Officer Davenport suspended
ALTAMONT An Altamont Police officer has been suspended in response to a complaint of harassment.
Last week, Colin Abele, of Berne, a clerk at Ketchums Service Store, wrote a letter to the Enterprise editor, accusing Officer Joshua M. Davenport of intimidation and harassment. This week, Altamont Public Safety Commissioner Anthony Salerno announced that he has completed an investigation of the complaint, and the officer has been suspended without pay and will be required to attend human-relations training.
Salerno would not comment further.
Abele received a three-sentence letter from Salerno telling him, "I have been able to make substantiations regarding the complaint." Abele said he hopes Davenport will take the suspension as a lesson on how to deal with the public.
"I don’t think I want him removed from the force," Abele said. "Just change his conduct."
Abele wrote last week that Davenport "repeatedly and consistently used foul, abrasive, and threatening language when approaching me at my place of employment."
Davenport also threatened to give him traffic tickets for things he didnt do, Abele claimed.
"He informed me the reason he had lied about this was to ‘remind’ me who held the ‘upper hand’ in the village because I had been ‘runnin‘ my mouth about the cops,’" Abele wrote.
Salerno will not put The Enterprise in touch with Davenport, whose phone number is unlisted.
Since his letter appeared in the paper, Abele said, he has heard from a number of people with opinions on the issue.
"I’ve even received a couple of phone calls from village residents at my house," Abele said.
While some of the comments counter his complaints, most people he has heard from commend him for coming forward, Abele said.
Last week, Abele said he was leaving his job to avoid further harassment from Davenport. His plans have not changed.
"It’s time for a change anyway," Abele said. "I’m perfectly willing to put this behind me. I hope that he learned some lessons, and I learned some lessons myself. I’m not closed to the idea that I went a little overboard."
