fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Movie Night Gift Subscription
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Saugerties committee issues report on police reforms

by David Gordon
February 25, 2021
in Politics & Government
0
Saugerties police earn kudos during accreditation process

The Saugerties Police Reform and Reinvention Committee has completed its study of the Saugerties Police Department and issued a 22-page report, with an additional 17 pages of summary, information about the committee, police records and the tabulation of answers to a questionnaire filled out by more than 300 responders.

As she did at the first two public presentations of the committee’s work, committee member Gilda Riccardi reminded the virtual audience that the committee was mandated by New York Stat Governor Andrew Cuomo to examine police procedures and performance and suggest ways to improve them, especially in relation to persons of color. 

In its third public session, which was designed to give the report a final tweak before presenting it to the board, there were fewer comments that in the previous sessions, but nonetheless 44 people were signed in to the presentation.

The committee’s recommendations ranged from actions that could be taken almost immediately, such as having officers carry business cards with their names, and contact info various police resources, to long-term proposals, such as refocusing police academy training from a military- to academy-based approach. Police officers should know the law, and “be able to apply the law in situations as they unfold.” On the local level, officers should receive training that explores their implicit and subconscious biases.

Police officers should also learn to recognize and respond to various mental illnesses, such as autism, which affect the way they interact with people. For instance, during the presentation, while committee members advised people to obey police officers’ instructions and express disagreement with those instructions later, Committee Chair Christine Dinsmore pointed out that people suffering from some mental or personality disorders might be unable to follow this advice. Officers should be aware of this.

A sense of the report’s scope can be seen in the number of topics listed in the summary of the recommendations: data, alternative policing, recruitment and training, accountability and transparency and funding. These topics are further broken down; many contain numerous subtopics. For instance, the report lists six recommendations under “training,” with four more under “racial bias” that include training or the application of the training. The task force recommendations include informing the public of the “procedures and policies that prevent police officers involved in radical groups from serving as police officers in Saugerties.”

Under “reimagining funding recommendations” the committee includes such measures as establishing a task force to find funding, such as federal, state and foundation grants, partnering with other police departments, collaborating with universities to develop internship and training programs (including anti-racism programs), negotiating a buy-in to Family of Woodstock programs, working with the high school to help students learn civil service test-taking skills and “change the mind set from ‘not possible’ to ‘let’s find a way.’”

Some of the participants of the first two of the three presentations were dismayed by the acknowledgment that police reports don’t include the race and ethnicity of people arrested or stopped for traffic violations. The report recommends “more data, including race and ethnicity and disposition to be collected with each stop and arrest to ensure that we capture the vital information to identify bias policing; all arrest data and analysis of the data should be posted for public view on the SPD web site.”

The committee also recommends that “data should be analyzed by an independent body with statistical and data analysis expertise, generating an annual report identifying disparate police practices.”

The committee found that “nationwide 12 percent of police officers had a mental health diagnosis and 26 percent reported current mental health issues, but few sought out mental health services. Nationally, police have a 69 percent greater risk of suicide than the general population.”

The report states that 32 percent of women and 29 percent of men experience “intimate partner” violence, the report states. Nationally, “at least 40 percent of law enforcement families experience domestic violence, as opposed to 10 percent of non-law enforcement families.” The domestic violence recommendations include robust data collection for domestic violence calls, including number of felonies, misdemeanors and violations, and demographics – sex, age and race of both the perpetrator and the victim, and the relationship, if any, to the responding police officer. It also recommends training on de-escalation, interviewing children, and identification of grants to fund prevention and intervention programs of officer-involved domestic violence.

Finally, the report considered the position of the school resource officer, or SRO, a uniformed police officer stationed in the schools. 

 “Most recently the current SRO was recognized by the Police Chiefs Association of Ulster County and called a ‘transformational leader’ by the high school principal,” the committee’s report states, but it adds that “several community members voiced their concern about the role of SROs in general in fueling the school to prison pipeline and having students monitored by an armed police officer.”

The recommendations in the report include: educate the public on the specific roles of the SRO, provide monthly data on SRO-student encounters/arrests on the websites of the Saugerties Police Department and the Saugerties School District (if permissible), and provide training on such issues as autism and implicit bias.

Tags: members
Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Dennis Kucinich headlines Mohonk Consultations’ Finding Common Ground panel discussion

Next Post

Murphy’s in New Paltz could become piano bar

David Gordon

Related Posts

Woodstock police reform group likely to present recommendations in March
Politics & Government

Woodstock police get a three-year contract

May 31, 2023
Politics & Government

Woodstock dips into surplus funds to complete a variety of projects

May 31, 2023
Kingston mayor challenged for office by community organizer
Politics & Government

Kingston mayoral candidate Frank Waters plans a series of meet and greets

May 31, 2023
Op-ed: End the ethics waiting game
Politics & Government

Legislature must revisit Plattekill landfill exemption vote

May 30, 2023
Metzger gathers county executives at press conference
Politics & Government

In a push for affordable housing, Metzger proposes a $15-million fund  

May 30, 2023
iPark 87 thinks big, developer makes 600 housing units a higher priority
Business

At iPark 87, things do seem different this time

May 29, 2023
Next Post
Murphy’s in New Paltz could become piano bar

Murphy’s in New Paltz could become piano bar

Trending News

  • Kingston’s new tap room and beer garden was made for locals 4.5k views
  • Victim’s mother was assured by Kingston school officials that her son would be safe, notice of claim now entered against the district 3.5k views
  • Who’s to blame for Kingston’s inadequate playing fields? Just ask the parents 810 views
  • Pride reaffirmed in New Paltz 693 views
  • Horsin’ around in Saugerties (photos) 564 views
  • At iPark 87, things do seem different this time 374 views

Weather

Kingston
◉
63°
Clear
5:23 am8:23 pm EDT
Feels like: 63°F
Wind: 2mph S
Humidity: 59%
Pressure: 30.15"Hg
UV index: 0
ThuFriSat
91/57°F
93/61°F
66/48°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

×
You have free article(s) remaining. Subscribe for unlimited access.
View Subscription Offers Sign In
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Movie Night Gift Subscription

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing