Garipoli: Could have been elected

[ChamberedRound]

This is a long one, folks, so bear with me. I thought it was interesting.

For those of us that are Berks county residents, you may recall 2007's Sheriff election between Michael Garipoli and Eric Weaknecht. Weaknecht won the election, despite a lawsuit against him and former sheriff Wozniak by Garipoli, in which Garipoli claimed that he was wrongfully fired as a sheriff's deputy. A judge dismissed the case, claiming Garipoli didn't establish the firing as unfair:

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=55713

Judge: Garipoli didn’t establish firing as unfair

The main part of a suit filed by the former sheriff’s deputy, who is running to succeed his ex-boss, is dismissed. The candidate says he’ll provide evidence.

By Holly Herman
Reading Eagle

Berks County, PA - A Northumberland County judge has ruled that Michael A. Garipoli, the Democratic candidate for Berks County sheriff, did not provide a legal reason to prove he was improperly fired as assistant chief deputy sheriff.

Senior Judge Barry F. Feudale, in an order available Monday, said Garipoli had no facts to support the main allegation in the lawsuit he filed against Sheriff Barry J. Jozwiak and Chief Deputy Eric J. Weak necht, the GOP candidate for sheriff.

Garipoli claims in the Feb. 26 lawsuit that Jozwiak and Weak necht fired him in October because Jozwiak thought Garipoli was going to provide District Attorney Mark C. Baldwin with information about how gun-permit identities ended up on the Internet.

Feudale dismissed that portion of the suit, but Garipoli said he plans to provide facts to support his case within 30 days.

Garipoli’s lawyer, Sean T. Welby of Harrisburg, could not be reached.

Jozwiak and Weaknecht’s law yer, Michael J. Connell of Media, Delaware County, said the judge made the correct decision.

“Our position all along is there are no facts to support the allegations in the complaint,” Connell said.

Connell said a county vendor, Cannon Technology Solutions, Conshohocken, Montgomery County, improperly released the gun-permit holders’ identities on the Internet.

Regarding a secondary claim raised in the suit, Feudale did not dismiss Garipoli’s allegations that Jozwiak in March 2005 failed to respond to complaints about granting a gun permit to a convicted felon.

Connell argued the issue had nothing to do with the case.

But Welby countered that it shows Jozwiak’s pattern of ignoring potentially troublesome situations.

Jozwiak said state police review permit applications before they are granted.

Garipoli, who was paid a sal ary of $48,000, was fired for allegedly violating a county e-mail policy amid allegations that Jozwiak’s office allowed the confidential gun-permit information to appear online.

Jozwiak, who is not seeking re-election, said the Internet problem was resolved.

Garipoli was seeking reinstatement and more than $50,000 in damages.

According to the suit:

In September 1999, a gun-permit owner filed a suit accusing Jozwiak of illegally using information from 23,000 gun-permit applications to solicit campaign contributions.

Jozwiak agreed in a settlement in October 2004 to implement a system to prevent the misuse of gun-permit information.

On Sept. 5, 2005, Weaknecht learned that the names of Berks gun-permit holders were on the Internet, violating the 2004 settlement.

Weaknecht informed Baldwin, who sent e-mail to Joz wiak’s office inquiring if the office had received complaints.

Garipoli forwarded Baldwin’s e-mail to his home account.

On Sept. 8, Jozwiak told Garipoli that he had violated policy by sending the work e-mail on his home account.

Garipoli was suspended with out pay Sept. 13 and fired Oct. 12.

•Contact reporter Holly Herman at 610-478-6291 or hherman@readingeagle.com.

Now, Michael Garipoli actually posted here at the PAFOA during the campaign, asking for support. See here:

http://forum.pafoa.org/berks-26/3328...html#post65575
http://forum.pafoa.org/berks-26/3328...html#post70334

Fast forward to today, where the following is posted in the Reading Eagle. Emphasis by me:

http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=118198

Surveillance cameras watching for crime in downtown Reading

By Steven Henshaw
Reading Eagle

Seated in front of a computer monitor in a cozy room in City Hall, Michael A. Garipoli moves a joystick to zoom in a camera's lens on vehicles driving on Washington Street past the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.

It's possible to read license plates and identify facial features of approaching motorists a few blocks away.

Garipoli pans the camera, which is mounted on a pole at Second and Washington streets, to follow traffic as it winds past the Reading Movies 11/IMAX theater onto the Penn Street Bridge.

A blown-up version of the image is projected on one of two large wall-mounted monitors. On the monitors, police department employees can simultaneously display live images fed by other cameras placed in and near Reading's downtown. Video from 16 cameras can be displayed on one screen.

Since early December, 19 of the 25 cameras ordered by the department have been installed at strategic locations in the first phase of a $1.4 million crime-prevention project, said Garipoli, a retired city policeman now working as the department's technology coordinator.

Garipoli said poles must be erected before the six remaining cameras can be mounted, which he expects will occur within a few weeks.

The cameras have been a long time coming for police Chief William M. Heim, who initially proposed the idea in the late 1990s when he served his first stint as chief.

When Heim returned as Reading chief in 2006, he and Mayor Tom McMahon made cameras one of their top priorities for cutting crime.

"We're really optimistic it's going to improve safety in the city, making it more comfortable for people to use the city and more uncomfortable for offenders knowing their actions are going to be caught on camera," the chief said of the video system.

Two offenders found that out earlier this month when a detective saw a drug transaction taking place in a car that was parked near one of the cameras, which had been operational for less than a day, Garipoli said.

The detective was in the control room, getting training on the system, when he noticed something suspicious.

He zoomed in on the car and could clearly see the passenger in the car hand crack cocaine to the driver, who handed the driver cash, Garipoli said.

The detective sent officers to the location and arrested both men on drug charges. Police wouldn't disclose the location.

The city received state and federal funds for the system and also committed nearly $400,000 from its capital improvements fund.

Additional funding would be needed for the second phase, which could bring an additional 50 cameras, Heim said. He did not know when phase two might start.

Heim said the department is taking small steps in rolling out the new technology, with personnel gradually gaining a comfort level.

"We want to respect privacy," he said, noting the cameras only will see what a person would be able to see from the same vantage point. "This is not a toy; the purpose is for preventing crime and aiding in investigations."

Heim said the city hasn't received any citizen complaints about the cameras intruding on privacy.

He said the cameras are not intended as an end-all to the city's crime problems, but rather one piece of an comprehensive crime-prevention strategy.

The locations of the cameras aren't necessarily a secret, but police don't want to publicly reveal the entire network. Some cameras may be moved depending on crime trends, police have said.

"Where there's no camera today, there could be a camera tomorrow," Heim said.

•Contact reporter Steven Henshaw at 610-371-5028 or shenshaw@readingeagle.com.

I understand that city streets are public and there's no right to privacy, but the whole idea seems a bit Orwellian to me, and had been proven in places like the UK to be ineffective in preventing crime.

Not looking to judge or criticize the man for any of his beliefs or positions, just thought the situation was interesting given that this guy could have been the Berks county Sheriff.