Ten Albany police officer-trainees graduated in a late-morning ceremony today at the new Capital Center downtown.
A proud moment for 10 who made it through training to join the ranks of Albany's finest — a day of transition from classrooms and instruction to police cars and beat assignments. Acting Police Chief Robert Sears: "We have a tremendous amount of faith in them. We know that they worked extremely hard to get where they are. No everyone can say that. We are proud that they are members of the Albany Police department. We are extremely proud that they are the first session to come through our own police academy."
Before the Academy began in October, Albany police rookies were schooled at the Zone 5 Training Center in Schenectady. Mayor Kathy Sheehan says when the city adopted a "community policing" model, the department launched its own 26-week Academy at the Washington Avenue Extension station. "To see the transformation of the department and the way that we engage with our community, this was a decision to start our own police academy that really grew out of a commitment to 21st Century policing strategies, a commitment to ensuring that we have a strong relationship and a sense of trust between the community and our police department, and so this is just an evolution of that, to see this first class graduate is really encouraging."
The program includes introducing new recruits to LEAD, the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program, which empowers officers to redirect low-level offenders engaged in criminal activity involving things like prostitution or drugs to community-based services instead of jail and prosecution. Acting Chief Sears says the city benefits because the rookie officers were trained from the very beginning inside the city of Albany. "Some of the officers, the new officers, have already been to community events, and they really ingrain the community policing fabric right into the police academy. We also frame the police academy around the six pillars of the 21st Century Policing Report, which we believe is a really good framework for training officers."
Albany Community Policing Advisory Committee member Dom Calsolaro says there are many benefits to community policing. "The City of Albany Police Department has gotten national awards, national recognition, by President Obama last year, and I think a lot of it has to do with the way we do the community policing, involving the citizens.”
Last summer, the United States Department of Justice recognized the Albany Police Department as one of 15 departments it tracks in an effort to improve policing across the nation, hailing the APD as a national leader in building community collaboration and trust.
