Police leaders in Troy went before City Councilors Tuesday night to review policies, trainings, and current crime statistics following a February crash that killed a civilian.
The Public Safety Committee meeting was called by Democratic councilor Sue Steele, a candidate for council president in November’s election.
It comes on the heels of a report by the Times Union on February’s crash, in which Officer Justin Byrnes is accused of running a red light at a high rate of speed without his siren on, killing 30-year-old Sabeeh Alalkawi, a pizza deliveryman. The newspaper reported an investigation by the State Police found Byrnes at fault in the incident, which has spurred questions about police protocol, the presence of dash camera footage, and more.
Steele suggested the report might not be entirely accurate, though.
"The State Police report has not been made public. The entire article was based on a reporter having access to a report that we have no access to. So, I think that's important for the public to understand that we're not hiding. We just haven't been given it. And we've been asked not to participate in the investigation until the AG’s Office has completed their work.”
Attorney General Tish James’ office took over the investigation per state law hours after the crash. Corporation Counsel Richard Morrisey says the Attorney General has not formally released the report nor given the city a timeline for the investigation.
"The State Police report was done by the State Police at the behest of the attorney general. And I've heard and not been formally notified that it's been turned over to the Attorney General,” Morrisey said.
“OK,” City Council President Carmella Mantello said.
“It has not formally been released to the city,” Morrisey said.
Meeting attendees claimed they couldn’t speak about specifics as the probe continues. The council pressed Chief of Police Daniel DeWolf, Assistant Chief of Police Steven Barker and Deputy Chief of Police Christopher Kehn over protocols that could shed light on what happened that night.
DeWolf says in routine responses, officers are expected to obey traffic laws but in emergency situations, they are supposed to use "due caution."
"You can exceed the speed limit, you can pass through a stop sign or red light using due caution, you have to use caution and all that make sure that people are yielding to you,” DeWolf said. “You can drive on the shoulder; you can go down a one-way street if you had to. I mean, there's a lot of different things that that are OK as far as New York State V and T [vehicle and traffic] law when you're in emergency mode.”
City councilors also asked about the use of body and dash cams. DeWolf says officers are largely in compliance in properly using the technology.
"The officers like having the body cams because it's able to show their perspective because otherwise, you only get the other person's perspective when there's a complaint made,” DeWolf said. “So at least you get to see, everybody gets to see what really happened.”
DeWolf says supervisors perform random audits to ensure the technology is being used correctly, and said when officers have failed to turn on the equipment since starting to use it in June 2021, simple forgetfulness was the reason.
"They might be a little late so they're on way somewhere and then they hit it or they're in the middle of something,” DeWolf said. “I mean, because they're dealing with a lot, a lot of the time and you're right it is, there is human error involved sometimes that you might forget to hit that. I mean, you gotta hit it in order to activate it. It's always in a buffering mode. So, once they hit the street, it's in a buffering mode. So, all they got to do is tap it to activate it.”
Barker says dash cam implementation has faced delays due to technical problems. He says hard-wired dashcams will be installed in all marked fleet vehicles early next year.
“It's a redundant measure, provides a different view, because we know cameras only provide that one view,” Barker said. “And this gives us another measure and some other data from the vehicle.”
The police leaders were also asked about the use of sirens and lights, specifically when and where officers are required to turn them on. Again, DeWolf.
"Pretty much no matter what, if you're putting your lights on, you’re putting your siren on,” DeWolf said.
The officers also discussed current crime statistics in the city. According to a report from the Capital Region Crime Analysis Center, homicides are down year-over-year, reported sexual assaults have been cut in half, and aggravated assaults remain virtually unchanged.
"Our burglaries are pretty much the same,’ DeWolf said. “It looks at this point, there's like 10 more than there were last year. Our larcenies are down about 25 percent. And motor vehicle thefts are pretty much right around the same.”
