Subscribe
to TIC!

Bethlehem Chief of Police Louis G. Corsi

Q: Do the police have to swear an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution? Where is it? “Yes. The oath of office is on file. We keep it in personnel records. But the town clerk has all the records. You have to sign the book, and you have to sign the Oath of office. You swear to uphold the laws, the Constitution, protect the citizens, so on and so forth.” [see photo and caption for text of the Oath]

[above left to right] Lt. T. Heffernan, Chief Louis Corsi, Kimberly Feliciano, and Ray Feliciano after the interview. [left] The signed Oath of Office for Chief Corsi on file with the Town Clerk. It states, “I, Louis G. Corsi, do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of New York, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of Police Chief according to the best of my ability.” (signed 4/15/03) (photos: Gayle Martin Henry )

Q: What is the most important training officers get when learning how to be a police officer?

“The basic academy is quite extensive today. It’s not like it was years ago. It used be a ten-week course. Today it’s six months of really in depth training. Law enforcement is a very dynamic fluid occupation, constantly changing. And you have to be on top of your game the best that you can. And the training we receive in this area comes from the Zone Five Law Enforcement Academy located in Schenectady that is probably one of the most comprehensive academies in the state. It’s all state of the art. The best of everything they get. And like I said, it’s very intense. It’s very dynamic. Things are different today. Even more so since 9-11. Because officers have had to be trained in such things as biohazards where they didn’t necessarily have to do that before and the proper handling of that.”

Q: Overall, how has 9-11 changed things?

“I think what really transpired with that is the road cop, the officers on the street have had to be better aware of things that they weren’t necessarily aware of before. Intelligence is a big thing. Not only here in the capital area but across the country. A lot of databases, a lot of people checking a lot of things in an effort to safeguard the community. It’s a very different environment today.”

Q: How does your department coordinate with other first responders in the area?

“We work closely with the FBI office in Albany, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, the state police and the county sheriff. And I said this before, crime is not a localized issue. It’s a regional issue. So we collaborate a lot between other departments, because when crime is high in the city of Albany, we feel that also. Time of day, time of year. So it’s not a localized problem. It’s a regional problem, and it has to be addressed regionally.”

Q: Is there special training or procedures for handling people with apparent mental issues?

“Yes, and that’s all academy born. That’s all training from the academy. In fact, we have a couple of instructions on the job that teach in that area. So we do a lot of teaching at the academy ourselves... We work closely with Capital District Psychiatric Center. We’ve had a good relationship with them. Their field team is out here constantly.”

Q: Now that the department is armed with the Taser X26, is there special training for using them?

“Yes. We do a block of instruction twice a year with them. And there are policies in place regarding their use. And we continue to retrain with them twice a year. And officers are accountable for the use of that equipment. And it has a specific place today in modern law enforcement. There are times when you can’t get close to somebody. What the Taser allows you to do is get within 25 feet, and it allows you to stop what’s happening and take the person into custody or into protective custody for care without anybody getting hurt. There’s been a lot of controversy over Taser, and it’s been around for a long time. And we looked at it for about year before we went ahead and purchased them. And we obtained them on a grant through the state. So I think we have about 12 or 14 of them in the agency. And every member of the agency is trained with them.”

Q: Is there a min. or max. age or min. bodyweight below which a Taser may not be used?

“We would refrain from using it on children. Kids.”

Q: Below what age?

“Well, I think that’s going to be an officer’s call. I mean, we don’t want to pinpoint it. Because how do you determine if someone is 12 or 14? How do you determine if they’re 14 or 18 today? I think in those split seconds that the officer is on the scene, he has a lot of things at his availability, but the last thing he wants to use is any kind of deadly force. So there is a progression of the use of force, and the Taser is included in that. And that’s his or her decision at the time. It’s a tough call, and it’s got to be made real quick.”

Q: And I was thinking about an older person where they might have a problem with their heart. Whether from the Taser or otherwise, are the police liable if they cause harm or injury to a person? Are they bonded?

“No, we’re not bonded. The laws of New York allow us great latitude to exercise control and to arrest. And those that resist, the law is pretty clear that we can use the force that is necessary to affect that arrest, so that pretty much speaks for itself.”

Q: When responding to calls of domestic violence, how do police determine who to believe and who to arrest? Is there a presumption that the woman is the victim and the man is the perpetrator?

“Not any more. It’ll be pretty evident once you get there. We have a pro-arrest policy with domestic disturbance as opposed to years ago when you would mitigate that. Now it’s an arresting. And officers are trained in the area, and they’re on scene. And they can usually get to the bottom of it and find out who is the aggressor, how did it start, and usually take action based on that.”

Q: Do police enforce orders of protection if they have not been signed by a judge or just based on heresy?

“No. It has to be official and it has to be legal. It’s got to be authorized. And we also want to make sure that the person for whom it has been issued has knowledge of the order, and that he has a copy or she has a copy of it, has been presented with it.”

Q: Is there a special relationship between the police and Child Protective Services (CPS)?

“We work close with them. We work with a lot of state agencies and county agencies.”

Q: Is an order signed by a judge necessary when children are removed from their homes by CPS?

“No. CPS can remove in the interim, but no, it doesn’t require a judge’s order. Our Family Services Department works closely with all state and county agencies.”

Q: Do you believe schools should use metal detectors?

“You know that’s really a decision for school administrators. It’s funny because after 9-11 there’s been a movement and a lot of personal rights are being removed. And in a free society, it is so very difficult to protect them with those entitlements to Constitutional rights and the right to privacy, and all those things. It’s a balance. You try to make them balance. The metal detector is there to protect those kids. How can you not want to do that? How can you not want to protect them? But the decision to put them in the schools is something that really has to come from the schools. Not us.”

Q: What programs do you use to keep kids out of trouble?

“We do a lot of stuff. Family services is involved heavily with the kids in the community. We have two school resource officers that are in both the middle school and the high school on a full time basis. We do a lot of stuff with the younger children through D.A.R.E. and D.A.R.E. programs. There’s probably a list a mile long of the stuff Family Services does. I just don’t have them at the top of my head right now. I think primarily we do a lot with families. We do a lot with elder care. But our attention is really through the Family Services Unit. It’s really directed toward the children in the community. We do KidCare and Child I.D. for parents. There’s a lot that we do. We’re always trying to do something for the community.”

Q: What can be done to reduce the adversarial ‘Us vs. Them’ mentality that some kids, and even some adults have towards the police?

“You know, I wish I had that answer. I think early on what you want to teach kids is that our primary mission is to help. That’s why we’re here. The stigmatisms that have been attached are somewhat systemic. Kids will look at us as an authority figure, and not too much has changed over the years. I remember as a teenager it was the same type of thought. I think what we do now that we didn’t do years ago is we get into schools early with them. They get to know us and find out that we’re really just people to begin with. Some you have good influence with. Others you just probably never will. So you just accept it for what it is.”

Q: Would some of it be that now that we’re in the ‘Age of the car’, we don’t have as many officers walking the street, where everyone knows ‘Officer Dan’, you’re not building that rapport, that relationship?

“I think that has some effect on it. Usually the only contact most people have with police is a traffic stop. You hear this all the time, parents telling their children, be nice or I’ll tell this police officer you’re not being nice. That’s a terrible thing to say to your children. Because at a young age, that child becomes fearful. And you really don’t want to do that. That happens all too often. And that sticks in their minds.”

Q: If a person feels that they have been bullied or their rights were abused by a police officer, what realistic recourse do they have? How should they report it, and to whom?

“They should report it right to the agency that the complaint would have originated from. We’re pretty open about this. If someone comes here or calls and makes a complaint about something, we provide them with a complaint form that they fill out for us, and that immediately goes to the first line supervisor, being the sergeant, who will look into the matter. And if he can resolve that at that level, that’s fine. If it is something more serious, it would end up going to the division level where the division commander would conduct an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the complaint. If it rises to another level where it needs further attention, it’ll end up in my office and from there we would take the action. It’s a three-step process, but none of them are ever taken lightly.”

Q: What is the biggest challenge police are facing?

“There’s an emerging pattern. We have a lot of gang activity moving into the suburbs from the cities. It’s a concern. I know it’s a concern of chiefs across the nation. It’s a whole different environment, being part of something as opposed to not. And at that age with these kids being 17 and 18 years old, that’s a big influence, so we’re concerned with that. There are technology choices that we make everyday. Technology is money. Money is choices. You don’t want to buy something that’s only going to last for a year, so we’ve had to become computer savvy, those things that you didn’t necessarily have to do before.”

Q: What can people do to help the police perform their job safely, efficiently and effectively?

“I think if we get back to the basics. And really we’re only as effective as the people in the community. We need their help so much with everything that we do. We need their cooperation, and given today’s day and age, it is more apparent now than it has ever been. We ask for help. We ask people who have seen stuff to call us. The people are really the police, and we are the ones that do the work for them. We would rather get 100 calls and find nothing than get one call and find something. Stay in touch with us. We’re here to help.”

Q: What else would you like the people to know regarding the Bethlehem police department?

“Our mission is to provide the best possible public safety services to the residents in a compassionate, effective, and cost effective manner. That’s what I really want them to know. And we’re here for them. You can call us for anything, and we’ll send a car.”

What is the FBA?  |  FBA Website Prototype  |  Cost Estimates  |  The Team

Publishers of The Informed Constituent.

Contact the FBA