Eugene Jankowski, former lieutenant with Batavia PD and current City Council member, recently took home four awards from the 2014 NY State IDPA International Defensive Pistol Championships at Pine City Sportsman's Club near Elmira.
Jankowski finished:
A request by newly elected City Councilman Eugene Jankowski to amend council rules clarifying how and when council members can contact city staff received little support from the rest of the council Monday night.
And when City Manager Jason Molino said the current rules already allow a council member to do what Jankowski was asking, Jankowski said he was satisfied with Molino putting that on record and let the matter drop.
"I guess I'm happy with it," Jankowski said. "If the rules already say that, then I guess there was some misunderstanding because I was told that when I e-mailed department heads and requested a meeting, instead of being provided a date and a time, I was told I must go through your office."
Jankowski's position is that just because he's been elected to council, he shouldn't lose the right of any citizen of the city to go to a member of city staff, particularly department heads, and ask questions.
What Jankowski said he doesn't want to see happen is give council members the leeway to give orders to city staff or intefer with the conduct of their jobs or get involved in union issues, but he does believe council members have the right and obligation to gather information.
Molino said the rules are in place to ensure proper supervision of employees.
"There's one person responsible for their work, and that's me," Molino said. "That's what you hold me accountable to."
Jankowski is a former lieutenant in Batavia PD, served a time as interim chief and was forced to retire when Molino and Chief Shawn Heubusch decided to restructure the department last year and eliminate all lieutenant positions.
The former cop and city manager have a long history of being at odds with each other and Jankowski wasn't happy about being forced out of his job.
Jankowski received the most votes in November's council member at large election.
He said he did go through Molino to schedule a meeting with Heubusch to discuss, among other things, the proposed "neighborhood sweep" proposal. Jankowski, who initially proposed the idea, said he came away from the meeting believing it's a good idea, though perhaps inappropriately named.
"There may be complaints we should look into, maybe complaints of a sensitive nature, maybe it's a complaint about him," Jankowski said. "If we ran right to him and told him or had to go through him it might cause some sort of problems. It might not be appropriate."
Only Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian spoke up in favor of Jankowski's proposal, but she also said she's never had an issue going to any department head and asking questions. She just does it and nobody has ever told her to stop, she said.
"If you have a question you should be able to talk to any department head," Christian said. "We represent the people of Batavia. We don't represent Jason. Sorry Jason."
Molino said there's never been an issue with council members going to department heads and asking questions.
"There's nothing in the rules that prohibits you from contacting department heads and asking questions," Molino said. "When you ask questions, sure I find out about it, but I usually follow up with, 'did you get your answer, can I do anything more?' "
Christian said that's exactly what happens.
Former Batavia PD officer Eugene Jankowski had another successful showing at a gun competition, finishing in the top 25 percent out of 202 competitors and winning 1st Place in the senior tactical optics division.
The competition, the 2013 Blue Ridge Mountain Three-Gun Championship, was held last week at the Rockcastle Shooting Center in Park City, Ky.
Competitors shot nine stages of fire in natural terrain over three days.
All stages required the use of a modern sporting rifle, semi-auto shotgun and semi-auto handgun. The targets were required to be engaged from awkward shooting locations and positions. Targets ranged from 3 to 425 yards for the rifle, 3-70 yards for the pistol and 10-75 yards for the shotgun.
Jankowski is sponsored by Metal Spinning Targets in Le Roy, CMC Triggers in Fort Worth, Texas, Wolf Gunsprings and Offhaus Farms in Batavia.
Former Batavia PD lieutenant Eugene Jankwoski sent over this video from his participation in May in the 2013 New York State International Defensive Pistol Championship. Jankowski won the stock service pistol division, high law enforcement, high senior and overall match. The event was held at Pine City Sportsmen’s Club, near Pine City, and involved 104 competitors.
Jankowski's explanation of the event:
One hundred and four competitors shot 12 challenging stages of fire over three days. Jankowski is sponsored by Metal Spinning Targets, CMC Triggers, Wolf Gun Springs and Tactical Command Industries. IDPA is the use of practical equipment including full-charge service ammunition to solve simulated “real world” self-defense scenarios using practical handguns and holsters that are suitable for self-defense use. The main goal is to test the skill and ability of an individual. Competitors are required to wear a cover garment to simulate concealed carry and Stock Service Pistol firearms must conform closely to factory specifications.
Former Batavia PD lieutenant Eugene Jankowski was honored Monday night by the Batavia City Council for his 34 years of service to the city.
Among Jankowski's many accomplishments was creating the Emergency Response Team (commonly referred to in other jurisdictions as SWAT).
Jankowski was forced to retire earlier this year when the lieutenant positions were eliminated from the Batavia police force.
Two weeks ago, the City GOP committee endorsed Jankowski for one of the three at-large council positions up for election in November.
Lt. Eugene Jankowski, day-shift supervisor for the Batavia Police Department, recently received a trophy for a sharpshooting contest he participated in last month.
The award was for Jankowski's efforts in the 2011 International Defensive Pistol Association Indoor National Championships held at the Smith and Wesson shooting sports center in Springfield, Mass.
Jankowski tells us, "It was my first major IDPA match and I won First Place Sharpshooter in the Stock Service Pistol Division. This win now moves me up to Expert Class. My goal is to be in the Master Class by the end of the year.
"I used a standard Glock, model 34, 9 mm. Other than caliber, it's very similar to my police duty pistol. This match is one of only two national matches held each year and there were approximately 300 shooters in attendance."
For more on the IDPA, click here.
There were inspiring moments during Batavia's Memorial Day parade, and there were moments of significant community pride, but what may have been the single wow! moment was when Lt. Eugene Jankowski drove by on his restored Harley-Davidson police bike.
Yesterday, I visited the acting police chief and 30-year department veteran at his home and shot a short video interview with him about the bike. He was kind enough to supply some pictures to help tell the story of the bike.
Here's the video:
In case you missed it, here's our video from the Memorial Day parade.
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