The Chief Leader

1 week ago | thechiefleader.com | Richard Khavkine

Ex-Rikers CO gets 6-month prison term for smuggling schemeBY RICHARD KHAVKINEPosted 4/18/25 A former Rikers correction officer has been sentenced to six months in prison for her role in a narcotics-smuggling scheme at the penal island. Ghislaine Barrientos, of Mount Vernon, had pleaded guilty in January to federal bribery charges for conspiring to smuggle cocaine, smokable synthetic cannabinoids known as “K2” and food to inmates at the Robert N.

1 week ago | thechiefleader.com | Duncan Freeman

Posted 4/18/25 After nearly two months on strike, workers at two Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations have reached an agreement with management that cancels the layoffs of 70 employees and allows striking workers to return to work. The settlement between members of United Auto Workers Local 2179 and theater management, reached Friday, permits all 70 of the workers who were laid off to return to payrolls by May 1 and reinstates workers’ sick time, paid time off and seniority, the union said.

1 week ago | thechiefleader.com | Richard Khavkine

Sergeants union, city finally reach dealBY RICHARD KHAVKINEPosted 4/18/25 After nearly two years of hard bargaining, the union representing NYPD sergeants and the city have chiseled a tentative contract agreement. The retroactive 5-year deal, which will be put to a vote of the Sergeants Benevolent Association's rank and file in the coming days, would net sergeants who were in the rank December 2021 and who work through Dec. 9 a compounded raise of nearly 19 percent.

1 week ago | thechiefleader.com | Barry Lisak

The IRS receives thousands of reports each year from taxpayers who receive suspicious emails, phone calls, faxes or notices claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service. Many of these scams fraudulently use the Internal Revenue Service name or logo as a lure to make the communication more authentic and enticing. The goal of these scams — known as phishing — is to trick you into revealing personal and financial information.

1 week ago | thechiefleader.com | Ron Isaac

Dogs look up to you, cats look down on you, and pigs see you as an equal. Winston Churchill's astute observation, slightly tweaked, describes how people of different ideological breeds view the police. In the polarized miasma of contemporary "dialogue,” police are either vilified or venerated. Either they can't catch a break, or they can do nothing wrong. Politicians, by speaking from both sides of their maws, can be said to technically represent everybody.