Town of Tonawanda releases findings on alleged police strike

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The Town of Tonawanda has released information supporting its allegations of an alleged ticket strike from police officers that began in mid-January.

Officials believe the alleged strike was a response from the police union after an officer, who has since resigned, was disciplined.

The Town of Tonawanda said that the alleged strike began on Jan. 15 and continued through Feb. 5. The town said that its findings did not come from any type of ticket quota, but through a significant dip in tickets throughout that time period.

The town said that 123 tickets were issued throughout the alleged strike. In previous years over the same period of time, the town said ticket totals were much higher: 557 (2024), 653 (2023), 439 (2022), and 505 (2021).

The town also said that probationary officers — who it alleges were advised not to participate in the strike — wrote the vast majority of tickets throughout this period of time. It said six probationary officers wrote an average of .89 tickets per day (71 tickets) compared to .14 tickets per day from 48 non-probationary officers (52 tickets).

The town also alleges that Town of Tonawanda Police Club (TTPC) President Andy Thompson wrote zero tickets throughout the period of the alleged strike.

In a statement sent on Friday, the TTPC called the town’s numbers “bogus.”

“[Town Supervisor Joe Emminger] cannot refute the stats we put out at Monday’s Town Board meeting that show hundred of tickets produced for the period in question, including seven DWIs, one of which was an arrest I effectuated on Feb. 2, with three tickets issued,” TTPC said.

The statement went on to say that during the period of the alleged strike, the officers were “taken off the road” for training on new red dot systems, which resulted in “minimum manning on the road.”

The town said it was aware of the alleged strike on Jan. 29 and advised the police club to stop the strike, but that it did not end until Feb. 5.

On Monday, the Town of Tonawanda Board voted unanimously to hire a law firm to bring charges against the police union. The town believes it violated the state’s Taylor Law as part of the alleged strike.

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Mark Ludwiczak joined the News 4 team in 2024. He is a veteran journalist with two decades of experience in Buffalo. You can follow him online at @marklud12.

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