Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
A Mount Vernon police officer on military reserve duty in Washington, D.C., in the wake of last week’s riots, may have trouble getting his proper city pay while he is away.
And depending on how the city handles his case, Officer Raiton Betty could join his sister and a third city cop in a lawsuit challenging how the police department is paying reservists.
Officers Samantha Betty and Thalia Santos claim they have had pay withheld since the fall while they were on reserve duty assisting with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s sad that the department has picked now to try and change the way this has been done,” said police Lt. Nicholas Mastrogiorgio, who became president of the Mount Vernon Police Association this month. “We’re in the middle of the worst crisis the world has ever seen and then to top it off with the unrest in D.C., it’s mind-blowing how they can do this out of nowhere.”
The city has yet to respond to the lawsuit, which was filed by the union and the two officers last month in state Supreme Court in White Plains. It names police Commissioner Glenn Scott, the police department and the city.
Reservist pay is not covered in the Mount Vernon police contract but rather in the city charter.