The Saugerties Town Board has enacted a temporary hiring and promotion freeze on the Saugerties Police Department (SPD) while municipal leaders reconcile issues brought forth in a report by New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ Law Enforcement Misconduct Investigative Office (LEMIO) covering multiple complaints against Saugerties police officer Dion Johnson, including allegations of harassment and sexual assault.
The unanimous 4-0 vote came during a Town Board meeting held on Wednesday, July 12, with Board member Peg Nau absent.
“This seems like an extraordinary effort, but it is not,” said Supervisor Fred Costello. “We have a little bit of housekeeping and we need to get a perspective on what’s happening in our police Department and get some clarity for the board moving forward. We’re making sure that we are able to put quality people into positions.”
The freeze is expected to remain in place until Town Board members have a chance to review the LEMIO report with state officials to ensure they understand how best to proceed with hiring and promotions in the future.
Johnson was selected from 30 applicants to the SPD, starting on the night shift in June 2020. At the time, he was the first full-time black patrolman on the force.
The 14-page LEMIO report, published on Friday, July 7, maintains that the SPD referred complaints made against Johnson to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) as required by law enforcement agencies for any officer receiving at least five complaints in a two-year period, and that after a thorough investigation, LEMIO concluded that Johnson was subject to disciplinary action by the SPD as a result of his alleged misconduct. Johnson’s prior history with the Albany Police Department (APD), where he worked before to coming to Saugerties, was also reviewed by LEMIO. The report found that the SPD was not made fully aware of allegations that Johnson made untruthful statements about overtime eligibility between January and February 2020 while at the APD.
According to LEMIO, after allegations of harassment and sexual misconduct by an anonymous member of the public and two female SPD officers, the SPD suspended Johnson for ten days and placed him on probation for one year; LEMIO recommended that the SPD go much further, terminating Johnson’s employment and updating its own policies and practices regarding sexual misconduct and internal personnel investigations.
In August 2020, around the time of a glowing profile by News10 ABC in Albany, a civilian Saugerties resident filed a complaint that Johnson subjected her to repeated harassment, including sending inappropriate messages and pictures on social media. Johnson was also alleged to have sexually assaulted the woman in her home while on duty in late August 2020. The complainant provided the SPD and the OAG with images taken from a motion-triggered camera inside her kitchen following an August 31 voicemail left for SPD Chief Joseph Sinagra alleging that Johnson was “in my apartment at 2 o’clock in the morning, when’s he’s supposed to be working, in uniform on my cameras … I think it’s best if you spoke to him about harassing females in the community[.]”
“Officer Johnson’s conduct with respect to Complainant #1 is extremely troubling,” reads LEMIO’s report. “As an initial matter, we concur with the SPD’s determination that his admitted actions violated SPD policies on Unbecoming Conduct, Neglect of Duty, and Leaving Post.”
“We also conclude that it is more likely than not that Officer Johnson engaged in nonconsensual physical contact with Complainant #1 and that he was not truthful during his sworn interview with the SPD investigator,” continues the LEMIO report. “While it is difficult to determine with certainty exactly what transpired between Officer Johnson and Complainant #1, particularly given her decision not to provide an in-person statement to either the SPD or the OAG, we found the telephonic and email statements that she made both to the OAG and SPD to be credible, consistent over time and supported by the video and images that she provided.”
Of the two female officers who filed complaints, the first alleged that Johnson had sent her a message on Snapchat in July 2020 suggesting that she “engage in a sexual act” with Johnson and another SPD officer; she further alleged that on September 24, 2020, Johnson walked inside the SPD squad room where the officer showed him her new ballistic vest. “According to Officer #1, Officer Johnson walked over, placed his hand on the area beneath her nametag, and said, ‘I touched your boob’ and ‘how did they feel?’ Officer #1 told him that she felt uncomfortable and pushed his hand away.”
The second officer alleged that in the afternoon of October 18, 2021, she walked over to a candy box to take a piece of candy, and when she turned back around Johnson was standing “extremely close” to her, “probably like within an inch and a half,” and that Johnson made her extremely uncomfortable by placing his right hand on her lower waist and moving it inside of her belt between her taser and baton, placing his other hand on her shoulder for around 30-40 seconds.
Later, the officer alleged that Johnson jokingly told another officer that she was “hitting on him” and “trying to be his work wife.”
Johnson’s accounts of the allegations by the civilian and two female officers differed greatly, but the LEMIO report disagreed.
“Based on these acts, we conclude that Officer Johnson engaged in a pattern of misconduct with respect to Complainant #1, Officer #1, and Officer #2 in violation of SPD policies prohibiting sexual harassment, unbecoming conduct, neglect of duty, and leaving post,” reads the report. “Given the pattern of misconduct regarding Complainant #1 and Officers #1 and #2, we recommend that Officer Johnson be subject to termination, which would be consistent with recommended sanctions at other agencies.”
According to an SPD source, Johnson isn’t currently being paid by the department and is serving with the U.S. Army Reserve. The U.S. Army Reserve did not return queries for comment.
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