had a resident get front page newspaper coverage saying that he was afraid to have his children sleep in their bedrooms, but had them sleeping in the living room, apparently with no thought in his head that in so doing, his children would be more visible and accessible to a stranger entering his home. We had people arming up and ready to shoot at rustling tree leaves, although throughout town, police officers were roaming our neighborhoods to give us extra protection. How would you like to be a cop knowing that if you stepped on an acorn, you could be shot dead at the end of someone's driveway??? We had residents calling Chief John Bryfonski "cold" and uncaring because he would not divulge investigation details to residents who demanded that he do so. We had very foolish people who watch too many television crime dramas calling Town Council members to complain that the Police Department wasn't solving a big crime by the next weekend.

But it didn't stop there.

We then learned that the then-Chairman of the Bedford Town Council, Bill Dermody, had called for a public meeting at which the Bedford Police Department response to the Quesada home invasion would be examined and discussed. Claiming that he was doing so due to frantic telephone calls he had received from Bedford residents, Dermody showed us his inability to provide leadership by calmly reassuring people that they were safe, and by relating that the Bedford Police Department was competently serving us and efficiently proceeding with the Quesada investigation.

No, instead we saw the bombastic Dermody flex his self-perceived Council muscle, and order the Police Department front and center to be subjected to a public interrogation. In so doing, he suggested that there was cause for public censure. He put forth the notion that the Department was either not doing its job, or was doing it poorly. He summoned police professionals away from their jobs to pander to the jibes of himself and just a few armchair critics who obviously know nothing about appropriate police procedure. Dermody threw Bedford Police Chief John Bryfonski under the bus, along with every member of the Bedford Police Department. At the time, I suggested that he was also probably embarrassing at least a couple of Council members who were not supporting his bizarre antics. As it turns out, five of the six other Council members were indeed chagrined by his nonsense. But Emperor Dermody followed only his own counsel, if you'll forgive the pun.

The tiny number of Bedford residents who attended the Dermody fiasco gave evidence to the fact that most Bedford residents were not questioning the performance of Bedford cops. But, some media used the Dermody folly to add credence to their ridiculous demands for more facts - - - facts that were rightfully being withheld. 

Nevertheless, Dermody continued with his embarrassing quest to destroy confidence in our police department. An announcement was made that there would be an independent review of the Department's handling of the Quesada case - - - a review to supposedly be conducted by an outside law enforcement professional. Dermody's ego must have been bolstered when he learned that one media source was calling around to other police departments in an unsuccessful search to find one that would be critical of the Bedford police. No doubt he also received a "hurray" or two from one or more of the few fans he had left in town.

Why was Dermody so eager to evoke slams to the Bedford Police Department? Was he trying to demonstrate power that he didn't have? Was he trying to remain relevant to Bedford voters? Did he vote against the hiring of Chief John Bryfonski? Was he angry that the Department didn't jump to respond to whatever requests he made for confidential information? Or was it just a case of Dermody being a bully? It's irrelevant. We only need to remember that he was willing to denigrate our police department and to sully the reputations of its members.

Fortunately, several Council members finally reared up against him and called for an end to his public diatribe. Had he continued on anyway, we may have seen some Council members publicly decry his actions.

But the aftereffects of Dermody's activities lingered right through to the present when only days ago we saw the Bedford Bulletin editorialize against our police chief, and state that the whole police department had developed a case of lockjaw because it refuses to divulge every detail of the Quesada investigation. I'm surprised only that Dermody didn't write a letter to the editor in agreement with Bulletin editorials. Perhaps he has injured his typing hand.

The Bedford Police Department has done its job from the moment that it received a call that there was trouble on Proclamation Court. There have been arrests, and there will be criminal trials. And when there are convictions, such will be because their work left no stone unturned to unravel a complicated mystery. It will be because the Chief and the rest of the professional women and men of our department continued to do their jobs despite the brickbats, the unfair speculations, the department understaffing, the badgering for the disclosure of more information, and the assaults on their characters and personalities. They did their jobs despite the harassment and interference of the out-of-control despot who served as the Town Council Chairman. 

The good news is that we've got a great police department admirably run by Chief John Bryfonski and his team of professionals.

The ugly side of Bedford is that there were and are people in town who were and are so eager to destroy the morale of our Department's members through their ignorant and unfounded snarky words and actions. And especially ugly is that the ringleader of the shoddy circus that could have imperiled the Quesada investigation was Bill Dermody, in whom we placed our trust by electing him.

To those who participated in the ugly circus or are inclined to support another one, I say this. The next time that you hear about a maniac running loose, run into the building where he's hiding and hope that you find him before he finds you. Or on a dark and cold night, jump out of your car and walk over to another car that has captured your attention for something that appears to be wrong. Don't worry about who is on the other side of that car's shaded windows or about what he or she might have in mind. Don't concern yourself whether you'll make it home that night. Show us your day-to-day true courage. Show us how far you're willing to go to protect us. And then perhaps we might pay attention to your drivel and innuendo.  

Are you hearing me Councilor Dermody???