Introduction
It all started because someone emailed a
Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY) article to
me, "New SPCA Chapter plans to lay down the
law" dated March 30, 2008. Please --- take a
moment and read it.
www.dailygazette.com/news/2008/mar/30/0330_newspca/
First impressions can be very telling. Does
it make your blood boil? Or your hair curl?
Do you get the feeling that something just
isn't right?
Mathew Tully takes on many titles in his
personal creation, his SCSPCA venture. He
is:
Chief Commanding Officer of the
organization's peace officers
(www.schenectadyspca.org/officers.shtml
)
Chief of Department (www.schenectadyspca.org)
· Director (IRS form 1023, CHAR410 form)
· President (CHAR410 form)
· Incorporator (Certificate of Incorporation)
· Chief Humane Law Enforcement Officer
(www.schenectadyspca.org/law_enforcement.shtml)
· Chairman - Board of Directors
(www.schenectadyspca.org/law_enforcement.shtml)
This man wears so many hats - it gets
confusing. I'm exhausted just thinking about
all the intense energy this man expels. With
this in mind, more perplexing to me, however,
is his question to the NYS Department of
Criminal Justice Services:
"May I also serve as a Peace Officer with the
Columbia-Greene SPCA?"
What???
A little bit of historical review
Speaking about "Columbia-Greene"
(incorporated as Columbia-Greene Humane
Society, Inc., - not SPCA) (hereinafter
CGHS), Mathew Tully previously volunteered
there as an investigator/peace officer.
According to text in an Appellate Division
Decision dated April 14, 2005, intimidation
tactics were used against plaintiff Wayne
Martin, et al:
"(P)laintiffs are in the business of selling
dogs and, in October 2002, one of their
customers, Lynn Heller, complained to
defendant Columbia Greene Humane Society,
Inc. (hereinafter the Society) that a dog she
had recently purchased from plaintiffs
appeared sick. Defendant Matthew Tully - a
volunteer at the Society who performs
investigations and is a peace officer -
interviewed plaintiffs and allegedly learned
that they had failed to file health
certificates for out-of-state dogs they sold
and also had neglected to report to the
Department of Agriculture and Markets certain
instances of dogs dying of contagious
diseases -2- 96915 while in their possession
during 2001 (see Agriculture and Markets Law
§§ 73, 74; 1 NYCRR 65.2).
According to plaintiffs, Tully returned to
their home on October 31, 2002 and told them
that, unless they immediately signed a
document surrendering the 15 puppies on their
premises to the Society, he would arrest them
upon a misdemeanor charge of violating
Agriculture and Markets Law § 357. They
allege in their verified complaint that
Tully, who is also an attorney, told them
that it would be one or two days before they
were arraigned, that he would ask for high
bail and that he would "demand that [their
five] children be placed by the Department of
Social Services until plaintiffs made bail."
Plaintiffs signed the surrender document and
were issued an appearance ticket."
The 15 puppies (allegedly with a retail value
of about $9,000) were sold by the Society,
which kept the proceeds. In the criminal
matter, Tully submitted an
information/complaint in which he asserted,
based upon information and belief, that
plaintiffs had willfully sold a dog with an
infectious disease to Heller. Plaintiffs'
defense attorney moved to dismiss the charges
and the District Attorney then withdrew the
charges without prejudice. In January 2003,
Tully notified plaintiffs' attorney that he
was going to reinstate the criminal charges
unless plaintiffs agreed not to sell any dogs
for three years. Plaintiffs responded by
commencing this action alleging malicious
prosecution, abuse of process, tortious
interference with business relations and
civil rights violations under 42 USC § 1983.
Defendants' motion to dismiss was denied by
Supreme Court, prompting this appeal."
Also, the Appellate Division reiterates the
plaintiffs' claim that:
"(b)efore Tully went to their premises on
October 31, 2002, Heller's dog had been
examined by a veterinarian and found not to
have any contagious or infectious disease.
Plaintiffs produced an affidavit from a
veterinarian supporting such contention and
denying Tully's assertion that this
veterinarian had told him that plaintiffs had
animals with a contagious disease. There are
thus factual allegations supporting
plaintiffs' contention that Tully had no
basis for charging them with willfully
selling a dog with an infectious disease to
Heller and for using the threat of immediate
incarceration on that charge as a ground to
gain possession of plaintiffs' 15 dogs."
.
http://decisions.courts.state.ny.us/ad3/decisions/2005/96915.pdf
In addition, it appears from this Decision
that Mathew Tully fraudulently identified
himself as an officer of the CGHS.
New York State Peace Officers
Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals (SPCA) are not-for-profit
corporations. According to New York State
Criminal Procedure Law, Article 2, §2.10,
sub-section 7, designation includes "Officers
or agents of a duly incorporated society for
the prevention of cruelty to animals" as
peace officers.
This, in itself, is a violation of the New
York State Constitution. Included as the
eleventh item in a list in the Bill of
Rights, Article III (Legislature) under
Section 17, it clearly states:
§ 17. The legislature shall not pass a
private or local bill in any of the following
cases:
Granting to any private corporation,
association or individual any exclusive
privilege, immunity or franchise whatever.
SPCA peace officers are not subject to
government control. They do not answer to any
state or local government. They only answer
to their board of directors. Peace officers
must have DCJS approved training, but then
the buck stops there.
The article
There are several topics incorporated in the
article that I think need attention - and
perhaps some serious exposure.
The article states, ".,.(H)is goal is to have
a staff of at least 10 peace officers, all of
them volunteers.
The new SPCA branch would have more peace
officers than any other county in New York
outside of New York City, he said."
According to the census of 2000, the figures
obtained from the Internet source Wikipedia,
Schenectady County has a population of
146,555. On the other hand, Westchester
County, an area just north of New York City,
has a population of 950,000, almost six and a
half times more than that of Schenectady
County. The SPCA of Westchester County
currently has two peace officers.
My question is, and I think legitimately
raised, with the ratio of people to peace
officers, WHY the necessity for "at least 10
peace officers"? Why be the biggest in the
state? Power? Control? A hunger for
attention and envy? I don't know. I'm just
asking.
And Mr. Tully is not just proposing peace
officers that have all the powers as
described in New York State Criminal
Procedure Law Part 1, Title A, Article 2, §
2.20. He wants all these volunteers to wear
armor and to be armed with weapons, mace and
batons. This sounds more like an army being
dispatched for active duty, doesn't it?
Wait. From my keyboard to the SCSPCA website.
Check out the "Peace Officers of the
Schenectady County SPCA" page.
www.schenectadyspca.org/officers.shtml
The headings are:
Commanding Officers
Platoon Leaders Squad Leaders
Squad 1 - Complex Investigations Squad
Squad 2 - Field Investigations Squad
Squad 3 - Uniformed Squad
Further research into the matter shows that
according to Mr. Tully's professional
website, the law firm of Tully Rinckey PLLC,
at least seven of the volunteer peace
officers listed (including Mr. Tully) are
employed at his law firm! And of course, the
Vice-President/Director works there too.
Such a nice family.
Another article no-no
"Tully's and Shear's agencies have authority
to investigate animal abuse and cruelty
complaints in neighboring counties that have
SPCA's but no peace officers on staff."
That is not how the law reads. New York State
Not-for-Profit Law, Article 14, § 1403 states
that an SPCA may exercise its powers and
conduct its operations in any adjacent county
in which no such corporation EXISTS.
An existing SPCA can conduct a cruelty
investigation without a peace officer.
However, they would have to contact law
enforcement to engage in the processing of
criminal charges for violation of Agriculture
& Markets Article 26 - Animal Cruelty.
Article talks about money
Mr. Tully needed $28,000 by June (1st) to
equip each volunteer peace officer with
"uniforms, weapons, body armor and other
equipment.,." with a need to raise more to
cover a $150,000 annual budget. This budget
includes "boarding animals" - would that be
for animals that are seized when defendants
are indicted on A&M 373?
According to the SCSPCA's website's current
home page, www.schenectadyspca.org they are
"nearly $30,000 in debt .,."
In an attempt to solicit $50,000 in
donations, the SCSPCA posted an ad on
Craigslist.org. If they didn't have that
amount by June 1st, ".,.we will be forced to
turn to a professional fundraiser who will
take a huge commission for every dollar
raised." On the surface, that statement
doesn't seem too bad. Right? Wrong!
On page 6 of IRS form 1023, Part VIII,
Question 4b, it asks, "Do you or will you
have written or oral contracts with any
individuals or organizations to raise funds
for you? .,."
The NO box is checked off.
So, is the SCSPCA fibbing to the readers on
Craigslist, or are they fibbing to the IRS?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Article confirms SCSPA will not operate a
shelter.
I'm a little confused. OK. I'm a LOT
confused. They're not going to run a shelter?
Isn't that what SPCA's do? If the SCSPCA is
not going to do any shelter work, that means
their only purpose is to do cruelty
investigations and file petitions for MONEY
after they seize animals and charge people
with A&M §373, or with the sale of forfeited
animals. They need the revenue to cover
their $150,000 a year budget.
And it doesn't help the public that the
SCSPCA has an anti-breeder stance. They
state,
"For every puppy
you place, another goes homeless. Don't add
to the tragedy."
www.schenectadyspca.org/spay_neuter.shtml
It would be a pseudo law enforcement agency
operating under the guise of a not-for-profit
corporation, a Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals, without the animals.
As Tully is quoted, "I guarantee you, there
is no point in having an SPCA unless you
increase the volume of arrests."
And to make matters more confusing, the
County Sheriff, Harry Buffardi is not only
lending Mr. Tully his moral support, but he's
going to use taxpayer money on this
undertaking by helping "process prisoners,
answering the phone for him and allow Tully's
agency to use the sheriff department's radio
system."
That can't be legal.
Before I forget, SCSPCA office
On the SCSPCA website and on all the
documents I have seen, the office is located
at,., P.O. Box 9516, Niskayuna, New York
12309. They have no office. They have no
phones either. The two landlines that are
listed (a phone and fax) are Mr. Tully's law
firm's office phones. A check on the 24-hour
cruelty hotline number is a cell phone based
in Kinderhook, New York - in another
county.
Icing on the peace officer cake
As I read the law, peace officers are
employed personnel. It is clearly so stated
below in the section dictating training
requirements. You can't have volunteer
vigilantes with weapons working under the
protective umbrella of the state of New York.
We can't have that. The law is
self-explanatory.
NYS Criminal Procedure Law, Article 2
§ 2.30 Training requirements for peace officers.
1. Every peace officer in the state of
New York, appointed after the effective date
of this article, who works a full
complement of hours which constitutes
full-time employment for the officer's
employer, must successfully complete a
training program, a portion of which shall
be prescribed by the municipal police
training council and by his employer, the
state or local agency, unit of local
government, state or local commission, or
public authority or private organization
that employs him. The portion prescribed
by the municipal police training council
shall be comprised of subjects, and the hours
each is to be taught, that shall be required
of all types or classes of peace officers.
The hours of instruction required by the
municipal police training council shall not
exceed thirty-five, unless a greater amount
is either required by law or regulation,
or is requested by the employer.
The segment prescribed by the
employer for his employees shall be comprised
of subjects, and the hours each is to be
taught, relating to the special nature of
the duties of the peace officers employed by
him.
Each state or local agency, unit of local
government, state or local commission, or
public authority, or public or private
organization which employs peace officers
shall provide the training mandated by
this section, and transmit to the municipal
police training council within six months
after the effective date of this
article the proposed training program for
peace officers, comprised of subjects
required by the employer, the cost of
which will be borne by the employer. The
program shall:
(a) List the subjects comprising the
proposed curriculum and the number of
hours each is to be taught;
(b) List the proposed instructors
for each subject with their
qualifications; and
(c) Indicate the proposed location of the
school.
In the reviewing of the employer's
submission, the instructors must be found
qualified by background and experience, and
if so found, the course shall be
certified by the municipal police training
council. When the subjects prescribed by the
employer are identical to the subjects in the
training program required by the municipal
police training council, the officer shall
not be required to take duplicate training
for those subjects. It is the
responsibility of every employer to provide
the training program certified by the
municipal police training council. Each
peace officer satisfactorily completing the
course shall be awarded a certificate by the
division of criminal justice services
attesting to that effect, and no person
appointed as a peace officer after the
effective date of this article shall
exercise the powers of a peace officer,
unless he has received such certification
within twelve months of appointment. Where
an employer has authorized a peace officer
to carry or use a weapon during any phase of
the officer's official duties, which
constitutes on-duty employment, the program
shall include the same number of hours of
instruction in deadly physical force and the
use of firearms and other weapons as is
required in the basic training program for
police officers by the municipal police
training council.
The program shall
include the information set forth in
subdivision seven of section 265.10 of the
penal law. No employer shall allow any
peace officer, notwithstanding when the
officer was appointed, to carry or use a
weapon during any phase of the
officer's official duties, which constitutes
on-duty employment, unless the officer has
satisfactorily completed a course of
training approved by the municipal police
training council in the use of deadly
physical force and firearms and other
weapons, and annually receives instruction in
deadly physical force and the use of
firearms and other weapons as approved by
the municipal police training council. The
course of training in the use of deadly
physical force and firearms and other
weapons shall be provided by the officer's
employer, not later than six months from the
date on which the officer was appointed,
where the officer is authorized to carry a
weapon pursuant to law.
With the entire SCSPCA crew being volunteers,
I wonder how several have already been given
peace officer status and how the NYS
Department of Criminal Justice Services will
certify the balance of the volunteer
applicants.
And yes, there is a difference between a
"volunteer" and an "employee". Just ask the
IRS.
To sum it up, regarding the Schenectady
County SPCA - boy - do I have a bridge to
sell to someone. But I'm not quite sure, at
this point, which candidate I'll offer it to.
I only have one bridge.
Oh. And by the way, I wonder what Governor
Paterson or Attorney General Cuomo's "take"
on all this is.
© June 1, 2008
