A seventh member will be joining Albany’s Community Police Review Board (CPRB), the panel announced Monday.
The city’s Common Council appointed Albany City School District assistant teacher and coach James Chaney to fill a vacancy on the board, which is responsible for independently investigating allegations of police misconduct. Chaney has experience working with students in general education, special education, athletics and in-school suspension, according to a CPRB press release.
“His background in education will be an asset to the board as we continue our mission of promoting transparency, accountability and meaningful community engagement,” the board wrote in its announcement. “We are excited to have him join the CPRB and look forward to his contributions in service to the residents of Albany.”
The appointment is the Common Council’s second of the month after the body tapped community organizer Lillian Garland to fill a seat.
Chaney and Garland will be joining a board beset by recent turmoil. Four members resigned last October over disagreements about how much control the city should exert over the board, and several other members have resigned since then. So far this year, three of the group’s six monthly meetings – including a meeting scheduled for June 11 – have been cancelled due to a lack of quorum, according to the CPRB’s website.
The nine-member board still has two vacant seats, both of which must be filled by the Common Council. New member applications can be found on the board’s website.
