Saratoga County board accepts panel suggestions

Body cameras, training among the requests

The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to accept the 10 recommendations from its committee on police reform.

The recommendations, many of which “encourage” but do not require the Saratoga County Sheriff ’s Office to provide such things as bias and de-escalation training, ask the sheriff to explore the development a body camera and in-car video program.

However, the county’s Executive Order 203 Compliance Group, created to comply with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s executive order to “promote community engagement and foster trust, fairness and legitimacy, and to address any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color” only asked the Board of Supervisors to “consider funding” body and in-car cameras.

Board Chairman Todd Kusnierz said it was an important first step for the county and the sheriff’s office.

“We wanted to find updated approaches to policing in Saratoga County to ensure that our officers could do their jobs as effectively as possible while also making sure that our entire community feels safe and protected, and I believe this report and its recommendations will help us do that,” Kusnierz said.

The group, chaired by Dr. Michael Prezioso, who is the commissioner of the county’s Mental Health Center, was criticized early on for being a majority white group with only one person of color seated at the table. The group, again with the exception of one, were either heads of county departments or elected county officials who either have worked or knew county Sheriff Michael Zurlo.

On Tuesday, Zurlo said he appreciated the recommendations.

“We ... look forward to working them into our existing policies on policing here in Saratoga County,” Zurlo said. “The safety and wellbeing of all residents is of the upmost importance to us, and we believe that these new guidelines and input from community stakeholders will ensure that we can continue to do our jobs effectively moving forward.”

Aside from the “encourage” recommendations, one that included data collection on race and ethnicity, the 10 also listed facilitating and establishing “an advisory committee to seek public input and community involvement in reviewing policies and procedures used by the sheriff’s office beyond April 1.”

A Saratoga County spokesperson said a timeline for implementing the measures will be established.