Hearing Officer Finds Clarkstown Police Chief Guilty On Cellphone Wipe Charges; Others Dismissed

NEW CITY, NY — A hearing officer has found Clarkstown Police Chief Michael Sullivan guilty of misconduct for deleting all the data on his department-issued cellphone. However, the hearing officer dismissed most of 19 counts brought against the chief, mostly because he found them "duplicative." He recommended Sullivan be suspended for 15 days without pay.

There are 21 charges remaining on other issues.

Sullivan intentionally did a hard reset on his department-issued cellphone, deleting all its data right after he was suspended over how he had conducted an internal investigation, and while he was a named defendant in pending litigation, one of which had a hold in place, Hearing Officer Robert Ponzini wrote. That was misconduct.

Sullivan also did not prevent Sgt. Stephen Cole-Hatchard from wiping his cellphone and removing the hard drive from his departmental computer. Ponzini found that misconduct as well.

The chief, who is running against incumbent George Hoehmann in this year's election for Clarkstown Town Supervisor, called Ponzini's determination "neither substantiated nor legally sustainable," according to the Daily Voice.

The town's special prosecutor, William Harrington, said Ponzini's determination affirmed the basic premise that town employees including police officers cannot delete data from town computing devices.

“The Town is gratified by the June 2nd Findings and Recommendations of Hearing Officer Ponzini that found Chief Sullivan guilty of charges related to his intentional deletion of cell phone data while he was the subject of administrative charges and a defendant in multiple Town lawsuits," Harrington said. “The 55-page decision, and the imposition of a 15 day suspension without pay, reaffirms the fundamental premise, well known to the rank and file of the Clarkstown Police Department, that police department computer data belongs to the Town. No member of the department, regardless of rank, can intentionally permanently delete such data without sanction.”

However, the outcome falls short of what Hoehmann had asked for July 19 when he offered Sullivan a choice between a severance package and disciplinary charges, according to the Report of Findings.

The suspension of Sullivan had to do in part with a weekend delay in removing Cole-Hatchard from his role as director of the Rockland County Strategic Intelligence Unit. According to the Clarkstown Police Department's annual report, the Strategic Intelligence Unit was created in early 2015 by the Town of Clarkstown Police Department and the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office as a joint intelligence based operation. Town officials allege it was also involved in investigating local politics, including surveillance on an African-American community group in Haverstraw, local Black Lives Matter activity, a town justice and the Rockland Sheriff.

Cole-Hatchard, who resigned, has sued the town over his reassignment.

Sullivan's lawyer Richard Glickel has said all the charges are "meritless."

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