Reviewing Community Policing in the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department
On June 12 of this year, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an Executive Order (# 203) requiring all Police Departments within NYS, in response to the public outcry over the deaths of people of color at the hands of the police (think Eric Garner, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, etc.) to examine their practices, policies, and deployment strategies, and present a plan to assure that their policing was not biased. The plan was to be reviewed and approved by stakeholders, and submitted to NYS by April 1, 2021. Failure to submit a plan would mean they were not eligible for state or federal funding. Here’s a link to the Executive Order and its requirements.
It took Preston Allen, chair of the Board of Supervisors, until October to appoint a committee, which had its organizational meeting on October 27. The makeup of the committee has been criticized because it contains only County officials and not community stakeholders. The minutes of the committee are available on the county’s website through a link on the home page. But it isn’t easy to find unless you happen to know that “Éxecutive Order 203 Compliance Group” is in actuality the Police Review committee that was required in response to the Black Live Matter demonstrations and the executive order.
The committee says that it wants public input, and has developed a survey that it asks community members to complete. Supervisor Gaston and Round Lake Mayor Putman both commented that the reading level of the survey is at the college level, and that the survey is long and detailed. I did take the survey today – it takes about a half an hour, and is focused on policies. In my answers I pointed out that policies that seem unbiased are fine, but have to be monitored for compliance. I urge you to complete the survey, and also encourage members of groups who feel that they have been targeted by the police to complete the survey. Here’s the survey link.
Barbara Thomas