Cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, the Brockport Police Department is now in the process of fixing internal problems the sheriff’s department uncovered during a nine week investigation.

Originally, the sheriff’s department was called in to investigate allegations made against the Brockport Police Department by more than one area resident. Brockport does not have its own internal affairs division to handle complaints against its officers. The Brockport Village Board decided that the original allegations were serious enough that they could not be ignored. So Monroe County Sheriff Andrew Meloni was asked to conduct the investigation. Police Chief Gary Zimmer was placed on a paid administrative leave to clear the way for the investigation team.

The sheriff’s investigators determined that the allegations were unfounded, but discovered that there were more than 200 procedural and administrative errors concerning missing and unaccounted for evidence; a lack of current firearms requalifications and other required training; irregularities and misrepresentations on some reports and monetary grants. According to Mayor Mary Ann Thorpe, the sheriff’s department strongly recommended that dramatic improvements be made in these areas immediately.

"If you don’t understand the procedures of a police department," Thorpe said, "it sounds like minor administrative stuff. But it isn’t."

Assisted by other police departments, the Brockport force has implemented corrective measures to remedy many of the irregularities. The village has also increased its efforts to have the police department become accredited by New York state. Brockport and East Rochester are the only unaccredited police departments in Monroe County. East Rochester is in the process of becoming accredited.

While various policies and procedures are in the process of being updated or implemented correctly, Zimmer’s fate has not yet been determined.

Village trustees are engaged in a delicate balancing act between supporting a man they consider a friend and whom they respect for his 33 years of service to the community, and the administrative problems some say they are not sure he’s capable of fixing.

"We’re not blaming Gary for these particular incidents," said Trustee Pete DeToy. "We’re not pointing fingers. But the chief is ultimately responsible for what happens in the department." DeToy went on to compare Brockport’s situation with the accidental sinking of a Japanese trawler by a U.S. submarine. "The captain of the sub wasn’t at the controls at the time," DeToy said, "but he was held accountable for the actions of his crew. The person in charge has to be accountable."

Twice, Brockport Trustee Mort Wexler has made a motion to reinstate Zimmer, twice the four other trustees on the village board have been unwilling to even second the motion. Wexler wants Zimmer back at his job and given the training, supervision and support he needs to right the administrative errors.

The other trustees aren’t sure that’s possible. They want to let their team of attorneys and Zimmer’s attorney negotiate a possible solution to the problem.

Wexler has accused other board members of engaging in a witch hunt against Zimmer. The other trustees say that Wexler is politicizing a personnel issue.

"Gary and I were friends," Thorpe said. "We went out to dinner with our spouses and other friends regularly. This is not a witch hunt."

"The sad part of it is that everybody likes Gary," DeToy said. "We all still like him. But just because we like him we can’t say, ‘oh, let’s just forget about all these problems.’ That wouldn’t be the responsible thing to do."

DeToy said the village board has been relying heavily on its attorneys during the whole investigative process. If the board has not seemed forthcoming at times, he said, it’s because there are rules regarding confidentiality of personnel issues that must be followed. He also cited the case of another New York community where the board refused to investigate allegations against its police department. The state attorney general’s office filed a suit against the town and the individual board members. "We were obligated to investigate," DeToy said. "None of us could have been any happier when the sheriff said there would be no criminal charges. But we can’t ignore the problems the sheriff did find."