West Seneca Police Chief Brian Cosgrove has been named in a civil lawsuit filed in Erie County Supreme Court by a woman who accuses the chief of raping her in a hotel room during a conference in Atlanta last year.
Cosgrove and other members of the West Seneca Police Department were sent by the town to the National Co-Responder Conference in June of 2025, meant to provide education to police, fire, EMS and human services professionals on responding to behavioral health crises.
A report from the Atlanta Police Department obtained by BTPM News details the allegations made to law enforcement that month. The woman, who is described as a crisis intervention person from Western New York, often works alongside law enforcement and was in Atlanta for the same conference.
Atlanta Police note statements and evidence, such as text messages, photographs, GPS information, forensic phone analysis and interviews with the woman and her husband were presented to the Fulton County District Attorney, who declined to prosecute.
"The allegations made against Chief Cosgrove are very serious. The Atlanta Police Department investigated this matter and the Chief was cleared of any wrongdoing. Throughout the process, the Town of West Seneca followed the advice of our town attorney," said West Seneca Town Supervisor Gary Dickson. "I respect the accuser’s right to pursue whatever means are available."
The woman told police that she had "blacked out" sometime in the evening of the alleged incident, which included a social outing with Cosgrove to a comedy show, and later to a hotel bar joined by another member of the West Seneca Police Department. She said she awoke the following day with different clothes on and injuries to her pubic area, with memories of the night slowly coming back.
"The accuser, Chief Cosgrove, and the public deserve a thorough and timely resolution to this case," said Dickson. "I expect that at the conclusion, the Town of West Seneca will be found to have acted appropriately."