The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
READY FOR CHANGE
City of Oneida passes police department reform plan
ONEIDA, N.Y. » The City of Oneida passed its police reform plan during a vote this past week. Major reform highlights include committing to community engagement and mental health resources.
Other improvements will be encompassed in the department’s pursuit of New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation, which will raise the force’s policy and procedural standards, among other things, explained Oneida Police Chief John Little.
The benefits of this won’t be immediately seen, but first steps are already underway to meet the accreditation, and the department has set a goal for accreditation completion in one year’s time, according to their reform plan.
During an open discussion on the plan, Councilor
Jim Coulthart expressed his concern that although the police department was making honorable statements for change, there seemed to be not enough accountability written into the reform plan. He remarked that he doesn’t want this plan to get put on a shelf, and then things go back to the way they were before.
“I see there are some deadlines and deliverables for various things in the proposal. I’m just curious about specifics in terms of things like commitment towards community involvement and partnerships within the school district. That’s a noble statement, but exactly what does that mean?,” Coulthart asked.
Quantifying abstract goals like that of the Oneida Police Department (OPD) is difficult, Little admitted, and he didn’t want to put a cap on anything in their reform plan, he said.
“At the end of the day, we’re accountable to the
community that we serve,” Little said. The plan outlines the police’s commitment to various improvements, and the community’s feedback is the best way to gauge whether or not they’ve been successful and held up their end of the deal, he said. Little also expressed to Coulthart that the police department would keep the city informed of their progress.
The police’s commitments have already been set in motion, Little said, from listening to community feedback to dedicating officers
to Crisis Intervention Training through the Madison County Mental Health Department. This training is still being prepared by the mental health department, Little said, but law enforcement should be getting involved in the near future.
“I think it’s important. I think being able to talk to people who are in [a] mental health crisis, it’s not always the easiest thing for officers...we’re not mental health counselors, we’re not therapists, but what is im
portant is being able to talk in the initial encounter and then offer the services or divert off to where it should be,” Little stated.
He told the Dispatch that the OPD has discussed with the mental health department about the possibility of dispatching mental health professionals to situations that aren’t exigent circumstances, meaning that if there are no persons in imminent danger, a non-law enforcement professional may be able to step in and provide service instead of a police officer. This is still just an idea with no plan to implement it just yet.
Showcasing further strides toward improvement, Little added, “I’m happy to announce that last week I sent two of our members to accreditation training.”
Accreditation, which forces the police to adhere to a higher standard to maintain that status, also has an added perk when it comes to lowering liability, Little said.
The police chief and other officers have been involved in a spectrum of discussions with residents on various city issues for the last several months, and the OPD has developed a relationship with the local Neighborhood Watch program. “I think I’ve tried to keep a very open-door policy with everyone, and I’ve met with downtown groups. I’ve met with...stakeholders, and we’ve gotten a lot of feedback,” Little continued.
“We took a lot of the public’s input both from online and we had a hearing where they could come express any questions or concerns, and a lot of it was very positive, but it’s clear that they want community involvement. They want to be able to talk to the police and tell them where their issues are,” Little stated.
Adding to their commitment to mental health resources, Little said the OPD will continue to partner with the Liberty Resources Mobile Crisis Team.
“When we get to a place and [a person] may not be a danger to themselves, but they’re clearly in crisis, then we can call them and they’ll actually come out and make contact and offer some services or see if they can address the issues that are happening right then and there,” he explained.
Overall, the police chief said he looks forward to getting more involved with the community.
“It starts from every
“I think I’ve tried to keep a very open-door policy with everyone, and I’ve met with downtown groups. I’ve met with... stakeholders, and we’ve gotten a lot of feedback.”
— Oneida Police Chief John Little
interaction that the officers have with the public. That’s not to say that the public is going to always be happy with what our response is, but at least being in a mode where we can communicate, even if it doesn’t turn out that they’re happy with it, we’re still communicating and we’re still listening, and that’s the most important.”
The police reform plan was passed with all councilors voting “yes,” except Coulthart who abstained.