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Albany Common Council Pres. Corey Ellis criticizes city leadership over recent shootings, wants changes

The Albany Common Council met Monday evening in City Hall.
Albany Common Council
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The Albany Common Council met Monday evening in City Hall.

Albany's Common Council president says he's had enough of gun violence and politics.

Corey Ellis says he's grown tired of a shooting, followed by a community gathering, media interviews with upset residents and a press conference by the mayor and police chief. Ellis says he attended a prayer vigil for a Second Avenue barber murdered in his workplace over the weekend.

"You can't continue to say we can't point fingers when we have a mayor who's elected to help lead, move the city and keep people safe," Ellis said. "And we have the police chief. That's his job. That is his job. So what I'm saying is this. I know myself, other council members have tried to talk to the chief, we've met with the chief, with community members. And we've asked for a plan. And nothing has happened. This happens every summer. We have the rash of shootings, and we have a press conference and a press release and that's it. And we have community members who get together. These tragic people have lost their lives tragically.

Ellis says people shouldn't be scared to walk the streets. He first spoke out at Monday evening's Common Council meeting, calling for accountability.

"I was born and raised in this damn city," Ellis said. "I came back home not because I had to, because I wanted to. And it's killing me. It's killing me to see what our neighbors have become and people are crying out for help. No more. No more. We have to build this city, and we got to put politics aside. Forget who's running for whatever office. That's the problem. Somebody's running for office. We can't help that person because they will look like a leader. That's the problem. That is the problem. And shame on us. Shame on us."

Citing concerns aired Friday afternoon by South Pearl Street business owners during a meeting with Police Chief Eric Hawkins and Albany County District Attorney David Soares in a South End Diner, Ellis told the councilors they can no longer let politics get in the way. He intends to rename the Public Safety Commission the “Quality of Life Commission."

“People running in their stores stealing things, and it's too late to call a police officer after those things have happened," said Ellis. "So we have a gap, right? We have a gap in services. And part of what I talked about, the Public Safety Commission, which I'm going to change the name, is, we don't have a middle person when there's not really a crime, so to speak, that police should address, but quality of life crime, that's what I want to call it, quality of life issues, we need that middle ground.”

Ellis is calling on Chief Hawkins to re-think the APD's approach to fighting crime.

"But chief, we have people who are being shot in broad daylight," Ellis said. "So what that tells me is this, we have this criminal element in our city that doesn't believe if they commit a crime, they're going to be caught. We have a criminal element in our city that believes during the daylight I can literally shoot someone and not be afraid of having a cop, a police officer come around the corner and catch me. What the constituents have been calling for is the presence of our police department. A presence that when vandalism happen, that's something that you're going to be able to move this element out. And the chief has not come up with a plan."

"If the common council president doesn't realize that the chief has a plan, then he hasn't been paying attention," said Mayor Kathy Sheehan, who noted Chief Hawkins' strategies have resulted in a record number of guns being taken off the streets and a record crime closure rate far above the national average.

“People are being arrested who are engaged in gun violence, and they're being prosecuted and put away for very long periods of time," said Sheehan. "And so I think when you look at the scourge of gun violence across this country, which really has left no corner of this country unscathed, the chief here in the city of Albany is demonstrating what it means to lead and what it means to execute on a plan to ensure that we are doing all that we can to protect our residents and to arrest people who are engaging in this reckless behavior."

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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