The Albany Common Council has approved a loitering ordinance.
By an 11-3 vote, councilors Monday night said yes to amendments to Albany’s anti-loitering ordinance. The new version drops the requirement that city police must personally observe a crime or impermissible act in order to ticket someone for loitering. 10th ward councilor Owusu Anane introduced the measure.
"And that the police has grounds, whether a recorded video that they get arrested, they have probable cause. Or, there is a sworn statement that individuals want to give that someone has committed a crime. So this piece of legislation, again, it's just a tool in the toolbox for our police department to enforce quality of life issues," Anane said.
Several speakers during the public comment period opposed the measure and expressed concern that displaced unhoused people would be targeted.
Hannah Hurley of Saratoga Springs co-chairs the Capital District Democratic Socialists of America housing committee. She told councilors the expansion of the loitering law "is a step to the direction of criminalizing poverty."
"It expands the privilege of pursuing a crime from something that we only trusted the police with to something we allow everyone to have power over. This will add to the isolation that the unhoused feel when we deputize the community against them," said Hurley.
Chris Gehrman works on Central Avenue in Albany and fears the anti-loitering law "seeks to deputize every business owner in the city."
"These anti-loitering ordinances have been used time and time again, to punish the undesirable populations, whether that be in the Jim Crow South, in California during westward expansion, or even during colonialism in Latin America, each time trying to return black and indigenous people into conditions of slavery," said Gehrman. "Here, we all are aware of the prison system being the modern day iteration of slavery, and we're trying to put people who don't have jobs and people who need help into prison so they can continue to be exploited by the ruling class."
Anane says his legislation criminalizes nothing new, but sends a strong message to those who routinely gather to gamble or to buy and sell drugs.
"Many of our Albany residents feel helpless, particularly when it comes to quality of life issues," Anane said. "Our police chief has done a phenomenal job, particularly when crime has been committed, typically, like homicides, and bringing those individuals to justice. But what's happening right now is the concerns that many of our neighbors are talking about, is that the quality of life issues, those people who think it's OK to sell drugs, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. loitering in front of businesses, in front of people, students, actually selling drugs and gambling, all these types of vagrant activities in front of corners and our city. We're saying that no more to that. "
Councilors Gabriella Romero, Derek Johnson and Ginnie Farrell voted "no." Romero sided with those who argue that the city already has an anti-loitering law on the books.
"This law will be used to punish poor and homeless people and attempt to remove them from public view," Romero said. "Ticketing someone who can't afford to pay it is not going to solve homelessness. We can't ticket our way out of poverty."
Johnson puts the onus on city police. "I can't support this, because it's not addressing the issue that we're dealing with in our community, the issue that we're dealing with in our community is a lack of policing, we don't see the police in our community, unless it's a shooting," said Johnson.
On the other side of the issue, Public safety Committee chair Councilor Tom Hoey bemoans the fact the city cannot hire more police officers. "This bill, we added two things. And we talked about this in the meeting. We made it public urination, which is already on the books and a different section. We put it here in loitering. And, you know there's that's one thing and then the other is the way the law was originally written was a policeman had to witness it. So the laundromat up I'm in my ward, where the guy came in, took all his clothes off women and children. They're washing his clothes. By the time the police came, he was dressed in God. But it was on video and they couldn't use it. This law will fix that," Hoey said.
City Hall says Democratic Mayor Kathy Sheehan supports the change.
