The City of Troy has been awarded federal funding to combat targeted violence and domestic terrorism.
Following the racist shooting at a Buffalo supermarket last May that killed 10, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued an executive order that in part directed counties and New York City to develop plans to counter domestic terrorism.
Earlier this week it was announced that New York was awarded $500,000 in federal funding to support violence prevention, with $100,000 headed to Troy – the only community in Eastern New York to receive a portion of that award.
The Department of Homeland Security funding will support the development of a new Threat Assessment and Management – or TAM – team in Troy. The federal allotment is on top of $10 million in state funding to help fund TAM teams.
Troy Police Chief Dan DeWolf said the city is in a good place to receive the funding, as the police department has worked to establish relationships with hospitals, school districts, and Rensselaer County mental health support services.
“Like right now, we have a really large crisis intervention team within the city that works with county mental health and the homeless shelter and Unity House and so-on. It’s already somewhat in place as far as the partners. We don’t need to make those relationships because they already exist,” said DeWolf.
The money will not support the hiring of any additional officers, though DeWolf envisions a consultant being brought on board as the police department awaits some additional guidance on the TAM team from the state.
DeWolf highlighted the recent creation of a two-person mental health crisis team.
“That’s assisting our patrol division in not having to go to those calls so they can concentrate more on other police work. So it alleviates that and it provides a sense of dignity to the person that is going to be transported because we’ll be using an unmarked vehicle – a minivan – and that sort of thing,” said DeWolf.
In addition, DeWolf said a partnership with the county’s mental health department will allow a social worker to help respond with mental health calls.
In a statement, Troy Mayor Patrick Madden thanked fellow Democrats Governor Kathy Hochul, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congressman Paul Tonko for securing the funding. Madden says the money will “provide needed resources to allow the Troy Police Department and partner agencies to continue their work to identify and proactively address threats, especially those that are racially and ethnically-motivated."
Republican City Council President Carmella Mantello also welcomed the funding. She said the type of collaboration fostered by a TAM team is reflective of priorities outlined in the city’s Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Report – completed under a state executive order last year.
“This includes the professionals and it recognizes that others need to be working with our Troy police on the forefront as first responders, whether it be the county mental health department, the hospitals, the school resource officers and school districts working collaboratively as a team to try to stem some of the violence and try to tackle some of the violence before they become horrific incidents,” said Mantello.
With the federal funding will going toward efforts to mitigate targeted violence and domestic terrorism, Mantello is still hopeful for additional collaborations to prevent violence at a regional level. The Republican has been seeking a multi-jurisdictional task force to address gun violence and other violent crime for years.
“What I’m calling for is a specific task force solely dedicated 24/7 to the Capital Region with the various law enforcement agencies,” said Mantello.
Gun violence continues to plague the Collar City. Just this week, two people were shot in the city’s downtown on Halloween.
