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Investigation finds Niskayuna's former top cop violated town's workplace violence policy

Jul 08, 2021 5:45 am

Paul Nelson is reporting for the Times Union an internal investigation commissioned by the town of Niskayuna found that former police chief Frances Wall violated the town's workplace violence policy late last year when she allegedly claimed she would kill a town employee if a firm the town board hired to conduct a racial equity audit "comes after my police officers." The Times Union obtained the findings and supporting documents this week through a Freedom of Information Law request. Those documents show that Town Comptroller Ismat Alam was the complainant. Alam alleged in the complaint that Wall said, "if the TB (Town Board) could give you $25K for the racial equity audit, why can't they give me $25K for my police department for body cameras" before adding "if CNA comes after my police officers, then I will kill you." CNA is the Virginia-based research firm that conducted Niskayuna's racial audit. Alam states in documents that she was "taken back, shocked and felt bullied" as a result of behavior she allegedly experienced from Wall for months. On her part, Wall has denied the accusations and referred comment to her attorney, Paul Davenport. Davenport reiterated his past points that the incidents never happened.  Read the full story in the Times Union.