Westchester Guardian/Harrison.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Harrison’s Joan Walsh Speaks
For The ‘Frightened’ Majority
She Stands Up To Those On Corrupt ‘Gravy Train’

By Richard Blassberg

Last Wednesday night, June 18, Harrison Supervisor Joan Walsh demonstrated her mettle in the face of extreme opposition from the forces of Anthony Marraccini and his front-man, Dave Hall. In keeping with an agreement, reached by the Town Board at their prior meeting, to bring in an outside investigator to assess the cause of no fewer than 11 legal actions, most in Federal Court, currently pending against members of the Harrison Police Department, Walsh had called for a special closed-door session with fellow Board members to meet
with, and possibly choose, one of two investigative agencies.

As events turned out, representatives from Daylight Forensic And Advisory and from Kroll Associates, two New York City firms, were never given the opportunity to present their credentials or pitch their services. Instead, some 150 or so individuals, many of them police officers from other towns and counties, several of them including former Chief Longworth of Dobbs Ferry and current Greenburgh Chief
Kapica, aligned with Police Chief Hall through the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, came out to lend their voices in opposition to any possible investigation into misconduct by such notables as Captain Anthony Marraccini and Officers Richard Light
and Ed Lucas, as well as Chief Hall.

Ironically, one of the cases in Federal Court, brought by several members of the Harrison PBA, involves allegations that Chief Hall intercepted and misappropriated a $2500 check sent as proceeds from a fundraiser to the PBA, forged the payee by changing the face of the check, and then converted the proceeds by depositing the check into the account of the very same New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, 15 of whose members were at the meeting.

There were other interesting ironies as well; Albert J. Pirro, Jr., convicted Federal felon, tax cheat, and notorious “fix-it man”, acting as counsel to Chief Hall, attempting to lecture Supervisor Walsh about “wasting taxpayers’ money and making a mockery of the Town.”

Most hilarious was Pirro’s assertion that Chief Hall was so certain that there has been no wrongdoing in his Department that, “He welcomes
a full investiga-tion by the Department of Justice.” Of course, Al knows all about those; and his client is, no doubt, a little late extending
the welcome mat to the FBI.


The Guardian has been closely monitoring events in Harrison for the better part of two years, reporting one Federal lawsuit after another, involving a small clique of high-ranking police of-ficers who repeatedly engage in conduct that violates the civil rights of civilians as well as rank and file members of the Harrison Police Department. We will continue to watch developments very closely as the effort to rid the Town of corruption and tyranny goes forward.