by Bea Peterson
Representatives from area Police Departments, Village officials and friends attended the party for newly retired Hoosick Falls Police Chief Robert Whalen on Friday, November 6, at the Hoosick Falls Fire House. November 5 was the Chief’s last day on the job and, after a week’s vacation time, he was officially retired from the Department.
At the Board meeting on Tuesday evening Mayor Matthew Monahan commended Chief Whalen for all the years he has served the Village. “We’re very appreciative of what he has done. He has made big improvements in the Department. I’ve enjoyed working with him these last two years. He made the transition happen smoothly.” The interim chief is Bob Ashe.
Interviewed last week Chief Whalen said, “I’ve always been big on training. It’s an important asset. We’ve got to keep sharp. It’s become policy that we assist when there is a rescue squad call in the Village. The vehicles have upgraded medical equipment and all the officers are defibrillator trained.” Two officers are now fully trained in commercial traffic enforcement. “They have been very aggressive, often assisted by NYS Police and the Sheriff’s Department.” This enforcement puts drivers of large trucks with bald tires or bad brakes or other faulty equipment on alert when they come through the Village. Whalen would like to see loud “jake brakes,” a brake retarder used to slow trucks down on hills, outlawed in the Village. “There’s no need to use it if the driver is observing the speed limit,” he said.
During Whalen’s tenure full time police officers have been increased to four, patrol cars and weapons have been upgraded and include two radar 15s and Tazers. “I think the Tazers are a very good deterrent,” said Whalen. “Three years ago a man with a knife surrendered rather than be ‘electrocuted.’ He might have been shot, but he didn’t want to be Tazed.” Whalen added that the Tazers have been displayed by officers many times. “In two and a half years they have probably been used eight times,” he said. Three years ago two well equipped mountain bikes were donated to the Department. “It’s a good program,” said Whalen. “The guys love it!” Two officers have been to bike school.
Crimes in the Village have run the gambit during his years as Chief, Whalen recalled. “Everything from drugs, serious assaults, burglaries, suicides and more.” The most recent problem that has taken considerable man hours has been bare fisted fight clubs among 14 and 15 year-olds. “We finally pieced it together when it was spotted on face book,” he said. “We’ve broken up two to four of them, the last one under the River St. bridge.” There’s no money involved, he said. And often the fighters are friends.
Chief Whalen makes no bones about drugs. “There’s a lot of drugs in the Village of Hoosick Falls,” he said. “Everything from marijuana to heroin.” He said he hasn’t seen or heard of any “meth,” here yet, but he knows Massachusetts has it. “Pain pills are one of the worst;” he said, “Valium, ADD drugs; Hydrocodone goes for five to seven dollars a pill.” He has only heard of one “pharm” party and that was outside the Village. “Drugs are common; crack, cocaine; all of them.”
“HAPPY (Hoosick Area Partnership for Parents and Youth) has been making a good input in the community and reinforced our projects. Alcohol is embedded everywhere. It’s not ever going to go away. With the new law, parents are better educated, but we’re not going to stop it. We can just try to educate. DWIs have been reduced, and I’m proud of that unit. This year there were no DWIs during the Halloween weekend and only one incident reported otherwise. Albany County had 31 (DWIs),” he said.
Newsmaking incidents during his time in Hoosick Falls include the Dougherty fire and a blackout when electrical lines went down. “We had eight legitimate fire calls in two minutes,” he recalled. “It was a hectic two days.” There was the escape and eventual recapture of Anthony Friel and the arrest of David Oakes and Mark and Mike Stratton in connection with the theft of pharmaceutical drugs from Thorpe’s and other pharmacies. “The Bennington Police are phenomenal, top notch, the whole department. Their assistance has been beneficial to us many times.” He had nothing but praise for the Cambridge-Greenwich police as well.
Late last year the Department contracted with the Hoosick Falls Central School to handle events and emergencies that arise at the school. “Our response time is two minutes. Last year a youth had a medical problem, and it was 25 minutes before troopers arrived. They have a big area to cover.” During the Cambridge-Hoosick Falls football game last year there was a little bit of a problem, the Chief recalled. “This year there was close to 3,000 people at that game and not one incident.” Incidents at special school events have been reduced with the inclusion of a matron and an officer. “The kids are better educated and behave themselves,” he said.
Several years ago doctors diagnosed Chief Whalen with pericarditis, an inflammation of the wall around the heart. It was attributed to stress from work. Whalen went to court against the Village for compensation. The court ruled in his favor and the Village appealed and recently there was a settlement. The heart condition has improved with medication and mental and physical exercise.
Robert Whalen, 62, has been a cop for 33 years. He has worked for the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Department, the North Greenbush Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office before coming to Hoosick Falls. In 1979 he was in charge of the Sheriff’s Department’s first substation in Berlin where he supervised nine deputies. During his career, he said, he has “been all over the country chasing fugitives.”
Whalen hasn’t made any decisions about what he will do next. “I’d like to work a couple days a week,” he said. He may offer to volunteer as a driver for the rescue squad. “Volunteers are needed,” he said. He recalled one incident where it was one hour and 40 minutes before a rescue squad could respond. Another time the squad had three calls, back to back. “The fire departments and the rescue squads have tough jobs and they’ve done good work and they need help.”