Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett, who spent close to 50 years working in law enforcement, died of cancer Tuesday morning.
He was 71. Family and colleagues remembered Bennett as a man of integrity and strength who cared for the people around him and helped stabilize the city and its law enforcement agencies during his decade at the helm of the city's police and fire departments.
“He was very personable. He was someone who was very easy to like and talk to,” Schenectady Police Chief Eric Clifford said. “But at the same time, if you did something you weren’t supposed to, he held you accountable. For that reason, I think we’re better off than before he came.”