#Cuomo looks to closing ‘loophole’ allowing bad cops to keep working

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday said he is looking at closing a loophole that could allow a cop accused of misconduct in one police department to get a new job at a different department.

The governor, in a conference call with reporters, cited a report from the Times Union about an ex-cop in East Greenbush who was allowed to keep his law enforcement certification — even after being accused making inappropriate sexual advances toward women he met while on-duty.

“If a police officer is not qualified or does not perform to the standards for one police agency, that doesn’t mean you take a person who acted unprofessionally and you go let him work in another police department,” Cuomo said.

The former cop in question, Matthew C. Wyld, was able to apply to at least four other police departments after he resigned amid the allegations, which included that he had sex with a woman in his patrol car hours after he arrested her for shoplifting and that he made advances on Facebook toward a 17-year-old girl he encountered during a traffic stop.

Wyld, 33, was suspended from duty by the then-police chief and resigned from the force six days later on Aug. 16, 2017, according to the report.

However, the department rescinded a request it had made with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services to pull Wyld’s police certification — allowing him to apply for other jobs in law enforcement.

This came after the local police union complained it was improper to ask for Wyld’s decertification because he’d never been served with a formal notice of discipline.

Ultimately, it does not appear that Wyld got another policing gig. He told the Times Union that he is “not in the police field” and refused to comment on the allegations.

Cuomo on Sunday said he would be “making proposals” to address the issue, but did not give specifics.

“People have to know that a police officer who breaks the rules and abuses his or her position, is no longer going to be a police officer and there can’t be these bureaucratic contrivances and loopholes,” he said.