New York state’s top cop steps down amid HR controversy

Kevin Bruen’s downfall as top cop in the state police seems to have occurred because of a close working relationship he had with his former human resources director, MaryEllen Tedesco.

NewsChannel 13’s Mark Mulholland was the first to break the news that Bruen has resigned.

#Breaking: New York State Police Supt. Kevin Bruen has resigned.
Bruen, who is 59, was
named by then-Governor Cuomo as head of the agency in June 2021. Before that he was general counsel for the @nyspolice and served as deputy superintendent then acting superintendent. @WNYT pic.twitter.com/TVFTQk2JT0

— Mark Mulholland (@MulhollandWNYT) October 7, 2022

Bruen had come under scrutiny by Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office in recent days – over accusations that he shielded a human resources director from internal complaints about her because he was friends with her.

Tedesco, who resigned from her position last month, was facing multiple internal complaints, and was herself under investigation.

As State Police superintendent, it was Bruen’s job to take any necessary action against Tedesco. He didn’t, apparently because of his close working relationship with her. So Bruen became the subject of an investigation, and Friday he stepped down as superintendent.

This creates another scandal in the Hochul administration, raising the question: What if any impact will this latest development have in the gubernatorial race in November?

Hear why a political science professor at Siena College doesn’t think it will by watching the video of Dan Levy’s story.

We also got a statement from the New York State Troopers PBA saying,

“The NYSTPBA board of directors would like to thank Superintendent Kevin Bruen for his service to our troopers and this state. Superintendent Bruen has helped move the New York State Police forward during difficult times. Including social unrest and the deployment of troopers to help the men, women and children of Puerto Rico in the aftermath hurricane Fiona. We wish Superintendent Bruen well in his future endeavors. “

We caught up with assembly member Pat Fahy in Albany. She also weighed in on the situation.

She said, “If the superintendent has resigned, it does allow us to move forward. Again, they were serious allegations, but there were accusations that were weighed there and it allows us to just move forward”