Written on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008 at 9:19am by Alan Bedenko | 16 Comments

Delano Taking Undue Credit?

Glenn Gramigna posted this on his site, and I had heard very similar charges but hadn’t had the time to look into them. Dennis Delano may have a public image of being a mavericky hero cop, but some of his colleagues are challenging that perception, wondering where he gets off taking all the credit for something that was not only done by a team of people, but also a very long time in coming.

“Dennis is a nice guy and I am not going to say that he didn’t do some good work in the Capozzi and DeJac cases,” says one officer who asked that his name not be used. “But, the fact is that he was part of a team who did the investigating on those cases, as he himself admits from time to time. He got most of the credit with the public because Dennis was the one who ran to the tv cameras first and the media really fell in love with him…But, this whole image of Dennis as one of the great heroes of our time who did all these things all by himself is just not true.”

According to the less than wild about Delano faction, it was others who did the lion’s share of the work.

“The difference is that there were other detectives in the cold case unit of the Buffalo Police Department who went out there and did the grunt work,” adds another “and then, it seemed like, all of a sudden, it was Dennis who got the credit.”

A lot of it, in these folks view, had to do with the image Delano projects of a tuogh, street wise guy from the streets who was never the smartest kid in class but was definitely the most honest.

“Dennis looks the part, but so much of this is hype,” says one. “He isn’t even Italian, he’s Dutch. The truth is that Dennis has done some good things but he’s also made a lot of mistakes. What he did, giving that video to Ch. 2 is a prime example. With all due respect, he should have been suspended for that. No detective in the department would have done that and there is simply no defense for it. You just can’t have official evidence in a case being compromised by giving it to the media.”

Of course, the Dennis faction contends that the search for truth, if it is uncompromising enough, is not always neat and tidy, that sometimes rules have to be broken to get reluctant higher ups to do what ’s right.

On the other hand…

“The truth is that what Dennis did was wrong and irresponsible,” adds one of the hero cop’s detractors. “If solving the Capozzi and DeJac cases entitles a person to be elected to public office, then there should be a half dozen detectives and other investigators running. So that’s a big part of the reason why Delano isn’t getting all of those police union endorsements. Many cops think he’s a credit grabber or that he was irresponsible for releasing evidence to the media or they simply remember all the good things Senator Stachowski has done for first responders in this area. ”

Fervent Stachowski backers are even more spirited in their criticisms of Delano.

“Look, the guy says he’s a hero cop, but most police officers don’t like him,” one contends. “He’s a State Senate candidate who won’t debate or appear at forums or take questions from the media. The whole thing is a myth which I’m only hoping the voters will catch on to by election day.”

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16 Comments

  1. Joanne L. Capone says:
    October 22, 2008 at 10:12 am

    Dennis Delano worked to help free two people who did not deserve to be in prison…along with a team of others working toward the same goal…in other words…he did his job.

    In no way does that job qualify him to be a State Senator.

    Senator Bill Stachowski has done an excellent job representing his constituents in the 58th district. He was instrumental in saving St. Joseph’s Hospital for our community…preserving nearby medical facilities for growing numbers of our seniors and preserving over 800 jobs.

    Dennis Delano would be a double dipper of taxpayer monies should he be elected…getting his pension from the Police Dept. and a salary of nearly $90K from the State Senate.

    Senator Stachowski will hold a very important position in the State Senate should democrats capture the Majority and that position will be a tremendous asset to the future of all Western New Yorkers.

  2. mike says:
    October 22, 2008 at 10:51 am

    Why do lawyers always run after accidents? Is this why they don’t trust the POlice? We want to know, is it better to run home after killing someone and pretend nothing happened?

  3. well? says:
    October 22, 2008 at 10:59 am

    speaking of the police…what do you think of having a police blotter feed ‘above the fold’ on the new buffalonews.com?

    are we the only top 100 city in America that would offer this as major, breaking news?

    Overall, pundit analysis of the site’s tweaks would be interesting…

  4. Ward says:
    October 22, 2008 at 11:23 am

    I note that the only name mentioned in the piece is that of Mr. Delano. All the others are “detractors” or Stachowski “backers”. Pretty thin reporting.

    And, of course, “He isn’t even Italian, he’s Dutch.” Surely this calls for a Special Prosecutor.

  5. Martin Van Buren says:
    October 22, 2008 at 11:52 am

    Who cares if Delano is Italian? People assume things all the time. I assume that Stachowski is polish….I have no proof. I assume Obama is a native born American citizen, but he has provided no proof to his detractors.

  6. Buffalopundit says:
    October 22, 2008 at 12:06 pm

    Except for his birth certificate.

  7. The Humanist says:
    October 22, 2008 at 12:18 pm

    @Martin Van Buren – I assume you are a commie pinko kiddie-toucher who is running a terrorist sleeper cell out of your wood-paneled basement because you have provided me no proof to the contrary.

  8. Russell says:
    October 22, 2008 at 1:24 pm

    I wondered when people would actually start talking about this. I cringe everytime Mama Capozzi says that Dennis caught the real criminal. Judging by the way things went down, I would say Dennis deserves the lion’s share of the credit for getting Capozzi freed. At first, when Dennis was pushing it, Frank Clark didn’t even want to discuss it. Clark said it wasn’t even on the table after the Bikepath Rapist hit again in Clarence. It seemed from press stories at the time that Dennis kept the pressure on and the DA eventually relented. All that really matters there, though, is that Capozzi probably got out of prison a couple months earlier than he would have anyway. Once they actually did catch the real criminal, it would have been clear that Capozzi was innocent. However, it is over stated when the ads say Dennis caught the real criminal. He was part of a large team and in that team his role in the actual apprehension was not that great.

    As far as the other stuff attacking Delano personally and talking about his other work, that happens with any cop and any politician. All cops and all politicians have fans and detrators. The point that most in this story are willing to give their names says alot.

    And, if you’re as far ahead in the polls as Siena College says he is, he’s very smart not to debate or enter public forums. If he can win this thing without uttering a single word, why bother? The more any politician says, the more potential ammo you give your opponent. If you already have plenty of support, enjoy it. It’s never good to oversell.

  9. Russell says:
    October 22, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    Sorry, they’re unwilling to give their names, not willing.

  10. hank says:
    October 22, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    “If solving the Capozzi and DeJac cases entitles a person to be elected to public office”

    Sure worked good for Rudolph Guliani. He put Johnny Boy Gotti away, and got elected Mayor of NYC for his effort.

    And regardless of Party, he did more for NYC than any Mayor since Fiorello LaGuardia.

    And THEY were both ITALIANS.
    SO?
    We’ve already seen what happens when “It’s time for Buffalo to have a Black Mayor”—How’s that workin’ out for ya?

    Why this guy’s ethnicity is getting tossed in the mix is a real big ??

  11. DAAAAAAAAaaaaaaa says:
    October 22, 2008 at 4:40 pm

    I would like to see Dennis Delano’s resume. That is all I need to make a decision. I think based on his size he spends too much time either a McDonalds or some ware else. Does the police department have a physical standard?

  12. The Wizard says:
    October 22, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    “some ware”

  13. Jon Splett says:
    October 22, 2008 at 6:41 pm

    Classy non-sequitur into race Hank.

    Byron Brown’s skin color has oh-so-much to do with this…

  14. Tuco says:
    October 22, 2008 at 6:45 pm

    “Does the police department have a physical standard?”

    If it’s a minimum qualification, it’ll be listed “some ware” on their recruiting website.

  15. Mike In WNY says:
    October 22, 2008 at 8:02 pm

    Hearsay about Delano is fine, but direct evidence about Obama’s socialist tendencies are denied. Makes no sense to me.

 

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