ALBANY (AP) -- New York's new state police superintendent said Monday he is apolitical and his agency needs to be that way.
Asked about scandals surrounding past governors' questionable use of their trooper security details, which led to the abrupt departures of two recent superintendents, Joseph D'Amico said the institution is sound and those issues came from the actions of individuals.
"The overwhelming majority of the people in the state police are hardworking, honest, loyal employees," said D'Amico, who was sworn in on Monday.
He said the state police's goal is public safety, not politics.
"I'm an apolitical person," he said. "The organization needs to be apolitical and independent, and I'm going to strive to send that message out to them every day."
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo agreed with D'Amico's assessment and said the governor's office had been part of the problem. He said D'Amico's appointment is a chance to make sure those issues are a thing of the past.
"Whether a handful of people got involved in activities that were political, I believe, outside their duties? Yes," Cuomo said. "Were the state police put in a bad position by the requests from the governor's office? Yes. So it's complex. But it's not about the state police."
The statewide agency has 5,700 employees including 4,700 officers.
During Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer's two-year administration, his aides directed troopers to create a special report on the use of state aircraft by Republican Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a political rival.
After a top aide to Democratic Gov. David Paterson was involved in a domestic incident with his girlfriend, the trooper running the governor's security detail phoned her, as did Paterson.
The attorney general's office investigated both cases and issued reports while D'Amico, a 50-year-old former New York City police patrolman and deputy chief, was its chief investigator.
D'Amico also said Cuomo's decision to rescind the $20,000 raises of 28 top brass was proper.
"I support him on that," D'Amico said. "I do recognize there are issues in the institution when you, you know, you can't promote people up without taking a pay cut."
State police officials last year requested the raises so the top brass would earn more than unionized majors, who now get up to $170,756 annually under their contract. The raises were initially approved in the waning days of the Paterson administration.
Concerning changing the agency's other top management, D'Amico said he considered this a transition period and he hasn't made decisions yet.
(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
