The Albany Community Police Review Board held a special meeting Monday night in the Common Council Chambers at City Hall.
The CPRB has been engaged in a rocky transition, moving out of its Albany Law School base after more than two decades, to operate under the wing of Albany government at City Hall. Monday night's meeting centered around a 9-month delay between the time the City of Albany and its Common Council received Government Law Center transition materials and those records being made available to the CPRB.
Common Council Public Safety Chair Tom Hoey said "I am here tonight to express my concern that the main mission of the CPRB, the timely and independent review of community complaints and alleged police misconduct, is not being fulfilled. I recognize that there is friction due to the transfer of responsibilities from Albany Law School to the Common Council, but this friction is not insurmountable."
Board chair Antoinette Santos says collaboration between the city and the CPRB requires commitments from both sides.
"We have faced several challenges, such as the withholding of GLC transitional materials, the unilateral action on our independent Council's contract, and the issuance of RFPs without the CPRB’s formal authorization. Additionally, the city has not acted upon the resolution passed by the board on July 31 collaboration requires both parties to be committed to transparency and accountability... We want the public to know directly that the board has no desire to create unnecessary conflict with the city, but the community deserves a complaint process free from city interference, to ensure that we remain an institution of integrity," said Santos.
The CPRB says the city obtained a portable hard drive containing the Government Law Center materials in December 2024. Hoey notes that drive was uploaded to a city website accessible to all CPRB members, however, they claimed they couldn't access it. Hoey says the city IT department made a copy now "awaiting pickup" at the City Clerk's office. The CPRB is insisting it be given the actual hard drive and not a digital copy of its contents.
Hoey, who finds the delays frustrating, says cases aren't being heard as the panel continues to struggle with staffing issues. It also remains caught up in legal tangles as it tries to resolve an expired contract with its independent counsel, a law firm that helped CPRB navigate litigation. He's hopeful that the stalemate over the transfer of information will be resolved by a meeting scheduled for October 8th.
