Public Safety Committee

COMMON COUNCIL MEETING Public Safety Thomas Hoey, Chair DATE: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25 2022 LOCATION: City of Albany Common Council Chambers, 2nd Floor TIME: 5:30 PM PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: YES TOPICS OF DISCUSSION:  ORDINANCE 49.121.22 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PART 3 (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) OF CHAPTER 42 (DEPARTMENTS AND COMMISSIONS) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ALBANY IN RELATION TO POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENTS  LOCAL LAW Q OF 2022 A LOCAL LAW AMENDING PART 3 (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) OF CHAPTER 42 (BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ALBANY CODIFYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD Council Member Anane introduced the following: ORDINANCE 49.121.22 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PART 3 (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) OF CHAPTER 42 (DEPARTMENTS AND COMMISSIONS) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ALBANY IN RELATION TO POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENTS The City of Albany, in Common Council convened, does hereby ordain and enact: Section 1. Section 42-72 (Police Department Reporting Requirements) of Part 3 (Department of Public Safety) of Chapter 42 (Departments and Commissions) of Part I (Administrative Legislation) of the Code of the City of Albany is hereby amended to read as follows: § 42-72 Police Department reporting requirements. The Chief of Police shall submit to the Common Council on a quarterly biannual basis, based on the calendar year, the following materials, data and reports: A. The number of firearms confiscated, separated by the offense they were used in relation to or, if seized as property, whether they were seized alone, with fewer then than five other illegal firearms, or with five or more other illegal firearms; B. The number of arrests for possession of illegal firearms, the number of arrests for illegal gun trafficking, and a list of gun trafficking charges lodged for gun trafficking offenses, including the number of individuals charged with each of these gun trafficking offenses. C. The report shall include written material and mapping of source states for firearms recovered in the City of Albany. This data shall be based on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) gun tracing of the recovered firearms. D. The report shall break down the aggregate data to distinguish between the number of handguns and the number of long guns included in the report. Section 2. This ordinance shall take effect immediately. APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS 22ND DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2022 ________________________________ Corporation Counsel To: Danielle Gillespie, City Clerk From: Jake Eisland, Esq., Research Counsel Re: Common Council Legislation Supporting Memorandum Date: June 8, 2022 Sponsor: Council Member Anane ORDINANCE 49.121.22 TITLE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING PART 3 (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) OF CHAPTER 42 (DEPARTMENTS AND COMMISSIONS) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ALBANY IN RELATION TO POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORTING REQUIREMENTS GENERAL PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION This legislation will reduce the frequency with which the Albany Police Department is required to provide reports on firearm and firearm related arrests. This will allow the Police Department to ensure that this information is provided to the Common Council more reliably. NECESSITY FOR LEGISLATION AND CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW The Albany Police Department is understaffed and overextended. They have multiple responsibilities, tasked with protecting the citizens of Albany, and sometimes, providing these reports are overlooked. However, it is still critical for Council Members to receive this information in order to learn about threats to their communities and how to best legislatively address them. By changing the requirements for this report from quarterly to biannually, the Albany Police Department will be better able to reliably provide this information to Council Members. This will in turn allow the Common Council to create better-informed legislation to keep Albany’s streets safe from firearms. This ordinance also cleans up several typographical errors present in the current law. FISCAL IMPACT(S) None. Council Member Romero introduced the following: LOCAL LAW Q OF 2022 A LOCAL LAW AMENDING PART 3 (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) OF CHAPTER 42 (BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ALBANY CODIFYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD Be it enacted by the Common Council of the City of Albany as follows: Section 1. Section 42-71 (Scope, powers and duties of Commissioner) of Article XI (General Provisions) of Part 3 (Department of Public Safety) of Chapter 42 (Departments and Commissions) of Part I (Administrative Legislation) of the Code of the City of Albany is hereby amended to read as follows: § 42-71 Scope, powers and duties of Commissioner A. The Commissioner of Public Safety shall serve as the designated arbiter of any disciplinary determination that is appealed from within the Albany Police Department. The Commissioner shall have the authority to hold hearings, and issue final binding discipline in such matters. In addition, the Commissioner shall possess such other powers and perform such other duties as may be prescribed by local law or ordinance of the Common Council. B. If the Commissioner issues final binding determination regarding discipline that is appealed from within the Albany Police Department, as applicable, the Commissioner shall be required to consider the Community Police Review Board (“CPRB”) recommendations related to the matter at issue prior to issuing a final determination on the disciplinary matter. The Commissioner shall recite the factual determinations of the CPRB into any written determination related to the matter. If the Commissioner disagrees with either the CPRB’s factual findings or recommendation(s), the Commissioner shall provide a written explanation to both the Chairperson of the CPRB and the Chief of the Albany Police Department regarding the disagreement. Section 2. This Local Law shall take effect upon passage, public hearing, and filing with the Secretary of State. APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS 23RD DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2022 _____________________________ Corporation Counsel To: Danielle Gillespie, City Clerk From: Gabriella Romero, Esq., Council Member, 6th Ward Re: Common Council Legislation Supporting Memorandum Date: November 9, 2022 Sponsor: Council Member Romero LOCAL LAW Q OF 2022 TITLE A LOCAL LAW AMENDING PART 3 (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) OF CHAPTER 42 (BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ALBANY CODIFYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND THE COMMUNITY POLICE REVIEW BOARD GENERAL PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION Codifies the relationship between Albany’s Community Police Review Board and the Public Safety Commissioner NECESSITY FOR LEGISLATION AND ANY CHANGE TO EXISTING LAW By citywide referendum in 2021, the people of the City of Albany voted overwhelmingly in favor of Proposal 7, also known as Local Law J of 2021. This proposal allowed for Albany’s Community Police Review Board to have independent investigative power and disciplinary authority. This Local Law codifies and further protects what the voters agreed to as a component of Proposal 7 – the ability to make disciplinary suggestions after investigating allegations of police misconduct. This Local Law codifies the relationship between the Community Police Review Board and the Public Safety Commissioner, as applicable, in requiring the Commissioner to “consider” the suggestions by the Community Police Review Board in cases they were assigned to investigate. FISCAL IMPACT None.