Complaint: Chief Tedesco doesn't like Irish cops (UPDATED)

I've been told by a very good source that McAvoy was trying to keep peace that night (you'll have to read the post to know what night I'm talking about) and not part of the problem. I'll say again, if there wasn't an IA investigation I would not have written about it in 2011 nor mentioned it here. I'll also say again, McAvoy and Coons are both well respected, good cops. I'll also say again, ethnicity has nothing to do with why Coons hasn't been promoted to captain.

In one of the funniest stories I’ve heard in a long time, Sgt. John Coons filed a complaint with the Division on Human Rights claiming that Chief John Tedesco refuses to promote him to captain because … are you ready for this … he’s Irish.

In the complaint, according to the Times Union, Coons claims Tedesco bypassed Coons in favor of his friends and fellow Italians, and unless Coons goes by his nickname – Coonsi – his name doesn’t end in a vowel.

Coons was ranked second on the captain’s list but was passed over in 2011, 2013 and 2014. He was promoted to sergeant in 2004 after making a lateral transfer from Cohoes to Troy in 1993.

The way Civil Service works though is you take a test and whoever is doing the hiring or promoting can pick from the top three slots. If, in one round, the person with the highest score is picked, for example, everyone slides up a notch and the second best test score becomes the best and the third becomes the second and the fourth becomes the third and is eligible for the next hire or promotion.

It gives whoever is hiring or promoting some flexibility in the process while ensuring the person getting hired isn’t just a political hack, next door neighbor or nephew.

Coons retained attorney Eric Sanders, of New York City to file the complaint. He’s the same guy who represented Anthony Conyers, a black officer who sued because he wasn’t promoted to sergeant. He’s now a sergeant but is considering another lawsuit claiming he is not getting the appropriate training, acc 
ording to the TU.

I don’t think the Division on Human Rights has any teeth though. In other words, I don’t think it can impose sanctions or penalize the TPD or Tedesco at all.

On the flip side of that, a captain makes $30,000 more than a sergeant so if Coons doesn’t think he will get it before he retires – which of course will impact his pension for many, many years to come – what’s the harm in pushing the envelope.

Let me say I’ve known Coons for a long time, probably almost as long as I was at The Record. He was always seemed like a decent sort and always went out of his way to shake my hand, talk about Troy politics or compliment me on one column or another. Even if he didn’t like the subject matter or the slant I took he still said he liked reading them.

Professionally, I’ve never heard a bad word about Coons. I always got the impression he was a solid cop who got into the business for all the right reasons and never forgot them

Until one night on Saturday, April9 2011, shortly after Tedesco snubbed him for captain in favor of Joe Centanni, who tied for third on the captain's exam while Coons placed second. And yes, as the vowel implies, Centanni is I-talian.

On that night, Coons and his cousin now Assistant Chief Buddy McAvoy had a few too many and ended up at the Red Front, where Centanni’s mom works. They started giving her somewhat of a hard time and other employees decided the best course of action was to call the cops on the cops.

I’ve certainly spent my fair share of time in and around Troy’s watering holes and still hold true to that old adage of “what happens downtown stays downtown.” The above scenario would have fit into a “what happens downtown” even though the Red Front isn’t technically in downtown. And it would have stayed right there if it weren’t for the internal affairs investigation it sparked.

When a complaint is made by the public about a police officer it may or may not warrant IA involvement, and I’ve been around long enough to know Tedesco didn’t have to order an investigation into the matter. But, like Coons, McAvoy is a good cop who was passed over for a promotion to chief and odds are the two cousins made their respective displeasure known not only at the Red Front but around the TPD too. There is no doubt in my mind Tedesco was sending a message to the two that he was the chief – like it or not.

Well, Coons and McAvoy didn’t like it and probably still don’t but that won’t make Coons a captain anytime soon and I hope a complaint to the Commission on Human Rights doesn’t either. Nothing against Coons at all, but the chief is the chief and as such he promotes who he wants so long as it's within the parameters set forth by Civil Service.

Maybe that night at the Red Front has more to do with the fact he isn’t wearing captain stripes than the fact he’s Irish.