Photo Credit: Peter Skorewicz/Video Ventures — *Photo Credit:* *Peter Skorewicz/Video Ventures*

Just 40 days into his 90 day temporary term as Beacon’s Acting Chief of Police, William (Bill) Cornett has stepped down from his position, and will return to retirement. Bill, as referred to by those who know him, was appointed to the position by Mayor Lee Kyriacou after Beacon’s then Chief Kevin Junjulas announced his retirement, along with Captain Fredericks, soon after police protests and the Black Lives Matter movement started nation-wide.

Lieutenant Sands Frost, who currently works for Beacon’s Police Department, has been appointed by unanimous vote of the City Council to replace Will Cornett, effective August 17, 2020. Mayor Kyriacou said during the appointment at the 8/17/2020 City Council Meeting that apparently no one had stepped forward to volunteer to be in the position until now. The position will pay a pro-rated percentage of the currently budgeted Police Chief salary, which is $147,733, according to the proposed 2020 budget. Mayor Kyriacou thanked Lieutenant Frost for stepping up, “even if it’s not your first choice sometimes.”

The appointment of William Cornett came with controversy, as the Teamsters Local 445 opposed the appointment, stating that William Cornett had been in retirement too long (retired in 2000). At the meeting to appoint William Cornett, Teamsters Local 445 representative, Mike Pitt, spoke to the benefit of promoting someone from within Beacon’s Police Department: “The Mayor continues to say that it is ‘Acting Police Chief’ and totally disregarding the promotion or acting part of someone who is already in a command position in the Police Department, who can make the transition a lot smoother until you actually make an appointment of a Police Chief, after a thorough search.”

At the August 3rd City Council Meeting, shortly after appointments were announced about who was on the selection committee to pick a new Police Chief, 18 callers called in to voice their opinions. Normally, 15 members of the public are on the call total, and maybe 5 of them speak. One of the residents who spoke during the Public Comment portion was Ciarda Hall, a founding organizer of Beacon4Black Lives. Normally callers need to state their name and address during these public portions of the City Council Meeting. While stating ones name is helpful, stating their address seems an overreach of privacy.

H, I’m Ciarda and I don’t feel safe stating my address .

As many of us know, the Chief of Police resigned last month. Last week, a committee was named to help choose the new Chief of Police in Beacon. It has come to my attention that the first candidate choice from Beacon4BlackLives was disqualified from the committee simply because you disagree with comments they made at the previous City Council Meeting. Comments that our whole team agrees with.

Nobody in the city agrees with your choice of Acting Chief. Residents in the city don’t feel comfortable and there has even been complaints of sexual harassment within the Police Department against him. the only person who agrees with your choice of Acting Chief, is your neighbor and close friend, William Cornett. Oh wait, isn’t that who you chose to be Acting Chief? Tea. Hasn’t he been off-duty for over a decade? Hasn’t there also been reports of him being racist? This is who you chose?

Nothing about the process to choose this committee or acting chief has been transparent and furthermore, how can we trust the integrity of a committee and have hope in positive change if you are only choosing people who agree with your shady politics based solely in re-enforcing white supremacy and maintaining the status quo?

How can we trust someone who is supposed to be our Mayor but has never reached out to me. The girl who created the Beacon4Blacklives team. A team who literally started this movement and shook the room in our entire city. We have got nothing from you but an automated speech that you already know my feelings towards.

Do you even care about black lives? It’s not that hard to show you care. Yet you continue to fail. stand up if you care Mr. Mayor and step down if you don’t. Because your job is not done when you find a new chief like you said it will be. Make a change. Thank you.

A Little Beacon Blog has reached out to the PBA’s Vice President, William Confield, for comment as to rumors of recent allegations of sexual harrasment, as well as to the City Council, Mayor and Administrator. Should we get a response, this article will be updated. What is also not confirmed is when when William Cornett stepped down, if he was asked to resign, if he volunteered, and if the City of Beacon was without a chief for a period of days before Lieutenant Frost’s appointment. We are unable to get a list of officers who work for the Police Department in order to check for who the female police officers are, as the list has not been published to the City’s website yet, but was supposed to be, as was announced in mid-July by Mayor Kyriacou.

Mayor Kyriacou also announced that the City would publish FOIA requests to its website, when members of the public inquire about the backgrounds of police officers. But those requests do not seem to have been published yet.

A Bit Of Beacon History - Real Old School - 1977 and 1988

Officer William Cornett had worked for Beacon for decades, and was on duty during the “racial disturbance” as described by the Poughkeepsie Journal on May 21, 1977. It was during this time that the Spirit of Beacon Day started, as a way to temper racial tensions. At the time, William Cornett was an officer with Beacon’s Police Department, and disputed the release of 3 Black youths (plus 1 who made bail) who were arrested apparently during a riot situation in Beacon.

*Photo Credit: The Poughkeepsie Journal*

According to the newspaper from May 21, 1977, “Officer William Cornett, in a prepared statement, said the release of 3 Black youths in their own recognizance 'compounded the violence done by roving bands of thugs.’ Cornett said local citizens should make known opposition to the release. ‘Efforts to protect the public will be futile without their support,’ he said.” The Beacon PBA at the time was also critical of the release of the Black youths, according to the article.

The 1977 article goes on to say that City Court Judge Ian MacDonald released Brian Medley, 17, Ervin Burton, 19, and Michael Bell, 16, following their arraignment on felony riot charges (they are much older today). A fourth defendant, Robert McNair, 16, was held in $1,000 bail pending a later hearing. McNair, back in 1977, was charged with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest. Cornett said McNair posted bail and was free on that Friday afternoon. Then City Court Judge Ian MacDonald honored a request from then Assistant D.A. Thomas Dolan to release the Black youth. “I think the assistant D.A. was right,” the judge said. “I realized the decision might be unpopular. But these were young people and they did not have a criminal record.” MacDonald also noted that the youths had not used weapons, according to the article.

William Cornett was also in Beacon for a jail cell hanging in 1988. According to a Poughkeepsie Journal 1988 article, the headline of which read: “Theft suspect found hanged in Beacon jail,” went on to explain: “A 36-year-old burglary suspect arrested Saturday by Beacon City Police hanged himself in the Police Department lockup 4 hours after he was taken into custody, police reported.” William Cornett was quoted in the article, and was then a Lieutenant. At the time, he could not release the man’s name, but confirmed that the man had been found hanged in a holding cell at 8pm that evening.

During William Cornett’s appointment to Acting Police Chief in July 2020, Mayor Lee Kyriacou stated that Officer Cornett was the only one the Mayor trusted during Beacon’s dark days of the police department (Mayor Kyriacou and William Cornett are also neighborly and shared a house driveway). Mayor Kyriacou was responsible for launching a Federal Investigation into the Beacon Police Department in the 2000s, which was innitially inspired by Mayor Kyriacou wanting to cut down on overtime pay. Listen to ALBB’s sister podcast, “Wait, What Is That?” to learn all about the Mayor’s experience with the investigation., which led the Beacon Police Department to become accredited, a rarity in these parts that other municipalities like Fishkill are now trying to earn. Former Mayor Randy Casale also speaks on the podcast about the dark days and his role in putting body cameras on Beacon Police Officers.