The City of Albany has sworn in its newest class of police officers.
Speaking Monday at Albany City Hall, Mayor Kathy Sheehan, a Democrat, says the six new officers are people to be proud of.
“Being selected to be in this department means that they are outstanding individuals, but they still have much to learn. And we're committed to making sure that they receive the best training, the best resources, the best leadership so that they can grow and succeed in their careers. And so, for your support and the sacrifices that you will make, please know, we are forever in your debt and we are deeply grateful. So now it is my honor to swear in our new class of officers,” Sheehan said.
Patrick Gordian, Michael Trask, Brandon Cosme, Tamir Davis-Kimbrough, Dominic Ingengni, and Zack Sussman will attend academy training before being assigned a beat and join a force of 279.
Sheehan says it helps build a department nationally recognized for innovation and professionalism.
“This is a department that is focused on ensuring that we are doing all that we can to make Albany the safest city in America. But the police department cannot do it alone,” Sheehan said.
City Police Chief Eric Hawkins lauded the new officers, saying the city only hires the best.
“We're looking for candidates who can help this police department, build community relationships and enhance public safety and quality of life in this great city. All of these men and women behind me have come highly recommended. And I am 100 percent confident that these new officers will excel in their new careers,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins says adding more officers builds on public safety efforts, especially as the city experienced a rise in gun crimes during the pandemic.
“For the third year in a row, we're going to be taking well over 100 guns off the streets, illegally possessed weapons. Our shootings in the city either with victims or confirmed shots fired, all of those numbers are down significantly, you know, we're down in the 30 percent range, and although so, so I think what we need to do is just to continue doing what we're doing, continue this momentum, one shooting is one shooting too much. And so we're not waving the flag of success. You know, we're not saying that we've conquered this thing. But I think the clear message is that there's a tremendous amount of progress that's been made. And we want to continue that,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins says the new officers will support a staff depleted by the pandemic.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, somewhere around 2020, we were always hovering around 40 or 50 vacancies, somewhere around there. During the pandemic, we started losing a lot of officers, the rate of officers joining us slowed down quite a bit, and so it wasn't unusual for us to be at various points, you know, 60 or 70 vacancies in the department. I think right now, we're hovering around that 50-55ish mark. So still a lot of work to be done,” Hawkins said.
Hawkins says despite adding new officers, the process of keeping the city safe will never be done.
“Until we get to a point where there's absolutely no violent crime in the city, you know, we're always going to be reaching, you know, for this perfection, that is hard to attain. I think the message is that a lot of progress, significant progress is being made under very challenging circumstances. You know, remember, we're still going through police reform, we have staffing shortages, that have really caused, you know, some challenges for us. But some significant progress has been made. And I think with these new recruits, they're going to help us to maintain that momentum,” Hawkins said.
Former city police officer Kelly Kimbrough is President Pro Tempore of the Albany Common Council and Fourth Ward Representative. The Democrat says attitudes toward police are different now.
“It's not just the police issue. I mean, traditionally, folks haven't cared too much depending on the community, about the police. But just in general, we as people, we don't treat each other nicely, you know,” Kimbrough said.
Kimbrough’s son Tamir is one of the newly sworn-in officers.
