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Albany’s Community Police Review Board taps Moeel Lah Fakhoury LLP to design its strategy, processes

The Albany Community Police Review Board has hired Moeel Lah Fakhoury LLP to design its strategy, processes
Albany CPRB
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The Albany Community Police Review Board has hired Moeel Lah Fakhoury LLP to design its strategy, processes

The Albany Community Police Review Board has hired an outside firm to help establish an infrastructure and foundational practices.

On Thursday, the board introduced key players from Moeel Lah Fakhoury LLP, which describes itself as "a San Francisco Bay Area litigation boutique that strategically represents individuals, businesses and institutions."

Attorney Andrew Lah says he has experience working in government as a prosecutor and investigator. He lectures at Bay Area law schools and teaches constitutional policing. Lah unveiled a four-prong plan for moving Albany’s CPRB forward.

"Just in terms of general buckets, this is how we sort of broke it down: first, help the CPRB implement local law J," said Lah. "We understand that there was a dramatic change in terms of how the CPRB law operate as approved by the voters of Albany. And our goal is to ensure that the CPRB is exercising its mandate authority and operating within an understanding of the constraints and boundaries of the rules, procedures and law. We want to help build and create institutions within the CPRB, helping establish protocols, providing informed recommendations for investigations, and stakeholder partnerships, and all the things that flow from that."

Rania Adwan is experienced in helping oversight agencies function efficiently and effectively — with a focus on transparency and access.

"That feels like a good encapsulation," Adwan said. I mean, the project has so many. It's really broad. But I think that's the best way to kind of like sum up what we're going to try and do and obviously just be on hand to help and offer advice and recommendations and things that we've seen and ideas that we have."

Adwan, with a background in journalism, focuses on communication, good storytelling and compelling narratives. She is tasked with taking the lead on some of CPRB's community outreach and partnerships.

Russell Bloom is an experienced investigator who provides independent oversight of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) Police Department.

"I've had an opportunity to provide some guidance and input to a number of different jurisdictions that are working on their oversight structures," said Bloom. "This has increased significantly since the murder of George Floyd. And as many jurisdictions are looking for ways to prevent similar outcomes, I think it's been recognized that a robust and effective oversight system is one of the ways to try to mitigate that. So there's been plenty of opportunity to roll up my sleeves and help others looking forward to doing the same with you."

CPRB chair Nairobi Vives says the team will enhance the panel's ability to see its mission — to improve communication between the Albany Police Department and the community and increase police accountability and credibility with the community it serves — through.

"The team has really hit the ground running," said Vives. "We're discussing the structure. We're discussing community outreach, and they're really going to help us with training."

Vives says additional content has been developed for the CPRB's website. The board announced Friday that it is stepping up its effort to digitally engage with residents: the public is now invited to comment online.

"Community members can now leave public comments using the digital form on our webpage or provide written comments by emailing cprb@albanylaw.edu. All submitted written comments will be shared with CPRB members."

The CPRB meets second Thursday of every month.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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