The Town of New Paltz’s Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative heard from the public last Thursday about how they should focus their efforts. The occasion marked the beginning of a period of outreach formed in response to a gubernatorial order requiring the review of local police practices and promulgation of a plan to improve “trust, fairness, accountability and transparency, and ,,, seek to reduce any racial disparities in policing.”
Randall Leverette, a co-facilitator of the group, explained that collaborative members also intended to gathering more information from members of the public in more “intimate” settings that would allow for in-depth conversation. Further conversations might also include people who might feel unduly exposed talking about police practices in a public setting.
Other members of the collaborative include Diana Armstead, Jennifer Berry, Albert Cook, Esi Lewis and Dan Torres.
Comments at this session were limited to about three minutes.
Meetings will take place through December. Thereafter, recommendations will be advanced and circulated for public comment, as required in the executive order, before the town board ratifies them no later than April 1. The governor is threatening to withhold funding from local governments that don’t adopt a plan. There are no requirements as to what must be in a plan. No review of state-level police agencies is contemplated under executive order 203.
A delicate balance
Harper Keehn questioned plans to build a new court-police complex given the uncertainty of the town’s budget in the light of the ongoing pandemic. The decisions to enter into contract to purchase the North Putt Corners Road building had been made prior to that historic turn of events.
Keehn also asked about plans to hire more officers and dispatchers. He noted that 30 percent of police calls were “property checks,” while less than one percent deal with violent crime. He advocated budgeting more money for housing, mental health, food and public transportation.
Naomi Allen hit on similar themes. If police are the first to respond to social problems, she said, then those problems become criminalized.
It had been announced earlier in the week that Robert Sisco would not lose his job for recording a political rap while on duty and in a town police vehicle, Critics had called the lyrics trans-phobic and treasonous, The police contract requires these matters to be referred to an independent arbitrator. The arbitrator had ruled in the officer’s favor. Carol Nolan encouraged collaborative members to consider the “delicate balance” between protecting employees from unfair discipline and shielding “someone who needs to be let go.”
Don Kerr used the session to urge movement to return the police commission to a more independent status. In the waning days of the Zimet administration, the appointed commission was replaced with town council members, resulting in a structure that is convenient for police brass but has been seen as two cozy by critics. In the case of allegations by Ellenville resident Paul Echols of being assaulted while in custody Kerr believes that police commissioners took the word of town officers and failed to investigate that incident thoroughly. Kerr paid to have the Echols trial transcribed and offered that document to the collaborative.
A person identified as Juna observed that reform, when it means providing more resources to police for training, cameras and the like, is not successful. “More money does not decrease harm.”
Calls for transparency
A person identified as Juna observed that reform, when it means providing more resources to police for training, cameras and the like, is not successful. “More money does not decrease harm.”
Juna, a member of New Paltz United for a Responsible Budget, said that the reduction of the town’s police budget by 25 percent from this year’s levels in 2021 and again in 2022, was a core position of the group. With only a handful of violent crimes in the town, this money could be redirected to “outside moderators” who could provide solutions that are not tied to the threat of gun violence or imprisonment.
Local business owner Kevin Kelly, who ran for a town justice seat last year, said that complaints against officers were dealt with in an opaque and inconsistent manner. Kelly wondered how the decision not to terminate Sisco was reached, and why it took months to make that determination. The police contract places most discipline in the hands of the police chief, but if termination is to be considered the town board must initiate formal disciplinary charges. The amount of time it took in the case of Sisco was because the preferred hearing officer wasn’t available right away.
Joan Combellick wanted to know whether “a more granular police budget” was ever released. A more detailed accounting was posted in July.
That call for transparency was echoed by Maggie Veve, who expressed interest both in the budget and in the police contract. Data about traffic stops and a public record of all complaints and compliments would provide more confidence by showing that most officers are serving appropriately. Veve said that it would be better if members of the police commission were not political appointments at all.
Tanya Marquette sought to center the conversation on racism, which is baked into the executive order. “Policing is not central to safety,” but independent oversight is. For Marquette, oversight is not independent enough if the body has to report to political leaders rather than being given powers to exercise directly in terms of discipline. Marquette also cited her difficulties in obtaining a copy of the current police contract.
The meeting was marred in its initial minutes, but a “Zoom-bombing” attack; where a small number of individuals shouted profanities and displayed pornographic images on their screens, failed to derail the meeting, which was continued after the removal of the Zoom-bombers.
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