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Sale of unused Luzerne County rail for scrap postponed

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Inspector general files welfare fraud charges against 68 people in January

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; From Daniel Duffy&#8217;s perspective, the department might as well have taken his weapon away when it issued an order prohibiting him and his fellow police officers from accessing reports that aren&#8217;t their own.</p><p>The directive sent in an email to the entire department by Commander of Patrol Ron Foy jeopardizes the safety of officers who rely upon the sharing of information to make arrests, solve crimes and protect the public, said Duffy, vice president of the Wilkes-Barre Police Benevolent Association.</p><p>&#8220;It hobbles the workforce because we lack information. That&#8217;s probably the worst thing you can do,&#8221; said Duffy on Tuesday.</p><p>&#8220;I have no idea what the rationale is behind it,&#8221; Duffy added. &#8220;There was information in the order that said officers were reviewing reports and that was not necessary.&#8221;</p><p>A message left with Police Chief Marcella Lendacky was not immediately returned.</p><p>The Record Management System used internally by the department has an audit trail that shows who accesses a report, Duffy explained. If there is a problem with a particular officer or officers, reports can be marked classified and off limits to them, he noted.</p><p>&#8220;I am so puzzled over this,&#8221; said Duffy, an instructor at the Lackawanna College Police Academy and former chief in Scranton who now works as an officer in Wilkes-Barre. He said he teaches report writing to recruits and stresses, &#8220;Information is our most valuable tool.&#8221;</p><p>The order that came without warning and reason marked yet another bump in the rocky relationship between the union and the police administration. The PBA has been critical of the city&#8217;s first female police chief, questioning her qualifications to run the department. But Lendacky&#8217;s defenders have characterized it as a gender-based dispute due to the mostly male force she oversees.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s frightening,&#8221; Duffy said of the new rule.&#8220;If it hurts our safety, the PBA will not remain silent.&#8221;</p><p>As it&#8217;s done in the past, the PBA posted its concerns on its Facebook page.</p><p>&#8220;Poor management practices like this WILL lead to criminal activity going undetected, undeterred (as proactive policing will suffer), and it WILL hinder cases from being solved,&#8221; a post from Monday stated.</p><p>Duffy also raised his concerns with department leadership&#8217;s lack of transparency regarding reports. He said Lendacky removed the names of officers who posted public information on the department&#8217;s Facebook page. He also said she altered reports, and when that came to light, she took steps so that supervisors were no longer able to access the audit trails.</p><p>In its Facebook post, the PBA also renewed a request made in December to city council for an independent investigation of the department.</p><p><ins>For other local news stories, <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/category/local" target="_blank">click here</a>.</ins></p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>New order limiting access &#8216;hobbles&#8217; police</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre police union: Order restricting access to internal reports ‘hobbles’ officers