[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Chester 10-9-1972. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 10-9-1972]
There is hereby established in and for the Village of Chester, Orange County, New York, a Police Department, to be known as the "Village of Chester Police Department."
Members of the present police force of the Village of Chester shall continue to be members of the Village of Chester Police Department and shall retain the ranks which they have as of the date this article takes effect.
The action heretofore taken by this Board on creating the office of Chief of Police of the Village of Chester is hereby ratified and confirmed.
[Adopted 10-24-2013 by L.L. No. 3-2013[1]]
[1]
Editor’s Note: This local law also superseded former Art. II, Disciplinary Hearing Procedures, adopted 11-5-2012 by L.L. No. 3-2012, as amended.
A. 
This article is enacted in order to comply with and conform to the provisions of §§ 8-804 and 8-806 of the New York State Village Law, the public policy of the State of New York, and case law of the New York Court of Appeals. This article provides that the Village Board, not the Village Mayor, or any third party, shall make all final determinations concerning the investigation of complaints and the imposition of disciplinary penalties with respect to members of the Village of Chester Police Department.
B. 
This article shall be applicable to all complaints concerning allegations of misconduct or incompetence lodged against any member of the Village of Chester Police Department on or after the effective date hereof.
Complaints concerning allegations of misconduct or incompetence against any member of the Village of Chester Police Department shall continue to be investigated pursuant to the procedures currently in effect and as stated in the Village of Chester Police Department Rules and Regulations, and any amendment thereto.
The Chief of Police or his or her designee, upon a determination that a complaint against a member of the Village of Chester Police Department is substantiated, shall prepare and serve a notice of discipline setting forth the charges and specifications alleged against such member as well as the discipline to be imposed.
Within 14 days of the service of the notice of discipline upon any member of the Village of Chester Police Department, the member shall respond in writing as to his or her acceptance of or objection to the charges, specifications, and discipline imposed. The failure by the employee to furnish such a written response shall constitute the employee's acceptance of the charges and specifications alleged in the notice of discipline as well as acceptance of the discipline imposed therein.
A. 
The member, within 14 days of receiving the notice of discipline, may request in writing a hearing on the charges and specifications before the Village Board.
B. 
Within 45 days of the Village Board's receipt of the member's written request for a hearing, the Village Board shall do one of the following:
(1) 
Designate a Village Board member to sit as a trier of fact to hear, report and recommend to the Village Board a determination upon the charges filed against the member of the Village of Chester Police Department; or
(2) 
Select a Hearing Officer to sit as a trier of fact to hear, report and recommend to the Village Board a determination upon the charges filed against the member of the Village of Chester Police Department.
The Village Board member or the Hearing Officer selected to hear, report and recommend a determination upon the charges shall conduct a hearing and shall issue to the Village Board a decision containing recommended findings of fact and a recommended disciplinary penalty, if applicable. Said decision shall be reviewed by the Village Board, and, after its review, the Village Board may accept or reject, in the whole or in part, the recommended findings of fact and/or the recommended disciplinary penalty, if applicable. The Village Board shall make a final determination of the charges alleged in the notice of discipline and, where applicable, shall impose any penalty consistent with the provisions of the New York State Village Law, or any other penalty that may be agreed to between the Village Board and the respondent member or that member's authorized representative.
In accordance with Village Law § 8-806, the final determination of the Village Board shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court in the judicial district in which the Village of Chester is located. Any such review shall be in the manner provided for by Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules, provided that the proceeding must be commenced within 60 days from the date of the final determination of the Village Board.
Any member who is served with a notice of discipline may have a representative or legal counsel represent him or her in connection with any proceedings provided for by this article. The Hearing of the charges alleged in the notice of discipline shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Village Law §§ 8-804 and 8-806, and such hearing shall be transcribed by a stenographer. A copy of the transcript of the proceedings shall be provided to the respondent member free of charge.
The Chief of Police is hereby directed to take all necessary steps to implement the provisions of this article, and to provide notice of the same to the members of the Village of Chester Police Department.
If any part or provision of this article or the application thereof to any person or circumstance be adjudged invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall be confined in its operation to the part or provision or application directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered, and shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of this article or the application thereof to other persons or circumstances; the Village Board hereby declares that it would have passed this article or the remainder thereof had such invalid application or invalid provision been apparent.
All ordinances, local laws, rules and regulations and parts thereof inconsistent with this article are hereby repealed.
This article shall take effect upon posting and filing with the Secretary of State of New York.