Buffalo Police Commissioner Alphonso Wright was summoned to the Common Council’s Police Oversight Committee Thursday over the department’s ongoing internal investigation into a top Erie County Sheriff's official.
Wright read out a prepared statement regarding the Buffalo Police Department’s investigation into the incident involving Daniel “DJ” Granville -- the Erie County Sheriff’s Chief of Narcotics and Intelligence who crashed his county pickup truck into seven parked cars back in April 2024.
But Wright said he was unable to answer the councilmembers’ follow up questions, citing the ongoing investigation.
"To answer specific questions before that time would place the justice we all seek in jeopardy," he said.
Wright added the BPD is assisting the Niagara County DA’s Office in its probe of the incident, and touted the internal affairs division’s investigative skills.
"This sprawling investigation has left no stone unturned in its pursuit of the truth," he said.
But the council’s Police Oversight Committee Chair and former Buffalo police officer, David Rivera, disagreed.
He was critical of the police department’s on-scene response to the incident, which happened in his district on Buffalo’s west side.
Rivera said he had talked to witnesses who are "afraid" to come forward to police.
He also alleged that officers failed to gather key witness statements at the time.
"We ask that you go back and talk to those folks. That you go back and get those statements that should’ve been gotten back then. It’s so basic in terms of investigation.
"The sooner you you get to the scene, the sooner you talk to the victims, the sooner you talk to the witnesses, the better chance you have of solving the incident. And I think we all agree on that. But now we have to go back. We're catching up right now," he added.
Rivera went further. He told the BPD's top brass it was “alarming” to him that he only found out about the crashes 10 months after the fact from the media rather than the police department, claiming that Granville had benefitted from a "code of silence" among police.
Speaking after the meeting he told BTPM NPR that as a former cop, he knows that code exists.
"It's an unwritten rule, and everybody knows it - that sometimes officers support officers. It's a courtesy that they give officers, but it's inappropriate."
Erie County paid out claims to those whose vehicles were damaged, meaning taxpayers were on the hook for about $60,000.
So far the BPD has issued Granville with three traffic tickets as a result of the internal investigation into the incident. That includes one for leaving the scene of a property damage accident without reporting.
Wright has also placed five Buffalo officers on non-disciplinary administrative leave in "the ongoing review of the Granville incident," according to an earlier statement.
