Statements bring strong reactions
Some candidates for city office and social justice advocates say a public meeting and press conference led Monday by a senior police official about recent violent incidents in the city was “political,” “dividing ” and contained “dog-whistle racist rhetoric.”
At the meeting, Assistant Chief of Police John Catone said that people are coming to the city to provoke police because police have been labeled racists — and that he will use all of his connections from what he described as his family’s 130-plus-year history in the city “to stop (the) narrative.”
Catone appeared at the news conference while Chief Shane Crooks is on vacation
and offline; he’s camping in the wilderness.
During the hour-long press conference, which was also a public meeting with many residents asking questions, he and Commissioner of Public Safety Robin Dalton also blamed Saturday morning ’s violence, which led to a stabbing and shots fired on Caroline Street, on Albany “gangs.” Dalton, who is running for mayor, said suspects are coming to the city to get “double the price” for drugs and said Saratoga investigators are working with Albany police to arrest suspects that were caught on camera.
Albany police, however, have not confirmed that they are working with their Saratoga Springs colleagues. City police also would not share Saturday’s incident report with the Times Union, saying that the melee is still under investigation and that the document must be obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request.
Advocates for racial justice and police reform are upset that their efforts are being blamed for recent violent incidents, which also includes a band of teens allegedly picking fights in Congress Park. Kristen Dart, a member of the city Police Reform Task Force, said Monday’s meeting did damage.
“As a multigenerational resident of Saratoga Springs, I would hope that city leadership — especially the Police Department — would be focused on real-time solutions to crowd control and instances of violence, instead of using dog-whistle racist rhetoric that fuels conflict instead of calms it,” Dart said.
Black Lives Matter local leader Lexis Figuereo agreed, saying Catone’s comments were “insane.”
“We don’t condone any violence,” Figuereo said. “We don’t like anyone to get beat or hit or anything like that. We have no involvement with pushing people to do violent crimes. The last few months, we’ve only done community events with families and little kids. It’s very disheartening.”
James Montagnino, a former prosecutor in Westchester County who’s running as a Democrat for commissioner of public safety in the city, also attended Monday’s meeting. “It’s unfortunate that the police are blaming people who just want to be treated fairly,” he said.
Montagnino said the meeting was used to push a political agenda that blamed the violence on businesses, state lawmakers, the school district, the media, parents and candidates for City Council.
“It was political promotion in the guise of information,” he said, adding that Dalton and Catone need a better understanding of the complexities of new justice reform laws.
He also said that no candidates in the city are calling to “defund” the police. “I’d like to know who he is talking about,” Montagnino said about the assistant chief.
Ron Kim, a former city commissioner of public safety who is running for mayor, said he too heard “a lot of blaming going on.”
“You aren’t going to solve a problem by pointing fingers,” the Democrat said. “You are going to do it by calmly sitting down with the businesses in the Caroline Street area and working out a better security plan so that residents, patrons, owners and police are safer.”
Kim said he will “seek a cooperative relationship with businesses in this important area of downtown to increase security so everyone can safely enjoy our beautiful city.”
Catone and Dalton have called for bars to alert each other and the police when they encounter someone who is belligerent. Dalton said the bar owners “bear some responsibility here.”
The Republican candidate running against Dalton, who has an independent line, also weighed in. In a statement, Heidi Owen West said that “we need to end the blaming and threats to local businesses.”
“It’s only further dividing us,” said West, who said she has full confidence in city police. “Yesterday’s press conference amplified the need to problem-solve and unite to prioritize the safety of our city. Law enforcement, business owners, civic organizations and residents have to work together on this because each plays a critical role in the solution of the growing public safety concerns.”
Tracey Labelle, a Republican who is running for commissioner of public safety, said she “commends” and “stands with the Saratoga Springs Police Department unequivocally in restoring safety and order to our streets.”
“I want my kids to grow up in the bustling and friendly city that I did,” she said. “We will combat the culture of disrespect that has been allowed to go on far too long and bring back the humanity and pride that has always brought us closer together.”
Mayor Meg Kelly did not return a Times Union phone call to discuss the matter. The Times Union also reached out to Dalton and Catone on Tuesday about public reaction, but did not hear back.
But it’s not just the recent violence that Monday’s meeting addressed. Catone said that the Black Lives Matter protest that blocked Broadway for hours last fall did not result in any arrests because the protesters were armed with “baseball bats, knives and some carrying guns.”
Figuereo said that the protesters did carry bats, something he said they no longer do, but that no one was armed with a gun.
“There is no proof of anyone having guns, whatsoever,” Figuereo said. “They are lying.”
Dalton also said that the protesters in September “were quite violent.” Again Figuereo said that was not true.
“Is talking on a bullhorn violent?” Figuereo asked. “They are trying to turn us into terrorists.”
Last spring, dozens of advocates for social justice pressed the city to adopt the reforms from the city’s Police Reform Task Force. The City Council did not adopt the more sweeping reforms, including a civilian review board.
Saratoga County’s Upstate Conservative Coalition put out a statement about Monday’s meeting. It said that the media, not the police, have made racism an issue in Saratoga Springs.
Daesha Harris, a member of the Police Reform Task Force, said Catone is using fear tactics and red herrings in an “attempt to distract from a perennial resort town dilemma” and dismissing people’s “valid experiences of discrimination.”
“Publicly threatening community members with the force of ‘every single connection (his) family has made over the last 130 years,’ the assistant chief incurs the literal definition of oppression that upholds systemic racism,” Harris said. “This crass use of power is exactly why social justice work in Saratoga is so important.”