The latest update Wednesday on the Albany Police Department’s efforts to enhance public safety included a look at the city's new 911 center.
The Albany Police and Fire Department's new 911 communication center now occupies part of the ground floor as refurbishing continues at police headquarters on Henry Johnson Boulevard. Sporting an open floor plan design, new computers and video screens, the $3.5 million upgrade was 16 months in the making. Fire Chief Joseph Gregory says it will considerably boost operational efficiency.
“This is an exciting day for our communication specialists, our firefighters, police officers, and most importantly, the residents of the city of Albany," said Gregory. "The value of having a facility of this quality cannot be understated. This modern state of the art technology will bring our level of public safety and public service to an even higher level. Our communication specialists will now have the best tools they need to dispatch resources to emergency calls throughout the city.”
Mayor Kathy Sheehan and Police Chief Eric Hawkins were also on hand for the first public safety press conference given in the new facility. Hawkins told reporters the crime rate continues its downward spiral across the city, but the percentages for shooting incidents and homicides are off the chart.
"Five homicides this year, all five of these homicides stemmed from interpersonal disputes," Hawkins said. "These are people who know each other, every single one of them. And then four out of the five homicides involved incidents that originated in private spaces, in homes and communities, in other community spaces, wherever they may be. But these are private spaces where these things are happening. These homicides are occurring in places that are outside of the reach of our officers, outside of the reach of the police department, but not outside of the reach of our trusted community partners."
Hawkins then introduced several of those partners whose roles are becoming more prominent in outreach to residents of troubled neighborhoods.
Aprecia “Preem” Cabey, the Chairperson of the Albany Community Land Trust, was accompanied by her staff for the Trusts' Gun Violence Prevention Program.
“Right now we work with a lot of people who are interested in beautifying their neighborhood," Cabey said. "Interested in creating more equity in their neighborhood. Interested in having opportunities to be understood and amplify their voice. When we have those types of opportunities, that's when those isolated spaces become different. When you have enriching opportunities for neighborhoods, that becomes a learning moment for the people involved in it helps to prevent or reduce situations in a closed space. If they have enrichment, if they have resources, if they have wraparound services, and nonprofits are working together and collaborating to be able to create a larger reach, that's going to be the first step in addressing what is going on here, especially these percentages. We can't get these percentages down without working with each other."
Black Nurses Coalition CEO Dr. Brenda Robinson says when people are healthier, they feel better, and they do better.
"Partnering with APD solidifies the fact that we know that most of the folks who are a large majority of the folks who interact with law enforcement are folks who look like me," Robinson said. "Along with that we can't separate health care, whether it's medical or mental health, from the violence that we see each and every day. So this particular partnership is awesome, because we definitely can see positive health outcomes. When you have APD interact in the community and they have a direct referral to the Black Nurses Coalition, that means that they have access to primary care, that means they have access to mental health. That means that they have access to a strong partner. They have access to cultural competent engagement. They have access to folks who are from the community."
Hawkins said his officers are doing a great job of taking guns off the streets, arresting people, and numbers for all of major incidents are going down.
"But people tell us that, you know, they don't care so much about these numbers. What they care about is what our trusted partners have talked about, what are we going to do about the perception of crime, the fear of crime, and about the interpersonal nature of some of the things that we're seeing,” said Hawkins.
Sheehan says “when we talk about gun violence, we are talking about trauma.”
"When we see that young people have been exposed to trauma, years later, they have, you know, hyper vigilance, anxiety, all kinds of issues that can result in further violence, further struggle with an inability to deescalate. And so this is a health care issue for those who are victims of and who witness violence in our city. And the work of everyone who is here today and the broader organizations that they represent, is critically important. It's an all-hands-on deck," Sheehan said.
Other partners include the Albany NAACP chapter and "Pastors on Patrol," a group of local clergy who accompany beat officers as they make their way through neighborhoods.
