KINGSTON SPOTLIGHT ON COPS
Forum on city police policy and community relations becomes wide-ranging discussion
A forum on police and community relations in the city of Kingston sparked a wide-ranging dialogue between the public and members of the Kingston Police Department and city police commission.
For more than two hours Monday evening, the public had the opportunity to meet with police representatives at City Hall and question them on any and all topics. Most of the questions focused on the training police officers receive, what the police commission does, how commissioners are chosen, and what policies and procedures govern the police department.
At least one member of the public, though, felt the conversation was stifled because of the presence of police officers.
During the second half of the forum, which was a questionand-answer session, resident Liz Baker asked how open the pub-
lic could feel about questioning the police when officers were in the room. Her question generated shows of support from other attendees.
“How comfortable is somebody supposed to be talking about the police with the police here?” Baker said. “That can be intimidating for some.”
She said the city should consider the community the next time it holds such a forum.
There were several members of the Kingston Police Department in attendance, both in and out of uniform. Some spent the first half of the forum meeting in small group sessions with the public to answer questions on such topics as training,
the use of body cameras and policies and procedures.
Baker said she heard some of the officers laughing and making jokes while the public was asking questions. She said she also told her son, Fabian Marshall, to stay away from the forum because the officer he has a complaint against was present.
Marshall has filed a complaint stating he was tased more than 20 times by city officers in September 2015 after they mistook him for a suspect in a reported assault.
Kingston Police Chief Egidio Tinti, who also serves as a nonvoting member on the police commission, said even if the uniformed officers were not present, he is still a cop and listens to the public’s concerns. He said he never turns his back on any member of the community and that the forum
was part of efforts to work through problems brought to the commission’s attention.
“I believe in everything that this department is doing,” Tinti said. “I trust those officers back there.”
Baker, who asked the final question of the evening, responded by saying that was why she did not trust the chief.
Other attendees used the forum to solicit assistance from the police chief and commission members regarding personal issues and complaints. At one point, Tinti provided his office number to a resident who said police had not fully investigated her claim of being assaulted by a fellow patient in the psychiatric department at HealthAlliance Hospital’s Mary’s Avenue Campus.
Callie Jayne, who has worked with Citizen Action
of New York, questioned how the city investigates complaints against the police department and whether reports the commission has received regarding the use of force have led to conclusions that the incidents were justified.
Tinti said the Internal Affairs division collects all information regarding cases in which officers use force or in which an injury occurs and provides it to the police commission.
Jayne said some residents are finding the investigations have not gone beyond that point and that they are being required to provide their own witnesses.
Commission member Nina Dawson, a former member of the Kingston Common Council, said there have been questionable uses of force by members of the police department.
Mayor Steve Noble was
asked during the forum to describe what the police commission does and how its members are appointed. He said the commission plays a policy role, but also an operational supervisory role over the police department.
The commission’s members are appointed by the mayor and serve four-year terms, Noble said. He said the commission can and does vote on policy for the police department, and it also is involved in the hiring of police officers.
Commission members said they can recommend disciplinary action against police officers when complaints are made but that officers have the right to take a matter to arbitration if they disagree with the recommendation.
There also were questions regarding the use of body cameras worn by officers.
One resident said there seemed to be a lot of discretion by officers about when the cameras are used.
Tinti said the city looked at many different policies and guidelines for using the cameras and is working on its own policy. He said there is some discretion, but if an officer turns off a camera, he or she must justify doing so.
“This is still developing technology,” Tinti said.
The chief said footage from the cameras is included in information given to the police commission when complaints are made or when an officer uses force. Tinti also said it is an internal policy to have a supervisor review camera footage of at least one officer per shift and make a report.
The Kingston Police Department currently has 66 full-time officers.