by Kassadee Bradshaw | April 11, 2021 7:00 am
FULTON – The City of Fulton will now begin to implement changes to the workings of its police department after adopting[1] the police reform plan proposed by a reform committee.
In June 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order, “New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative,” with the purpose of directing law enforcement agencies to work on their trust and fairness within their communities, including addressing any racial bias.
The executive order required local governments to assemble stakeholders in the community and discuss the public safety needs within that community.
The list of stakeholders on the committee can be found in the plan’s document, Page 5. The link to the document can be found here[2].
“We had a diverse sector of the community participate in the stakeholder meetings. We listened to concerns and ideas and we learned where we could enhance our policing efforts,” Mayor Deana Michaels said. “In the end we have a strong program that is intended to improve community policing, provide more positive engagement in the community and introduce several new services. I’m proud of what we delivered and know it could not have been possible without the input from the stakeholders and police department.”
The committee met several times via Zoom video calls and the city reached out to the community with a survey to get their feedback, which was taken into consideration when producing the plan. Westbrook said while there were some negative responses, overall, the response from the committee and the community was positive. The survey responses can be found at the bottom portion of the plan.
It also gave committee members an opportunity to learn more about aspects of the police department and the different types of situations they are dispatched to.
“I was so pleased with our community members, with our business owners that all served on the committee. What they brought to the table was fantastic,” said Don Patrick Jr., committee member and first ward councilor. “I really got quite the education from the police department. We definitely have a great police department… We think we’ve got a great plan that’s submitted to the state and I think everybody did a great job, and we’re pretty happy with it.”
One of the changes the police department plans to make is to recover its accreditation status with the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. The department lost his accreditation in 2018 after having it for 20 years. Although the department lost its accreditation, its policies were based on guidelines from that program, according to the plan.
The department will apply to be accredited within one year from April 1, 2021.
One of the biggest changes also includes assigning a road patrol supervisor to each of the six wards and its councilors within the city to coordinate with and have a direct line of contact to help meet the wards’ specific needs.
“In the past, what would happen is the councilor would call the desk or anyone would call the desk and every time you’re going to get a different officer,” Police Chief Craig Westbrook said. “So this is a direct contact. If a constituent has a problem that they approach their councilor with, the councilor would then email their contact in this program.”
Westbrook said they are also looking at different ways to address mental health calls, such as utilizing different programs and resources available in the area after being dispatched.
“Some of these [calls] you may find out it’s not a criminal issue, it’s a mental health issue,” Westbrook said. “I think some of them will still need police involvement depending on the condition they’re in, but there’s others where could just be someone who’s having a bad day… They don’t necessarily need a police officer, they need mental health professionals.”
Other changes the department will make include:
“It’s always good to review things and look at ways to make them better and more efficient,” Westbrook said.
A summary of the implemented changes can be found Page 65 through 70.
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