Former Sleepy Hollow Police Detective Jose Quinoy has been hired with the Mt. Vernon Police Department.
Mt. Vernon Chief of Police John Roland confirmed the hiring today.
"I will confirm that, yes, he was hired as an officer on July 4, with our patrol division," Roland said.
Quinoy's new employment comes after years of allegations and criminal charges were leveled at the former detective. Those charges claimed he abused his position as a police officer in Sleepy Hollow during two separate incidents in 2006.
Quinoy was suspended from the Sleepy Hollow Police Department on April 29, 2009 without pay after he was indicted on a number of federal charges. In July 2010, a White Plains federal court jury found Quinoy on two federal indictments — witness tampering and violating the civil rights of in a 2006 stun gun incident.
The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on a third charge. That charge involved allegations Quinoy violated the civil rights of when, in a separate incident in front of Village Hall on October 2006, he allegedly kicked and punched Gomez after he was handcuffed. That charge was later by Federal prosecutors.
The Village of Sleepy Hollow had filed disciplinary charges against Quinoy following the federal indictments. The Village charges were identical to those filed at the federal level.
However, those disciplinary charges were eventually dropped. Under an arrangement with the Village, Quinoy resigned from the Sleepy Hollow Police Department last month.
In the Village deal, Quinoy agreed to plead guilty to minor, undisclosed disciplinary charges. In return, he released the Village and its employees from future claims. He also received back pay from the date he was placed on unpaid suspension to May 31, 2011 – the date he formally resigned.
Taking a job in Mount Vernon as a patrol officer could be seen as a step down for Quinoy who rose from the ranks in the Sleepy Hollow department, starting on patrol in 1998 and ending as a detective in 2011. During his time in the department, Quinoy had scored the highest mark within the SHPD on the Police Chief exam – potentially putting him in line to take over as head of the department.
Previously, Sleepy Hollow Mayor Ken Wray had expressed his desire that the Village, and the police department, could move on from the Quinoy episodes that had divided the Village for over five years.
"It's good for us to get this behind us, and by us I mean the Village, the Police Department and anyone else who was involved," Wray said last month.
Do we waste a ton of money with the police department? Certainly, nobody can argue that to the contrary. Can the same be said of the fire department(s)? Definitely! It would be great to have a central fire house which could house all of our trucks. At the same time, these fire houses grew along with our village and space was utilized accordingly. To change this would be a huge step and would likely cost a lot of money. Are solutions needed? Obviously. Is getting rid of our police and/or fire departments the solution? That obviously requires a little more thought.....