Sheriff ’s Office grilled on reforms
Saratoga County officials question effort to comply
The Saratoga County Undersheriff ’s comments last month that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order on police reform “is really written toward police agencies and not Sheriff ’s offices” is leading some to fear county law enforcement is not going to comply with the directive.
At a Sept. 8 meeting of the county ’s Public Safety Committee, Undersheriff Richard Castle told the supervisors in attendance that the Sheriff ’s policies and procedures “are comprehensive and meet all the requirements.” He also said that “no one can argue with the level of community engagement that the Sheriff undertakes himself, as well as staff being involved in community events.”
But internal updates and showing up to community events is not enough to comply with the Governor’s Executive Order 203 that is meant to address systemic racism in policing, Saratoga Springs Supervisor Tara Gaston said. Nor, she said, are the Sheriff ’s Office current plans that include doing an internal review, meeting with stakeholders individually, then making its recommendation on police reforms to the full Board of Supervisors.
Cuomo’s order requires county elected officials to convene a body of police and stakeholders to examine use-of-force policies, systemic racial bias, implicit bias and de-escalation practices, among other things. The process must include public comment. And it all must be done by April 1. If the agency does not comply, it risks losing state funding.
“I have significant concerns that we are not in fact meeting the requirements outlined by exec
utive order 203,” Gaston said. “I have stated these concerns several times to the chair of the public safety committee. If we lose state funding, the county will not function.”
Northumberland Supervisor Willard Peck, who heads up the public safety committee, said Gaston has nothing to worry about.
“We are most of the way there because they (Sheriff ’s Office) have been updating policy and procedures all along,” Peck said. “It’s not the end-all, but it’s a good starting point.”
Peck also said that Board of Supervisors Chair Preston Allen will appoint stakeholders soon. He said they will include the district attorney, faith-based leaders and others mentioned in the order. He was not sure if any leaders from communities of color will be included.
Yet the order says the committee must include “members of the community, with emphasis in areas with high numbers of police and community interactions.”
Allen did not respond to a Times Union request for comment on potential appointments. Neither Sheriff Michael Zurlo nor Castle responded to Times Union’s questions on the matter of compliance.
The New York Sheriff ’s Association’s Associate Counsel Alex Wilson said that his organization has consulted with the county ’s sheriff ’s departments around the state to give them guidance on compliance. However, he said he could not comment on Castle’s view on compliance.
The Sheriff ’s Office approach to reform is also upsetting some in the community. Terrence Diggory, co-coordinator of the Saratoga Immigration Coalition, said the county is “clearly leaving out the process of public input” and that it shouldn’t be “left up entirely to the Sheriff ’s Office.”
“There needs to be an open process where the community is notified and public comment is being received,” said Diggory, who is a member of Saratoga Springs Police Reform Task Force, which is conducting open meetings in which public comment is a large part. “It’s the best way to really build trust and the county board is totally bypassing the process.”
He and others said now is the time for the county to demonstrate good faith toward compliance after it was roundly criticized for its actions on July 30 in Saratoga Springs.
That night, Sheriff ’s deputies in tactical gear shot pepper spray pellets at Black Lives Matter protesters.
A number of citizens registered their concerns about the Sheriff ’s Office reform plans with the
Board of Supervisors in letters the were mentioned at their Sept. 9 meeting.
John Brueggemann, a member of the Saratoga Springs City School District’s Board of Education, wrote that as a result of the July 30 incident, “trust in local law enforcement has reached a low point ... I believe this was a stunning level of bad judgment
on the part of the Sheriff ’s office. I urge you to review this department.”
The Rev. Joe Cleveland of Wilton also wrote to the Board of Supervisors, telling them a review of the department’s systematic racism and the treatment of immigrants “is long overdue and needs to be attended to with a serious commitment to listen especially to those of our community who have been historically on the receiving end of aggressive policing.”
Diggory said it’s also troubling that at the same public safety meeting County Attorney Stephen Dorsey said once Allen appoints stakeholders, the county may want to consider challenging the legality of the executive order.
However, guidance put out by the Governor’s Office states that “If the local electeds are unable or unwilling to manage the collaborative, the state can select an appropriate convener for that jurisdiction.”
Gaston said she doesn’t want that to happen.
“I would hate (for) Saratoga County to be in the news for refusing to analyze (its) own processes,” she said. “Some say let the Sheriff not comply because this is a way to defund the police. But no state aid threatens everything, social services, public health, Code Blue.” Peck isn’t worried. “It’s going to get done,” he said.