N.Y. State Police political bias detailed

ALBANY, N.Y., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- High-level political influence and favoritism has jeopardized the independence of the New York State Police under three governors, officials reported Tuesday.

State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo released a report concluding that political interference during more than a decade put the agency's independence at risk and improperly caught up its leaders in political matters, The New York Times reported.

The report did not include significant evidence that rank-and-file troopers were involved in any wrongdoing, the Times said. However, it included details of cases in which high-level State Police officials took steps to help officials and prominent private citizens.

In one case, former State Police Superintendent Wayne Bennett ordered officials to alter a police report on a 2005 domestic violence case involving former Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y. The order resulted in the fabrication of a false police report, the Times said.

Cuomo's report also concluded lawyers for former Gov. George Pataki urged two troopers to disclose their testimony before a grand jury investigating fundraisers for Pataki, and that former State Police Col. Daniel Wiese deployed troopers to guard baseball star Darryl Strawberry at a New York hospital in 1998.