The city of Saratoga Springs has signed an agreement with the New York state attorney general’s office to resolve complaints that city police and officials retaliated against Black Lives Matter protesters.
In 2024, the New York attorney general’s office released a report faulting city police and former city officials, including former Mayor Robin Dalton and former Police Chief Shane Crooks, for targeting Black Lives Matter protesters and violating their First Amendment rights.
According to the attorney general’s investigation, the city failed to correct officer misconduct related to retaliation against BLM protestors, and even referred Child Protective Services to the family of one BLM leader without cause.
Now, after years of investigations and negotiations, Saratoga Springs’ City Council has signed an Assurance of Discontinuance with the AG’s office. The agreement, which received unanimous support, prevents city police or officials from “engaging or attempting to engage” in activities that would violate the First Amendment right of demonstrators.
Ahead of the signing at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, resident Andrew Beatty expressed his frustration with the agreement.
“I’m disappointed because I searched for the words I should see. ‘Disciplined,’ ‘fired,’ ‘arrested’ and instead I see a recommendation to write a new policy that should instruct officers to not commit false arrests upon political rivals or by instruction from their bosses, you,” said Beatty.
The agreement outlines a number of policies the city will adopt to uphold First Amendment protected activities, including a four-tiered protest-response system, as well as a requirement to train at least one “protest liaison.”
The AG’s office will also appoint an oversight officer to review arrests made during demonstrations.
Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll, a Democrat who has Republican backing, emphasized that in signing the agreement, the city doesn’t necessarily accept the attorney general’s factual findings.
“I appreciate the collaboration of the OAG throughout the process and I believe that executing this AOD is in the best interests of the city of Saratoga Springs. It’s also important to note that the AOD clearly states that the city does not admit to the factual findings of the OAG,” said Coll.
Following the meeting, Republican Mayor John Safford celebrated the agreement.
“What started out as an adversarial relationship has turned out to be positive. I think everyone has learned from this, I think our police department is way better — you know not way better, they’ve always been great, but have learned some things. I think this is all really, really good, positive stuff for the city,” said Safford.
Notably, the agreement upholds the city’s use of declaration demonstrations — essentially protest permits that residents must apply for prior to taking to the streets. Coll says the city is working to remove the jail time associated with failing to acquire a declaration.
Still, Saratoga BLM co-founder Lexis Figuereo has no plans to apply for any demonstration declarations.
“The amendments were set up by the people who founded this country and it never included asking permission from the police or asking permission from city officials who you’re protesting against if you have the right to protest. It’s a safety issue as well. They say it’s actually safer for us to allow the police to know what we’re doing but according to this investigation it’s actually the opposite,” said Figuereo.
Figuereo adds he believes the agreement doesn’t go far enough in holding the city accountable.
In a statement, New York Attorney General Letitia James said the agreement is a “significant step toward rebuilding trust between the Saratoga Springs community and its police force and will ensure everyone is able to safely express their beliefs.”
The city has three months to comply, and the agreement will remain in effect through 2029. Coll says it will cost the city roughly $200,000 a year to comply, due, in part, to the requirement to hire an internal affairs officer.
