By Kenneth C. Crowe II
Updated 10:38 pm, Thursday, June 15, 2017
The city police department's drug unit was placed on administrative leave Thursday, according to several city officials.
TROY – The city police department's drug unit was placed on administrative leave Thursday, according to several city officials.
Officers placed on administrative leave are still paid. They can only be suspended without pay following a hearing. Such a suspension would last for 30 days before they go back on the payroll.
City Councilwoman Kim Ashe-McPherson, who chairs the council's Public Safety Committee, said she learned Thursday night that the entire unit was placed on administrative leave.
Ashe-McPherson said she was given a cryptic description that the situation involved "papers," but she was unable to learn more about what that means. She said she tried to contact police Chief John Tedesco for information but was not able to reach him.
The six-member unit is commanded by a sergeant and works off-site from police headquarters. It is based at a different location in the city to protect the identities of confidential informants.
The drug unit is about five percent of the police department's authorized strength of 130 officers.
Capt. Dan DeWolf, the department spokesman, referred all inquiries about the situation to City Hall.
Detective Aaron Collington, president of the Troy Police Benevolent Associationthat represents the six officers, referred questions to Mayor Patrick Madden.
The mayor's spokesman, John Salka, said, "It's a personnel matter. The city does not comment on personnel matters."
Ashe-McPherson said she was given a cryptic description that the situation involved "papers," but she was unable to learn more about what that means. She said she tried to contact police Chief John Tedesco for information but was not able to reach him.
The six-member unit is commanded by a sergeant and works off-site from police headquarters. It is based at a different location in the city to protect the identities of confidential informants.
The drug unit is about five percent of the police department's authorized strength of 130 officers.
Capt. Dan DeWolf, the department spokesman, referred all inquiries about the situation to City Hall.
Detective Aaron Collington, president of the Troy Police Benevolent Associationthat represents the six officers, referred questions to Mayor Patrick Madden.
The mayor's spokesman, John Salka, said, "It's a personnel matter. The city does not comment on personnel matters."
