The Albany Common Council has voted unanimously to bring the Community Police Review Board under city oversight come January.
The CPRB had been searching for a new home since Albany Law School decided not to renew its contract with the panel. When other options fell through, the board looked to City Hall. 15th ward councilor Tom Hoey chairs the Common Council's Public Safety Committee.
"They were underneath the Albany Law School payroll system, the Albany Law School email system. You know everything, space is at the Albany Law School. And the Albany Law School had only taken on the role temporarily, and they finally said, ‘Look, we need you to jump off and pick up something else.’ So we had put out RFPs, and we really got nobody to respond. So the best thing that we thought to do would be to bring them underneath the city," said Hoey.
6th Ward Councilor Gabriella Romero says folding the CPRB into city government will ensure the panel is fully funded.
"Bringing the CPRB into the city is a smart one for efficient transparency, but also for our budget, in the sense that we'll be saving money in the long term by having them as a city agency," Romero said.
Although the board has had its differences with Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s administration, Hoey is confident there will be a smooth transition from Albany Law School to City Hall.
"We will be hiring the operations manager, and the day-to-day business will be handled by the operations manager, similar to what we do with the City Clerk at the common council," Hoey said.
10th Ward Councilor Owusu Anane says the move will underscore support for the law that created the Police Review Board.
"I believe that with the passage of local law J receiving 76% of support from the residents of the city of Albany when they voted on it, it's something that they wanted to see. They wanted to see the CRPB have the opportunity to hold our police department accountable when needed, but also to show to the community that sometimes there was no harm that was done by the police department," said Anane. "So to build that community trust. For example, there was an incident that took place in Madison Avenue Park when two young kids were actually attacking a police officer, and when you looked at the body camera from our angle, it looked like the police [officer] did what he was trained to do, and that gave confidence to community that the CPRB and the police department were doing their job[s].”
Hoey emphasizes that although the board will answer to the common council, it will remain sovereign. "We don't want people to think that, ‘oh, it's part of the city now and the mayor has some kind of control.’ No, it's still going to be an independent review board," said Hoey.
CPRB Investigative Chair John Levendosky says the council's role will be one of oversight.
"So it is a check and balance kind of aspect," Levendosky said. 'The mayor does appoint the police chief and controls that aspect of it, it wouldn't really be pertinent to have us under that same exact umbrella in the city. So having us under a different umbrella within the city structure, would be more appropriate and more independent. So that's what we're striving for."
Levendosky sees the change as a positive step. The board, which currently retains outside investigators to assist in its caseload, will now be able to hire its own.
"We're all working really hard to make the board functional as we move into 2025, under the umbrella of the city as a city agency. I had a meeting with the New York City CPRB. We're working with them to provide training for the new investigators," said Levondosky, who adds the board will continue to livestream meetings and keep operations transparent. There's no indication yet as to where the panel will physically conduct its business.
Councilors expect Mayor Kathy Sheehan will sign the legislation soon. City Hall did not reply to an email seeking comment.
