There shall be in the City of Hudson a department known as "The
Department of Police."
There shall be appointed by the Mayor a Commissioner of Police,
who shall be the head of the Department of Police.
The Commissioner of Police shall hold office during the pleasure
of the Mayor.
The appointment of the Commissioner of Police shall be evidenced
by a certificate in writing signed by the Mayor and filed forthwith
in the office of the City Clerk.
The Commissioner of Police shall appoint to hold office such
subordinates as may be necessary to exercise the powers and discharge
the duties conferred and imposed upon him by law. The appointment
of subordinates shall be for a probationary period pending passing
of the civil service examination and thereafter shall be permanent.
In case of the absence or inability of the Commissioner or of a vacancy
in the office of the Commissioner, the Chief of Police shall discharge
the duties of the office until the Commissioner returns, his disability
ceases or the vacancy is filled.
The Commissioner and such other persons as the Commissioner
shall designate, before entering upon the discharge of the duties
of their respective offices, shall each execute and file with the
City Clerk an official undertaking in such sum as may be specified
elsewhere in this Charter.
Whenever a vacancy occurs in the office of the Chief of Police,
the Commissioner of Police shall appoint in his discretion a person
deemed by him to be suitable and competent to fill the same.
The Chief of Police shall hold office during good behavior or
until permanently incapacitated or unfit to discharge his duties.
The Commissioner of Police shall have cognizance, jurisdiction,
supervision and control of the government, administration, disposition
and discipline of the Police Department and of the officers and members
of said Department, and shall possess and exercise fully and exclusively
all powers and perform all duties pertaining to the government, maintenance
and direction of said Department and the apparatus and property thereof
and buildings furnished therefor, and shall have the general direction
and supervision of the expenditure of all moneys appropriated for
police purposes and hereafter appropriated to the Department of Police.
He shall have authority to administer oaths and take evidence, affidavits
and acknowledgments in all matters and proceedings pertaining to the
Department. He shall have general supervision over the records of
the Department and its officers. He shall possess such other powers
and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law and all
ordinances and local laws of the Common Council.
[Amended 1-16-1979 by L.L. No. 2-1979]
The Commissioner of Police shall make, adopt and enforce such
reasonable rules, orders and regulations not inconsistent with law
as may be reasonably necessary to effect a prompt and efficient exercise
of all the powers conferred and the performance of all duties imposed
by law upon him or the Department under his jurisdiction. He is authorized
and empowered to make, adopt, promulgate and enforce reasonable rules,
orders and regulations for the government, discipline, administration
and disposition of the officers and members of the Police Department,
and for a hearing, examination, investigation, trial and determination
of charges made or prepared against any officer or member of said
Department for neglect of official duty or incompetency or incapacity
to perform his official duties or some delinquency seriously affecting
his general character or fitness for the office, and may in his discretion
punish any such officer or member found guilty thereof by reprimand,
forfeiting and withholding pay for a specified time, or suspension
during a fixed period or dismissal from office; but no officer or
member of said Department shall be removed or otherwise punished for
any other cause or until specific charges in writing have been preferred
against and served upon him and he shall have been found guilty thereof
after reasonable notice and upon due trial before said Commissioner
in the form and manner prescribed by law and the rules and regulations
of the Department. Notwithstanding the above, it is the intent of
this provision that, pending the hearing and determination of charges
preferred in accordance with this section, the officer or employee
against whom such charges have been preferred may be suspended without
pay for a period not exceeding 30 days.
The Commissioner shall make all appointments, promotions and
changes of status of the officers and members of the Police Department
in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Service Law of the
state, except as otherwise provided herein.
In addition to the powers and duties specifically enumerated
herein, the Commissioner of Police shall have the same authority,
powers and duties heretofore vested in and held by any previous commission
or commissioner having powers of supervision over the Police Department
under any previous Charter or local law, except as otherwise may have
been amended, with reference to the officers and members of the Police
Department of the City of Hudson, and the government, maintenance
and direction of said Department and its apparatus, property and buildings
and the general direction and supervision of the expenditure of all
moneys appropriated to said Department.
It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Police to meet with
the Mayor of the City of Hudson for the purpose of reporting to him
the condition of the Department of Police and the conduct of his office
on the second Tuesday of each month; provided, however, that, in the
event that the second Tuesday of any month shall fall upon a public
holiday, he shall meet with the Mayor on the first day thereafter.
[Amended 6-21-1988 by L.L. No. 3-1988; 8-21-1990 by L.L. No.
2-1990; 7-16-1991 by L.L. No. 7-1991; 2-21-1995 by L.L. No.
2-1995; 7-18-2000 by L.L. No. 10-2000; 12-18-2001 by L.L. No.
7-2001; 2-19-2013 by L.L. No. 2-2013]
The Police Commissioner shall appoint the police officers and
regulate and control the police of the City. The number of policemen,
including the Chief of Police and Sergeants, shall not exceed 26.
Each policeman, before entering upon the discharge of his duties,
shall take and subscribe and file in the office of the City Clerk
the constitutional oath of office.
[Amended 12-18-2001 by L.L. No. 8-2001]
It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police, under the direction
of the Commissioner of Police, to superintend the Police Department
of said City. He shall keep a record in suitable books of all arrests
and all services performed by him and the several policemen. He shall
also keep books to be known as the "property books," in which shall
be entered all articles taken from persons arrested or seized on warrant
or otherwise, together with the disposition made thereof. It shall
be the duty of the Lieutenants and the Sergeants of Police, under
the direction of the Chief of Police and the Commissioner of Police,
to perform any services and exercise any control within the duty or
authority of the Chief of Police in the management and operation of
the Department.
The Chief of Police, Sergeants and every policeman shall have
power, without process, to arrest and take into custody, or cause
to be arrested, any person who shall commit or threaten, or attempt
to commit, in his presence or view, any breach of the peace, or any
offense against any law or statute of this state, or any violation
of any ordinance or local law of the City of Hudson, or rule or regulation
of any commission or board of said City.
Policemen shall have the same power and authority which constables
possess in civil cases and special proceedings, in serving and executing
all process and papers in any action or proceedings in behalf of the
City of Hudson, or any board, commission or officer of said City.
Any reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by a policeman,
in traveling or otherwise, in the discharge of his duties, shall be
audited by the Commissioner of Police and paid by the City Treasurer.
Any such charges or expenses which are properly chargeable to any
other civil division or municipal corporation shall be so charged
by the Commissioner of Police and presented to the proper boards or
officers thereof for audit, and when received shall be paid to the
City Treasurer, and be by him placed in the fund out of which audits
of the Department of Police are payable.
No policeman or special policeman, or officer of the police
force, shall receive any fee, present or reward for services rendered
or to be rendered, unless with the approval of the Commissioner of
Police, such approval to be given in writing and filed with the City
Clerk; and any policeman who shall receive any fee, present or reward
in violation of this section shall forfeit his office.
The Commissioner of Police shall have the power to appoint special
policemen at any time, to serve without compensation from the City,
unless such payment be authorized by a vote of 3/4 of all the members
of the Common Council at a regular or special meeting.
The salaries of the Chief of Police, Sergeants and patrolmen,
the expense of office furniture, printing, stationery, books, badges
and batons for patrolmen, the repair of buildings in the charge of
the Department of Police and the expense of maintaining the police
alarm system, including the incidental expenses of the Department,
shall be paid by the City Treasurer on the draft of the Commissioner
of Police, but not, however, in excess of the amount raised by tax
for the Department's use and purposes in any year.
