21 June 2013         

Michael D. Doney, President

The Association of Former New York State Troopers

22000 Doney Drive

Watertown, New York 13601-5077

Dear Mr. Doney:

In December, 2010, Paul Richter called me to ask if I had been by the State Police Academy to see The Gray Rider recently. I had not, in fact, been there in over two years. He complained that the statute we and our group of volunteers had worked so hard to raise in 1993 was in poor condition. On New Year’s Day, 2011, I went over to see it. The handsome patinated surface of the statue had degraded to an ugly brown color due to lack of maintenance. I started calling attention to this writing to former Governor Mario Cuomo, addressing the Albany County Legislature and meeting with people in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office. The Times Union did a story. Paul Richter got an estimate for restoration. In short order, the Trooper Foundation had the money for the restoration and the Association of Former New York State Troopers (AFNYST) had committed to covering the cost of annual maintenance on the statue. Restoration was complete in time for the new superintendent Joseph D’Amico to preside over the annual memorial services and superintendent’s awards ceremony that April. Indeed, I watched you and Trooper Foundation Chairman J. Bruce Stauffer inspecting the restored statue at this year’s memorial service.

In recent years, we have all been saddened and appalled by a number of very public scandals that tarnished the good name of the New York State Police. They have been the result of disgraceful actions initiated by elected officials in high public office. Those of us who know and respect the NYSP knew that it was not spying on former Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno or trying to cover up a domestic violence incident involving a senior member of former Governor David Paterson’s staff. Still, things got so bad that two powerful members of the Legislature were moved to introduce a bill empanelling a latter day Knapp Commission "to investigate systematic misconduct, abuse of power and political interference with respect to the New York State Police." Moreover, the climate of negative press coming out of the so-called Troopergate affair made it impossible for the Division to properly celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the celebrated 1957 Apalachin organized crime incident in 2007. Such a lost opportunity to commemorate one of the most important events in the history of 20^th Century law enforcement.  Unacceptable.  And with the happy occasion of the Division's Centennial only a few short years away, a situation that must not be allowed to repeat itself.

In its nearly a century of service to the state and people of New York, the NYSP has evolved into a very distinctive and classy brand epitomizing integrity, impartiality in the enforcement of the law and professionalism of the highest order. That brand needs not only to be protected, but it must be projected out into the world. That has been understood since the Division’s dawn days. In 1919, long before the existence of television, Internet and email, Superintendent George Fletcher Chandler was able to mobilize an impressive letter-writing campaign by a public that had known the State Troopers for less than two years to persuade Governor Al Smith to back off on his election campaign threat to disband the NYSP.

I started to get to know the NYSP when I went to work for the Bureau for Municipal Police at the Division of Criminal Justice Services in May 1986. As a special assistant to Governor Mario Cuomo’s Director of Criminal Justice, I not only got to know the leadership of the Division, but the crisis that erupted on the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation in May 1990 resulted in my working very closely with then B Troop Major Bob Leu and many other Troopers who brought our management of that situation to a successful and peaceful conclusion. Six months after I went to work for DCJS, Governor Mario Cuomo nominated a career State Trooper to head the NYSP for the first time in over three decades. I met Tom Constantine a few days after the governor nominated him -- news which, I’m told, was delivered to Tom at the wake of his friend and mentor Henry F. Williams. I was impressed with him from the start and, realizing that this man came to stand at the cutting edge of many developments in the history and profession of law enforcement, I followed him closely over the quarter century since. As the result, I have built a network of law enforcement contacts all over the world.

In the years since I first met him, Tom went out into the world and did the New York State Police and the state and people of New York proud. Between 1985 and 1995, he oversaw investigations that led to the defeat and dismantling of the Cali Cartel, the largest and most powerful criminal syndicate in history. Between 2000 and 2003, he oversaw the reform of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, making a major contribution to ending over three decades of terrorist sectarian violence in that long troubled province. These accomplishments are the efflorescence of the pioneering tradition of the New York State Police in exposing, confronting and defeating organized crime that began with the celebrated Apalachin incident in November 1957. Tom personifies that tradition and stands as representative of all the generations of Troopers who have built it. He also made the New York State Police and the DEA a major force in addressing the problems of drug trafficking and violence in our inner cities. Where we have seen the New York City Police Department mired in controversy over the negative consequences of its vaunted CompStat program and sued and castigated over its heavy-handed “Stop and Frisk” tactic, the NYSP debuted its highly effective Community Narcotics Enforcement Teams in 1992 the operations of which were greeted with the applause of people in neighborhoods that had been overrun by street-level drug trafficking.

Since 1989, it has been my ambition to establish an institute within the State University of New York that would bring together the finest minds in the world for regular conferences on transnational organized crime and terrorism. My proposal is based upon three things.

In 1987, the New York State Police instituted the annual Lt. Col. Henry F. Williams Homicide Investigation Seminar. In the years since, this gathering has become the preeminent event in the nation bringing together law enforcement, prosecutors, forensic scientists and other professionals from many nations to learn, share ideas and build a powerful international network of contacts. We call the latter Williams Associates.

In 1997, Canadian businessman Mark Nathanson endowed the Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto. Mr. Nathanson launched this initiative with an endowment of $3 million of his own money. In the years since this institute has built a global reputation as a venue for debate and advanced thinking on policy initiatives relevant to our global struggle against organized crime, terrorism and abuse of human rights.

I have also been inspired by the achievement of the late Dr. Gerald Lynch who took the helm of a failing two-year community college in the dark year of 1975 and turned it into John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York, the most prestigious institution of higher learning of its kind in the nation drawing students and participants from around the world to its degree programs and conferences. Dr. Lynch passed away this past April. I greatly admired his expansive vision and exciting showmanship. It was on a train trip to a conference at John Jay in the spring of 1989 that I conceived the idea of the institute I have in mind.

In October 1992, I accompanied Tom Constantine and a delegation of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police to the annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Tom was running for a vice presidency in the association. At the conference in Detroit, I saw the tremendous respect he had earned among his peers from all over the world. New York had and has a lot to be proud of in this humble and faithful public servant.

And so, I have proposed the establishment of the Thomas A. Constantine Institute for the Study of Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism at the State University of New York, most likely at the Rockefeller College School of Public Affairs and Policy where Tom has been on the faculty since 1999. I enclose legislation I have drafted to effect this purpose. For some five years now, I proposed this initiative in testimony before the Joint Legislative Fiscal Committee hearings on the Governor’s Executive Budget Proposal. I have also approached quite a number of members of the Legislature who have reason to support the NYSP. They have been very positively receptive, but I have not yet found a sponsor. I hope that Tom’s friends, colleagues and admirers among the Association of Former New York State Troopers will help me to get this tribute to one of our true stars (as the late George Infante used to call him) adopted by the Legislature and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. The bill makes an appropriation of $500,000 which is intended to leverage the raising of a permanent endowment of at least $3 million. I foresee in future the establishment of an international network of Constantine Fellows who will work together in our common struggle against global organized crime and terrorism. We can see this up and running by the New York State Police centennial in 2017.

You will note that the bill features a “Declaration of legislative findings and intent” that includes a brief history of the Division’s pioneering leadership in the nation’s struggle against organized crime. Anyone familiar with the State Legislature will know that there has been tremendous turnover in the membership of both Houses in recent years. Circulating this bill around the Legislative Office Building will give us the opportunity to educate many of them and their staff members on that history of accomplishment and service.

That the bill carries an appropriation has been remarked upon by most of the legislators with whom I’ve spoken. I would point out that when Paul Richter approached me about the Gray Rider project in the fall of 1992, he had secured a donation of $5,000 from Fleet Bank. With that seed money, we were able to launch a fundraising campaign that brought in some $150,000 within eight months. The value of the statue as a symbol of the organizational values and character of the NYSP is worth far more than that.

I would like to see this bill introduced on November 15, the date on which legislators may pre-file legislation to be taken up in the 2014 Session. December 23 will be Tom’s 75^th birthday. I’m sure you will agree that this would be a splendid gift and tribute to a great New Yorker and your friend and colleague.

Yours truly,　

TERRY O’NEILL

Director

THE BILL

AN ACT in relation to establishing the Thomas A. Constantine Institute for the the Study of Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism at the State University of New York and making an appropriation therefor

Section 1. Declaration of legislative findings and intent. Transnational society today includes multinational corporations, nongovernmental organizations, criminals, and terrorists. In this environment, organized crime, in particular, has gone global. It has emerged as the mortal enemy of democratic institutions worldwide and it infects and distorts world commerce and financial institutions. It has forged alliances with terrorist organizations and links to outlaw states. It is ruthless and inhuman and has raised a capital of such gargantuan proportions that these organizations can make themselves masters of governments through intimidation, violence and corruption.

New York has a unique and celebrated tradition of leadership in confronting and eradicating organized crime. With the 1957 Apalachin incident, the New York state police dramatically exposed the existence of La Cosa Nostra to an unsuspecting world sparking decades of intense effort to combat criminal conspiracies that had grown pervasive and entrenched.

In 1991 the New York state police, under the leadership of Thomas A. Constantine, exposed the operations of Colombia’s Cali cocaine cartel when the culmination of a six-year investigation disrupted a far-reaching and sophisticated organization that had been established in the state by the cartel. It was again the first time that a state law enforcement agency had brought the secretive hierarchy of a major criminal conspiracy out into the light of day -- this time, one based in a foreign country and with tentacles in many nations.

Mr. Constantine made further history when, as head of the US drug enforcement administration, he oversaw an international effort that led to the surrender of the Cali Cartel's leaders and the effective break-up of its organization during the mid-nineties. This investigation stood in stark contrast to the previous effort to eradicate Pablo Escobar’s Medellin-based cartel which was prosecuted by the Colombian government through paramilitary proxies and a campaign of horrific extra-legal violence that cost the lives of many innocent civilians and brought discredit on the government.

Mr. Constantine is a most accomplished and unique figure in American law enforcement. Not only had he a hand in bringing down the Cali Cartel -- generally acknowledged to have been the largest and most powerful criminal conspiracy in history -- but soon after he retired from the DEA, the British government recruited him to oversee the reform of the royal Ulster constabulary and its reestablishment as the police service of Northern Ireland. This reform was a major factor in ending more than three decades of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland.

In both of these signature career accomplishments, Mr. Constantine demonstrated that the key to successfully confronting the threats of transnational organized crime and terrorism is honest, dedicated, professional law enforcement operating within the bounds of the strictest constitutional, legal and ethical standards. Mr. Constantine is recognized and respected worldwide among his peers as the paradigm of that kind of professional law enforcement.

The problem of transnational criminal conspiracies is growing and metamorphosing at a frightening rate. We are already in mortal confrontation with organizations that threaten peace, prosperity and public confidence in law enforcement's ability to protect our people, our democratic institutions and our economic well-being. With the internationalization of organized crime and the emergence of global terrorism, the challenge to law enforcement has grown exponentially. To meet that challenge, we must develop the legal and diplomatic frameworks within which the law enforcement authorities of many nations may cooperate along with the essential personal and professional relationships that build trust and unity of purpose. There is an urgent need for deliberation, research, policy development, law reform and education to confront the threat of transnational organized crime and terrorism.

This legislation establishes the Thomas A. Constantine Institute for the Study of Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism within the state university of New York. Inspired by Mr. Constantine’s extraordinary career achievements and the international respect he has earned in the field of public security, this entity will provide a focus for research and deliberation on the control of these phenomena and for public education about their manifestations. Its ultimate goal is to provide a valuable and practical resource for the world’s law enforcement agencies, governments and the international business community.

§ 2. There is hereby established within the state university of New York the Thomas A. Constantine Institute for the Study of Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism. Such institute shall organize conferences and seminars, develop training programs for law enforcement officers, sponsor and promote research, publish its proceedings and maintain a library. The chancellor and trustees of the state university shall appoint a person well qualified by education and experience to administer such institute. Such institute shall be authorized to establish a development program to build its own endowment.

§ 3. The sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), or as much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated to the state university of New York from any monies in the state treasury in the general fund for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this act. Such sum shall be payable on the audit and warrant of the state comptroller on vouchers certified or approved by the commissioner of taxation and finance, or his duly designated representative in the manner provided by law. No expenditure shall be made from this appropriation until a certificate of approval of availability shall have been issued by the director of the budget and filed with the state comptroller and a copy filed with the chairman of the state senate finance committee and the chairman of the assembly ways and means committee. Such budget and a copy of each such amendment shall be filed with the state comptroller, the chairman of the state senate finance committee and the chairman of the assembly ways and means committee.

§ 4. This act shall take effect immediately.

MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION

BILL NUMBER(S):

Senate No. _________ Assembly No: _________

SPONSOR(S):

In Senate: __________ In Assembly: __________

TITLE OF BILL:

AN ACT in relation to establishing the Thomas A. Constantine Institute for the Study of Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism within the State University of New York and making an appropriation therefor

PURPOSE OF BILL:

This legislation will establish a focal point for research and deliberation on the control of transnational organized crime and terrorism. The institute will sponsor a diverse research program that will reflect a balance among the issues relating to legal, operational, social, political, and economic aspects of transnational organized crime and terrorism. It will organize conferences and symposia that will bring together the best minds among academics, law enforcement professionals, the military services, the intelligence community, lawmakers, the diplomatic corps and the business, financial and nonprofit community to develop strategies, tactics, relationships and legal and diplomatic frameworks for more effective international cooperation in the control of transnational organized crime and terrorism. Its ultimate goal is to be a valuable and practical resource for the world’s law enforcement agencies, governments and the international business community.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill is a declaration of legislative findings and intent.

Section 2 of the bill establishes within the State University of New York the Thomas A. Constantine Institute for the Study of Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism. Such institute shall organize conferences and seminars, develop training programs for law enforcement officers, sponsor and promote research, publish its proceedings and maintain a library. The bill directs that the Chancellor and Trustees of the State University shall appoint a person well qualified by education and experience to administer such institute. Such institute is authorized to establish a development program to build its own endowment.

Section 3 of the bill makes an appropriation of $500,000.

Section 4 of the bill would make it effective immediately.

JUSTIFICATION:

Transnational society today includes multinational corporations, nongovernmental organizations, criminal conspiracies and terrorists networks. In this environment, organized crime has gone global. It is estimated that this global network of evil profits some $2 trillion a year, more than twice the combined annual military budgets of every nation on earth. Were it not for the existence of this shadowy empire, terrorist groups like al Qaeda would be unable to function. They would have no market for their contraband and no means of laundering their monies, moving their operatives or acquiring weapons and other war materiel.

Today’s mafias are global organizations. They operate everywhere, speak multiple languages, form overseas alliances and joint ventures, and make investments just like any other multinational company. It has been estimated that these criminal conspiracies collectively generate annual proceeds of $2.1 trillion, or 3.6 percent of the world‘s gross domestic product. You can’t take on multinational giants locally. Every country needs to do its part, for no country is immune. Organized crime must be hit in its economic engine, which all too often remains untouched because liquid capital is harder to trace and because in times of crisis, many, including the world’s major banks, find it too tempting to resist.

With the internationalization of organized crime and the emergence of global terrorism, the challenge to law enforcement has grown exponentially. To meet that challenge, we must develop the legal and diplomatic frameworks within which the law enforcement authorities of many nations may cooperate along with the essential personal and professional relationships that build trust and unity of purpose. There is an urgent need for research, policy development, law reform, diplomatic initiatives and education to confront the threat of transnational organized crime and terrorism.

This legislation establishes the Thomas A. Constantine Institute for the Study of Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism within the State University of New York. Inspired by Mr. Constantine’s extraordinary career achievements and the international respect he has earned in the field of public security, this entity will provide a focus for research and deliberation on the control of these phenomena and for public education about their manifestations.

The institute will sponsor a diverse research program reflecting a balance among the issues relating to legal, social, political, and economic aspects of international organized crime and terrorism. It will organize conferences and symposia bringing together the best minds among academics, law enforcement professionals, the intelligence community, lawmakers, the diplomatic corps and the business and financial community to develop strategies, tactics, relationships and legal and diplomatic frameworks for more effective international cooperation in the control of transnational organized crime and terrorism.

The mission of the Constantine Institute is to serve as a valuable and practical resource to support and advance for the world’s collective public security effort.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is new legislation.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The bill appropriates $500,000 from the General Fund. These monies will fund a campaign to build an endowment for the Constantine Institute. It is projected that $3 million can be raised from private sources to support this initiative in perpetuity. To the maximum extent possible, the endowment campaign will draw upon the resources of the State University of New York and the efforts and talents of willing members of the university community and members and former members of the New York State Police, The New York State Association of Chiefs of Police and the New York State Sheriffs‘ Association.

EFFECTIVE DATE:

Immediately.