The city of Albany introduced its first public safety commissioner Tuesday.
As first reported by WAMC, former Albany City Court Judge Gary Stiglmeier has been named Albany's Public Safety Commissioner. Stiglmeier will adjudicate police disciplinary measures and implement recommendations from the Albany Policing Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. Democratic Mayor Kathy Sheehan says Stiglmeier will serve as the designated arbiter of any discipline within the police department that is appealed.
"This hiring comes out of a strong recommendation from our policing reform collaborative, to address the inconsistencies that we have seen from time to time, using arbitrators to determine disciplinary actions that are appealed," Sheehan said. "Oftentimes, those arbitrators don't know the city's union contract. They have at times had different interpretations, different arbitrators have had different interpretations of the general orders. And that is something that has been a frustration, not only to the public, but also to our police chief and command staff."
Sheehan says Albany looked at the city of Schenectady, which has a very similar model with a public safety commissioner who provides independent judgment when it comes to disciplinary hearings.
"Oftentimes, when discipline is determined within the department, there is not a dispute," said Sheehan. "And that will remain in the ordinary course. But it is when the individual and the union seek to grieve that disciplinary action, that Judge Stiglmeier will sit as arbiter in those decisions."
The commissioner will report directly to the mayor and will not oversee police department operations. Police Chief Eric Hawkins will continue to report directly to the mayor. He sees Stiglmeier's appointment "as a way of getting some consistency."
"We've had meetings with our command staff, we've had meetings with the union leadership in our department, and the command staff and the union leadership are all excited to have the judge on board," said Hawkins.
Stiglmeier, an Albany native who worked under several city mayors before serving 15 years as a city court judge, says he appreciates Mayor Sheehan’s confidence in his abilities to take on this new role.
"I'm confident that my years of experience as an attorney, as an administrator, and as a judge, will serve both the city and me very well, in that role as I undertake these important responsibilities, and I look forward to rejoining the city's workforce," said Stiglmeier.
Common Council President Corey Ellis pointed out that Sheehan included the new part-time position in her budget last year, which will now go before the Council for confirmation.
"It was in the budget, the council passed the budget," Ellis said. "So this appointment is not a surprise. It's just, wondering what I think is more clear is the duty of that job is more, is clear and I think that's what council members wanted to know. And I believe those questions were answered on what specifically the mayor was looking at, appointing a person to that Public Safety Commissioner."
Sheehan says councilors have 45 days to go through that process.
