© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Saratoga Springs city council approves CRB ordinance

An entrance to the Saratoga Springs Police Department

The City of Saratoga Springs has approved the creation of a civilian review boardto foster communication between the city police department and the public.

More than a year after it was recommended by the city’s former Police Reform Task Force, the city council on Tuesday approved an ordinance to establish a CRB.

The effort to craft a CRB was restarted under the new city council earlier this year, after the previous council could not come to agreementon the specifics of such a board.

Democratic Mayor Ron Kim...

“I hope we never use it. And in fact, I think that what we’ll find that it is rarely used but it is so important for the trust of our citizens.”

The CRB was one of a handful of Task Force recommendations isolated for further discussion by the last council. There was disagreement between council members on whether the creation of such a board with subpoena power would violate the city charter or collective bargaining agreements.

The new council, all Democrats, made the establishment of a CRB a central part of their campaign and have dismissed past concerns about compatibility with the charter.

In addition to being a key recommendation by the state-mandated Police Reform Task Force, a CRB has been a longtime goal of police reform advocates in the Spa City.

Speaking to the council Tuesday, former Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen said he is not against the board, but does not believe there is a “really big reason” for creating the CRB.

Advocates have often cited the case of Darryl Mount Jr.in their calls for reform.

Mount fled police on foot in August 2013 after officers reportedly observed him shoving his girlfriend into a wall. Mount was found severely injured moments later at the bottom of a construction scaffold. He died of his injuries several months later. While Mount’s family claimed police brutality, the city defended the actions of the officers involved and has denied wrongdoing.

Mathiesen, a Democrat who was commissioner at the time, again defended the police department’s response to the incident.

“They did what they were supposed to do. [Mount] didn’t take responsibility for what he was doing, he ran away. And so, sadly, this person who demonstrated a great cowardice in the last minutes of his life – or not in the last minutes of his life, he didn’t die for months later but – he became a hero for a large group of people. That’s very sad. There’s misrepresentation here.”

Another former Public Safety Commissioner, Robin Dalton, who had attempted to establish a CRB before leaving office in January, also spoke Tuesday. Dalton says the public did not get enough time to review the latest CRB ordinance.

“I think that by and large, no one in the public or even in the police department had a chance to read this proposal,” said Dalton. “And I just think that, why would you just do weeks and weeks and weeks of public hearings without a proposal, and now just rush it through tonight and vote on it?”

Public Safety Commissioner James Montagnino responded to Dalton, asserting there was an appropriate amount of time for public review.

“Just to correct the record there, when the public hearing was opened it was indicated that the basic framework that would be used was the Police Reform Task Force’s Appendix G, which was their proposal for the Civilian Review Board,” said Montagnino. “We had a public hearing based upon that basic wireframe. Following that, there were amendments that were based in large part on the public comments at that hearing. That amended proposal was on the agenda for the last city council meeting, with the proposed ordinance in its entirety and was subject again to public hearing. And tonight’s version, as earlier announced, is almost exactly the same as in the last city council meeting with the exception, in the main, of the extension of the residency requirement of six months to one year.”

The council voted to approve the CRB ordinance on a 4 to 0 vote. The council also approved a form for those interested in applying for the five-member board. Candidates will be reviewed after a minimum 30-day application period.

Looking ahead, Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi said the city council needs to consider the needs of funding not only the CRB but all recommendations made by the Police Reform Task Force.

“We need to come up with a three-year plan to pay for it. So while they were adopted, not all of them are funded,” said Sanghvi.

“Agreed,” said Montagnino.

Lucas Willard is a reporter and host at WAMC Northeast Public Radio, which he joined in 2011.