By Brian Zanzonico
Malverne Police Benevolent Association President John Cantanno said at the March 2 meeting that Hennessy, who is up for re-election, claimed he was being harassed because he saw the same police officer too many times in one day. Cantanno said Hennessy went to the police station on Britton Court and questioned why a police officer was following him.
"Why would you ask why you saw the police?" Cantanno asked.
"I can't discuss this in public," Hennessy said to Cantanno. "There's ill feelings between [the officer] and I. ... This is totally unfair."
Hennessy said he was within his rights as a citizen to make a complaint. He and Cantanno went back and forth until Mayor Anthony Panzarella intervened.
"He gave you an answer. He said he can't talk about it," Panzarella told Cantanno.
"It was a resident making a complaint as to whether he was being followed," said Village Attorney James Frankie, who called Cantanno's comments "inappropriate."
The Herald's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request for the Malverne Police Department's records of the incident was denied by the Village of Malverne on the basis of confidentiality. But a source said that Hennessy made the complaint on Jan. 25, and Malverne Police Chief Glen Jacobsen confirmed that Hennessy claimed he was being harassed by a police officer. Jacobsen declined to release the officer's name or his history with Hennessy.
Hennessy's complaint came less than a month after he ripped the department at a Board of Trustees meeting for logging 1,500 fewer patrol miles from November to December.
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