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"The public accusation that I engaged in, authorized or condoned the illegal surveillance of anyone is untrue and paints a false impression of the county’s Strategic Intelligence Unit, and has had a negative impact on the SIU’s mission," Sullivan said. "Since the Board has chosen to make these allegations public, I believe that they should also make the details and facts supporting their allegations public."
The SIU is used to conduct surveillance for suspects associated with drugs, violence, terrorism-related activities and other major crimes.
The town added 15 additional charges to the original charges, including seven for misconduct that states that officers who reported to Sullivan had engaged in/or were about to conduct illegal surveillance of a group of individuals.
Sullivan said that he had no knowledge of the events and would never allow an officer to break the law.
"I could not and would not ever condone any illegal or constitutionally offensive conduct by any member of the Clarkstown Police Department," Sullivan said in his response to the charges against him.
Sullivan added that the charges are vague, intentionally misleading and false.
"In my 33-plus years of service in law enforcement I have never seen a more serious abuse of power than what we are witnessing today," he said. "And, while I never imagined that I would find myself in this position at this point in my career, I consider my own defense to these charges to be nothing more than the fulfillment of my oath to uphold the law and tell the truth."
Sullivan was suspended in late July on charges that included incompetence and misconduct due to the chief’s social media postings about a former officer and his response to a demand that an officer be reassigned.
Check back to Daily Voice for Sullivan's response to the other charges against him.
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