Published: May 04, 2008 12:51 am            

OUR VIEW: State police raid still questioned

On Gov. Paterson’s lengthy list of business left over from the Spitzer administration is an important issue concerning the State Police.

No, it’s not the broad Troopergate mess, at present being examined in fine detail by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. It’s a smaller — yet no less important — matter.

Last Friday was the first anniversary of the death of state trooper David Brinkerhoff, a 29-year-old husband and father who was killed by another trooper’s bullet during a botched attempt to capture fugitive Travis Trim in Margaretville in Delaware County.

Certain questions raised by the state police raid have never been satisfactorily answered, despite three probes — and then-state police Superintendent Preston Felton’s promise of transparency in explaining the incident.

As we noted just days afterward: “Official accounts describe the fatal incident as a furious assault on an isolated building that was wholly surrounded by police and contained no known hostages.”

So, with Trim on the inside, surrounded by the police on the outside, where was the urgency in staging a raid?

Where were the police negotiators?

What warranted police armed with assault rifles jamming themselves into a confined space to grab a perp who essentially had captured himself?

Two inquiries — led by the state police and the Delaware County DA — focused on basic “criminal” aspects of the case. Quite rightly, the fugitive — who also died — was the only one who could be considered to have committed a crime.

Yet, as reported last week, the third probe — an internal “Critical Incident” review that actually examined the particulars of the raid itself — won’t be released to the public.

The State Police cite the need for confidentiality because of security.

Sorry, that doesn’t cut it.

Certainly, specific tactical and security details shouldn’t be revealed. But there’s no reason there can’t be a forensic examination of exactly what went on that day — and an account of how training has been improved to ensure that a similar incident can be avoided.

A virtual statement of, “Oops, we made a mistake; we promise it won’t happen again,” just isn’t sufficient.

A young, brave trooper died.

New Yorkers deserve a clear explanation for the sake of accountability and continued confidence in the institution.

Paterson has a lot on his plate, that’s for sure. But he needs to get to the bottom of this straight away.

— The New York Post

        

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