Suffolk County Legislator Kevin McCaffrey released the following statement regarding James Burke’s, former police chief, guilty plea to obstruction of justice and civil rights charges.
Lindenhurst, NY: On February 26th, news officially broke that ex-Suffolk County Police Chief James Burke pled guilty to obstruction and civil rights charges, which stem back to an incident involving the beating of a handcuffed suspect and the subsequent cover up. Full details regarding any plea deal which may have been entered into are still not completely clear. While it appears that this incident will finally be put to rest with justice being the victor, the Suffolk County Republican Caucus still has questions for which it is demanding swift answers.
Clearly highly placed elected officials showed poor judgment in recommending and appointing Burke despite serious allegations of misconduct. Those allegations have now proven to be accurate. The question remains how much did these elected officials really know about all of this? Did they know about the cover up? Did they participate in the cover up?
It is clear the Feds are not done with the investigation. Reports state eleven Police Officers were prepared to testify against Burke and several have already pleaded guilty to participating in the beating and cover up.
If the continuing investigation uncovers information that other elected officials had knowledge of wrongdoing or were complicit in a cover-up, immediate resignations are in order.
While every member of the Republican Caucus has his or her own unique take on the Burke case, they are all steadfastly united behind the brave, hard working men and women that make up the Suffolk County Police Department. We are hopeful the investigation progresses quickly and we close this dismal chapter of Suffolk County history.