Supporters come to trooper’s defense
Hendrick Hudson resource officer praised as a role model

 

Hendrick Hudson Superintendent Joan Thompson joined a large group of students and staff who praised Trooper Mario Velez for his work as Student Resource Officer at the high school.

by Adam Stone and Patrick Fitzgerald
Supporters of New York State Trooper Mario Velez are rallying to the defense of the beleaguered Hendrick Hudson school resource officer, describing him as dedicated, trustworthy, effective, friendly and fair.

Responding to complaints of harassment from some students and parents, Velez, a trooper with the Cortlandt barracks, is being investigated by State Police.

But the investigation was triggered by angry parents with a selfish agenda, Velez supporters say, and the veteran trooper should be commended, not condemned.

"…Trooper Velez is widely respected and appreciated by both the faculty and students at Hen Hud," Amy Benjamin, the union representative at the high school, wrote in an e-mail statement last week.

"I have never heard (any) negative 'buzz' about him, and, in my position representing the teachers, I certainly would hear if anyone had workplace related problems," she also wrote.

"Trooper Velez's office was adjacent to my classroom for several years, so I would see him quite often," Benjamin continued. "I never saw him being anything but courteous and professional, offering a much needed service to a school and community. He makes us feel safe."

A story published in North County News last month about the allegations of harassment generated a robust response, with a flurry of letters mostly supporting Velez printed each week since the front-page article ran on May 10.

A group of high school students, teachers, administrators and other district officials, as well as supervisors-past and present-are painting Velez as a positive role model who was wrongly targeted and unfairly treated in print.

Susan Strauss, principal at Walter Panas High School, was Velez's supervisor when he worked for the neighboring Lakeland School District, starting part-time in the middle of 2002.

With a Student Resource Officer (SRO) slot now open at Walter Panas, Strauss said she would be glad to offer Velez his old job back.

"If he were to be available by Monday I'd take him back in a second," Strauss said last week.

"Certainly, my personal experience with him while he was here he did a very nice job and seemed to connect with the students (and) provided the support that we wanted," Strauss remembered. "When…he was assigned to Hen Hud we were upset to seem him go."

Alysha Fanning, a 17-year-old senior at Hen Hud, prepared supportive remarks for a friend to read at a recent Board of Education meeting.

"In my four years at Hendrick Hudson High School, I have always found Trooper Velez to be a strong, secure presence in our school," Fanning's prepared remarks, provided by the district office, read. "He has been nothing but kind and supportive to many students in need."

Separately, during a telephone interview last week, Fanning called Velez, "a great person," who "does a great job."

"For example, he's at every sport event," she recounted. "It's nice knowing he's there. Yeah, I think he makes kids feel safer. For volleyball this year, he came with us to volleyball for states and it's nice having a positive attribute to the school."

John Bell, whose daughter Amanda, a Blue Mountain Middle School sixth-grader, plays for a Velez-coached Town of Cortlandt softball team, said Velez has "always been very positive with the girls."

"And (he's) always been the kind of coach who will say good job even when she's made an out and (has) just been great that way," added Bell, a football coach himself at Croton-Harmon High School.

And Velez enjoys the kind of temperament needed to be a successful Student Resource Officer, Bell believes.

"If (you are going to) have a trooper in the school, he's the type because of his personality and community ties with his daughter in the school system," Bell remarked.

Because Velez has a daughter in the school system, Bell also theorized, it would be counterintuitive for him to start trouble.

"What guy with a daughter in the schools is (going to) go after a kid?" Bell offered. "Then he's just ruining his own reputation and the (reputation) of his family, too."

In response to the May 10 article, some Hen Hud students and teachers wore ribbons to indicate their support of Velez.

The teachers who reportedly organized the ribbon idea did not respond to e-mails or telephone calls requesting comment.

Hendrick Hudson High School Principal James Mackin Jr., who Velez critics described as the trooper's enabler, declined an interview request, saying he needed Superintendent Joan Thompson's permission before speaking with the press.

In a May 11 letter home to parents, however, Mackin defends Velez.

"Apparently a small group of parents and students have questioned or complained about the role of the School Resource Officer at the Hendrick Hudson High School," Mackin wrote.

"The Board of Education, administration and staff strongly support the SRO program which provides additional security and counsel to the high school at no cost, as it is a state funded program."

Parents critical of Velez took umbrage with the letter, saying Mackin was distorting their position. The parents maintain they support the SRO program, but believe Velez is ill-suited for the job.

"Let me state for the record that none of the parents or students outraged by Trooper Velez's behavior are against the SRO program as has been indicated by yourself and Mrs. Thompson," Kelli Troccoli, one district parent, wrote in a May 11 letter to Board of Education President Ellette Chatkin.

"In fact, (quite) the opposite," the letter, carbon copied to Thompson and the rest of the board, also states. "We are strongly in favor of the program when it is carried out in the manner in which it was intended which is not the case with (Hendrick Hudson High School). We are however strongly opposed to the way it is being carried out now. As I have stated, Trooper Velez's approach is one of a tough guy, bully, cocky, arrogant, 'I will get you' mentality."

Chatkin, who Troccoli complained has been nonresponsive, declined interview requests.

The National Association of School Resource Officers' website states that "school-based policing…is the fastest growing area of law enforcement."

More than half of Westchester's 40-odd school districts now employ at least one uniformed police officer in the high school or the middle school or both, according to an August 30 article in The New York Times.

Increased police presence at public schools started to sprout after the Columbine tragedy.

During a meeting in Mackin's office last week, with Athletic Director Thomas Baker and Velez sitting in, North County News was asked to conduct interviews with students and staff off campus.

Velez, during the meeting, declined comment.

Larry Liptscher, the father of Benjamin and Rebeccah Liptscher, both Hen Hud students who accused Velez of mistreatment, filed complaints that helped spark the State Police's internal investigation. The family also helped gathered petition signatures denouncing Velez and also called for his ouster.

As for Thompson, she provided North County News with an April 24 letter she wrote to Wayne Bennett, the State Police Superintendent, that details her support of Velez and challenges the trooper's critics.

"In some rare cases, students and parents do not accept Mario's support in matters of discipline," she wrote. "Unable to see their own mistakes, they assign blame to Mario. As I reviewed the Liptscher letter and petition, I will tell you this is the case for a majority of the signatures. Please realize that letter and petition represent a minute portion of our school community, and thousands of students and parents stand ready to sign in support of Trooper Velez and the role of SRO."

Thompson, earlier in the letter, which she provided to North County News in lieu of an interview, states, "Mario has an excellent rapport with students, staff and parents."

"He is seen as a resource in every sense of the word, not just as a law officer but as counselor, teacher, mentor and general advisor," Thompson adds of Velez, who started with Hen Hud part time in the middle of the 2001-02 school year.

Larry Liptscher believes many of the letters of support were wrongheaded, mounting a defense based on Velez's positive interaction with a majority of students and faculty.

"If it happens to one child, that's one child too many," he asserted.

"Maybe he's going to be a nice guy when a dire response (is required), but you shouldn't be commended for doing your job," Liptscher also said. "You don't tip the barber when he's the owner of the shop. He's just doing his job."

Liptscher's wife, Kathleen Chilcott, believes a letter signed by district staff supporting Velez should be taken with a grain of salt because faculty could face repercussions if they refuse to attach their names.

"I think what the opposition is saying is very well orchestrated," remarked Chilcott, the owner of Kathleen's Tea Room in Peekskill and a former administrator with BOCES in Yorktown. "As a former administrator I know there are job evaluations and a lot of teachers didn't even sign up. This was a protective reflex."

Since the May 10 article was published, other parents and students have come forward, and are scheduled to be interviewed by investigators, Chilcott added.

Liptscher and Chilcott's children were among a group of teens interviewed last month about their problems with Velez.

He complained of two major incidents, including one in December when Velez allegedly threatened, in front of Mackin, to punch him in the face following a fist fight the teen had just had off school grounds.

"'If you don't shut your mouth, then I'm going to (hit) you in the face,'" Liptscher recalled Velez warning him in Mackin's office. "I said, 'Mackin, did your SRO just threaten to hit me in the face?' He didn't really respond. When my mom came, (Velez) said, 'Go ahead, tell your mother.'"

The 16-year-old also claims in May of last year Velez threatened to have him jailed unless he admitted on a signed police form to smoking marijuana.

Liptscher was arrested for drug paraphernalia possession and also charged in the December incident with disorderly conduct. He admits to having possessed a drug pipe, but remained furious that Velez allegedly refused to allow him to speak with an attorney or contact a family member with his parents vacationing in Mexico.

Rebeccah Liptscher, for her part, accused Velez of falsely documenting that she admitted to returning to campus drunk after cutting class in January. The freshman does admit to cutting the class with friends, but denied the allegations of drinking.

Nevertheless, she was suspended for five days and ordered to a superintendent's hearing. Two of her friends whom she cut classes with were also suspended, and they admitted to drinking, but only because Velez coaxed them into doing so after intense and menacing interrogation sessions, the girl claimed.

"They eventually confessed to drinking even though they didn't," she remarked last month. "He tries to convince you what to say. He would say, 'you might as well admit it because I already have the proof.' I really don't like him. He yells in kids' faces for no reason. It's just disrespectful."

Brother and sister both carry with them daily a memo delivered to the school administration that demands that Velez not question, interview or interrogate them unless their mother or legal counsel is present.

A separate complaint was also filed by Troccoli, whose son Matthew is a 17-year-old junior.

She filed the grievance verbally in early April with Lieutenant Michael Realmuto of the Hawthorne barracks and issued a formal statement to him on May 3.

Troccoli claimed Matthew was strip searched down to his underwear in the fall by Velez, even forced to remove a brace from his right leg, which he hurt playing football. She alleged the incident transpired in the office of John Owens, an assistant principal at the high school.

The mother of two declined to explain why she waited so long to file the complaint or elaborate on what prompted the strip search, but did say a reasonable rationale exists.

Interviewed by phone last week, Troccoli dismissed the letters supporting Velez, but said her own letter, also published in North County News, was met with enthusiastic appreciation from much of the school community.

"I couldn't go anywhere without people applauding me," Troccoli said. "People would say, 'That letter was awesome.' Even teachers said I made good points. Some people are afraid to speak out."

The State Police investigation is ongoing. When it's complete, findings will not be released to the public, a spokesman told North County News last month.

Troop K in Poughkeepsie, which patrols Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester counties, is conducting the investigation.

The State Police Internal Affairs Bureau for the southern region, headquartered in the Town of New Windsor, is overseeing the investigation.

Disciplinary action resulting from an internal affairs investigation ranges from a letter of censure to dismissal, Captain Robert Hughes of Internal Affairs said.

Sergeant William Dexter, Velez's supervisor at the Cortlandt barracks, did not return a voicemail message.