Paul Kirby reports in the Daily Freeman that Patrick Phelan, executive director of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, denounced Saugerties officials on July 27, for not explaining the reasons for putting Police Chief Joseph Sinagra on paid administrative leave. Phelan said, “Currently, we are waiting for information.... As far as we know there has been no reason given for placing Chief Sinagra on administrative leave.” Sinagra was recently sworn in as President of the NYS Association of Police Chiefs. Phelan said he spoke to Sinagra on July 26 and the chief told him he did not know why the town board put him on leave. Sinagra could not be reached for comment by the newspaper on July 27. The Town Board voted to hire former Police Chief Lou Barbaria as interim chief at $50 per hour. Earlier this month, the state Attorney General’s Office recommended that the Saugerties police department “seek to terminate” Saugerties Police Officer Dion Johnson because of sexual assault and harassment complaints. And, Sinagra’s brother, Philip Sinagra, Jr., a “volunteer officer” with the Saugerties Police Department and a part-time officer in Woodstock, was named in a federal complaint by four Woodstock police officers and a former dispatcher who allege that Woodstock Police Department tolerated sexually charged comments by Sinagra, Jr. Read more about this story in the Daily Freeman.