Troy Mayor Carmella Mantello and the police chief say several public safety initiatives are under way.
Police Chief Dan DeWolf and Mayor Mantello gave an update Monday on public safety initiatives including Project Sentinel, a group of law enforcement professionals in the city who can be deployed throughout the city with a focus on quality of life and violent crime. DeWolf says Project Sentinel debuted in June following the mayor's request for a new street crime program.
“They work hand in hand with our Special Operations Section, which is our narcotics and gun section, as well as our community police unit and our detective bureau, and to date we've had 59 arrests," DeWolf said. "So this is only started June 11, and they don't go out every day. They only go out occasionally, we'll activate them. So they've had 59 arrests, 46 felonies and 32 misdemeanors, three violations and 13 warrant arrests. And they seized a quantity of cocaine, heroin, MDMA, ecstasy and fentanyl. They've also seized five illegal handguns and recovered two stolen vehicles. But in addition to that, they've provided a sense of safety and security to the areas that they're in.”
Mantello notes that code enforcement and neighborhood outreach have played a significant role in improving police-community relations, and there's more to come.
“We literally get tips all throughout the day, whether it be illegal activity, prostitution," said Mantello. "You know, we're hitting hot spots, I gotta tell you, up in Lansingburgh, there's two hot spots. Sentinel continues to work with the other divisions’ departments to tackle that. North Central, we've been fairly consistently semi-quiet in North Central. We've tackled some blighted buildings in North Central. It's helped with squatters, etc. South Troy, some hot spots down there. But I can't thank our police department enough. I can't thank our residents enough. It truly is a partnership.”
Mantello says 300 violations were issued last week as city employees from different departments swept through troubled neighborhoods in an effort to thwart illegal activities.
DeWolf says a variety of programs implemented since early summer have made the Collar City cleaner and safer, adding the city is making a push to re-invigorate the SafeCam registry by introducing a camera assistance initiative.
“We're finding that many times people, out of no fault of their own, really didn't know how to set up their cameras properly, or didn't know how to use them, or didn't have the cameras directed in the best place that they could direct them to help deter crime or to help catch activity," said DeWolf. "So our evidence technicians and detectives said, ‘hey, you know, let's, let's create this new Camera Assistance Program, and we'll go and we'll help people set up their camera programs better, so that they know how to properly use them, and that the cameras are facing in the right direction’ and so on. So that's a free program. You can get a hold of us through our Troypd.org website, or you can call it Detective Bureau, and they're more than happy to come out and assist you.”
DeWolf and Mantello say proactive policing will continue. Mantello is a first-term Republican who has pledged to improve city streets, cleanliness and safety.
