After Albany County officials took criticism from Albany’s mayor following teen violence over July 4th , county officials are now vowing to expand their youth services and supports.
On Friday, Albany Police said a 17-year-old victim who was shot in the head on July 4th died from his injuries Thursday evening. This was the latest news after 10 people were shot and a building burned to the ground in three different July 4 incidents involving teens in the city of Albany. In the aftermath, Albany’s Mayor Kathy Sheehan criticized county officials for not doing enough to support youth programming meant to prevent violence.
During a special Thursday night joint meeting of the Albany County Legislature’s Law and Public Safety committees, Deputy County Executive Michael McLaughlin pushed back against Sheehan’s criticism: "I don't understand the statement, and it is not true."
Still, during the nearly two-hour session, McLaughlin said while there are several programs in play and noted that the county has spent millions on a variety of mentoring, prevention and recreational programs geared toward young people, more can be done. "The number of programs has expanded significantly, and we want to continue to expand it significantly," said McLaughlin.
Thursday’s meeting was set to address criticisms leveled by Sheehan that suggested Albany County has not fully taken advantage of state funding available under the state’s Raise the Age Law, which includes a provision that New York State budget annual funding to pay for programs and services to support adolescents and help keep them out of the justice system.
However, since the law has been on the books, only 39 percent of the $1.71 billion that the state has appropriated has actually been claimed, according to a May report by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
And Albany County has received about $10 million in Raise the Age Funding since 2018.
During the meeting, participants agreed to continue conversations, with officials pledging openness to add new programs to the existing mix in an effort to help steer young people onto better paths away from the law enforcement and legal systems.
Separate from the funding issues, officials Thursday questioned whether the law was having unintended consequences. Prior to the passage of Raise the Age, 16 and 17-year-olds who broke the law were treated as adults. Assistant District Attorney Nick Pittari says the resulting change in attitude among young offenders has been startling.
"They're telling the officers like 'nothing's going to happen to me.' A lot of times adults are giving guns to the children. They're having them steal cars so they can commit crimes. They have the children do the shooting, stuff like that. I mean, it is anecdotal, but oftentimes they are saying, you know, 'nothing's going to happen to me, you can't do anything,'" Pittari said.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple reiterated changes in attitude he’s seen.
"These kids on the street don't care. They don't care about us. They feel they're going to walk right away. And honestly, it's not just the kids. The adults are going to too," Apple said. "There's something problematic in our community when we arrest a guy for a loaded handgun and he walks out of court the next morning. And the only reason I say the next morning is because we're doing pre-arraignment detainees, so at least they get a taste of it. In most places they're walking out right then and there, and it's the same as a young individual. They don't care. They don't have any fear. They know nothing is gonna happen. And I know there's a big emphasis on programs, but I'd also like to sit down and have a bunch of people look at what these people that are getting 100 grand, 150 grand, where's the data from your program, just show me what's going on with that 100 grand. Are we in fact, touching people, or is this salaries? Or what is it? Are we getting to the youth?"
County Leg Chair Joanne Cunningham says one takeaway from Thursday is that there needs to be policy tweaks to Raise The Age and other laws. She adds that housing issues, joblessness, substance abuse must be factored into the discussion.
"These are a myriad of complex problems, and we are not going to there's not a one solution that, 'oh, gee, if the county just spent $10 million on doing XYZ,' or, you know, 'if Craig [Apple] had another million dollars in his budget', we fixed the whole thing. That is not, that's not the case. These are complex problems, and they need a multi faceted, county wide approach that involves collaborative, collaborative work with all of our municipal partners, including the city of Albany and we will do that work," said Cunningham.
