The Albany Community Police Review Board says it is looking forward to the return of Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox.
Sworn in Monday by Mayor Kathy Sheehan, Cox replaces Eric Hawkins, who resigned after more than six years to take a similar position in his native Michigan.
Veneilya Harden is Albany Community Police Review Board Vice Chair:
"When I joined the board nine years ago, Chief Cox was getting ready to leave, so I had about three to six months with him before he had left APD," said Harden. "During the time that I was that I spent with him while on the board, he was very present. He was in the community. He was very much a collaborator, more than any other chief that I've ever seen. And not just with the board, just his presence in the community. And I really think that it's what we need for him to come back and help get things back on track, because things have definitely changed, and not necessarily for the better in terms of community and policing."
The board had a rocky relationship with Hawkins. Frustrated that police were not honoring its subpoenas, the CPRB filed a lawsuit in December 2023 in an effort to force compliance by members of the Albany Police Department and two police unions. Harden thinks Hawkins was not in his element in Albany.
"He did come and meet the board. He did sit on panels with the board to meet the community, but it appears that he may have gotten negative reactions from his command staff, and from that he, he barely began to participate. So it went from barely to rarely to not at all," Harden said.
The body complained that officers failed to appear after subpoenas were issued and later re-issued as part of its investigation procedure. It drew national attention.
Cox, an Albany native and 23-year veteran of the force, previously served as Assistant Chief of Police, Deputy Chief of Police, and as chief from 2015 until 2017, when he left for a position at the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program with LEAD's National Support Bureau. He's ready to renew his partnership with the CPRB.
"I think first of all is to get to know them again," Cox said. "When I left the majority of the board members, I knew on a first name basis, so it was easy when one of them called me, or when I needed to just pick up the phone and say, 'Hey, we had an incident. Hey, we have issues. Hey, here's what you guys need. I'll make sure Professional Standards gets that to you.' So having familiarity, having relationships, those are what makes things easier, and especially in a day to day basis. Then when a crisis hits, it makes things even easier, because the crisis is going to be hard enough to deal with, but if we actually know each other, and if we actually trust each other, then when we sit down and say, 'Hey, A happened, and I'm telling you what we know from our investigation.' People are going to trust that."
Harden praised Cox's consistency, accountability and transparency.
"He was collaborative, he listened, and he also used his influence as as a leader, to to make some change. You know, we couldn't get local law J passed without the people voting it in and which the Common Council was in full agreement with. So we needed the people to do that. So I'm very hopeful with and encouraged that with him coming in and understanding the Albany community, he has an understanding of the police Review Board, it's not new to him. That was something that Chief Hawkins didn't have the privilege of knowing about when he came in," said Harden.
Among other things, Local Law J of 2021 gave the board sovereignty to conduct independent investigations into alleged incidents of police misconduct, greater access to police audio and video recordings, 1 percent of the police department budget and subpoena power.
The board next meets December 12 at Albany Law School. As it moves under city hall's wing the panel has a new home at 175 Central Avenue and future public meetings will be held in a location to be announced.
