Public Safety Committee

COMMON COUNCIL MEETING Public Safety Thomas Hoey, Chair DATE: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19 2023 LOCATION: City of Albany Common Council Chambers, 2nd Floor TIME: 5:30 PM PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: YES TOPICS OF DISCUSSION:  LOCAL LAW Q OF 2022 (Proposed Amendments as of 03/17/2023) A LOCAL LAW AMENDING PART 3 (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) OF CHAPTER 42 (BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ALBANY IN RELATION TO THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSIONER  LOCAL LAW M of 2022 A LOCAL LAW AMENDING CHAPTER 359 (VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC) REDUCING THE SPEED LIMIT OF THE CITY OF ALBANY FROM 30 TO 25 MILES PER HOUR Material in strikethrough to be deleted. New material is underlined. Council Member Romero introduced the following: LOCAL LAW Q OF 2022 (Proposed Amendments as of 03/17/2023) A LOCAL LAW AMENDING PART 3 (DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) OF CHAPTER 42 (BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS) OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF ALBANY IN RELATION TO THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSIONER 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 Provision) 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 produces a written determination on a disciplinary matter, he shall provide a copy of such written determination to the Chief of Police, any individual who is the subject of the disciplinary proceeding, and the Community Police Review Board (“CPRB”). C. On any matter which is before the Commissioner, the Commissioner shall be provided with any and all CPRB recommendations and findings which were provided to the Chief of Police in such matter. The Commissioner shall review and consider the CPRB’s recommendations and findings, if any, and, if he disagrees with any such recommendations and/or findings, he shall state the basis for such disagreement in any written determination he produces related to the matter. Section 2. This local law shall take effect 180 days after final passage, public hearing, and filing with the Secretary of State. APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS 17TH DAY OF MARCH, 2023 _____________________________ Material in strikethrough to be deleted. New material is underlined. Corporation Counsel Material in strikethrough to be deleted. New material is underlined. To: Danielle Gillespie, City Clerk From: Gabriella Romero, Esq. 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 IN RELATION TO THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSIONER 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. Matter in strikethrough to be deleted. Matter underlined is new material. Council Member Zamer introduced the following: LOCAL LAW M of 2022 A LOCAL LAW AMENDING CHAPTER 359 (VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC) REDUCING THE SPEED LIMIT OF THE CITY OF ALBANY FROM 30 TO 25 MILES PER HOUR Be it enacted, by the Common Council of the City of Albany, as follows: Section 1. Subsection A of Section 359-18 (Speed Regulations) of Article II (Traffic Regulations) of Part II of the Code of the City of Albany is amended: A. The City of Albany speed limit shall be 30 25 miles per hour except it shall be 25 miles per hour on South Pearl Street (State Route 32) from the intersection of South Pearl Street with Old South Pearl Street north to the intersection of South Pearl Street with First Avenue or as otherwise posted. Section 2. This local law shall take effect upon final passage, public hearing and filing with the Secretary of State. APPROVED AS TO FORM THIS 22ND DAY OF AUGUST, 2022 ________________________________ Corporation Counsel Matter in strikethrough to be deleted. Matter underlined is new material. To: Danielle Gillespie, City Clerk From: John-Raphael Pichardo, Esq., Research Counsel Re: Common Council Legislation Supporting Memorandum Date: August 22, 2022 Sponsor: Council Member Zamer LOCAL LAW M of 2022 TITLE A LOCAL LAW AMENDING CHAPTER 359 (VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC) REDUCING THE SPEED LIMIT OF THE CITY OF ALBANY FROM 30 TO 25 MILES PER HOUR GENERAL PURPOSE OF LEGISLATION The purpose of this legislation is to reduce the speed limit within city limits to 25 MPH. NECESSITY FOR LEGISLATION AND CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW Research shows that faster driving speeds correlate to more serious injuries and fatalities for pedestrians in the event of an accident. The faster a vehicle is traveling, the less time its driver will have to see a pedestrian in the road and stop, and the less time a pedestrian will have to react. According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a pedestrian struck by a vehicle going 25mph has a 25 percent risk of sustaining a serious or fatal injury, a 50 percent risk at 33mph and a 75 percent risk at 41mph. A 2018 study released by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that lowering the speed limit by 5 mph on city streets improves safety outcomes for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists by reducing the incidence of speeding. The study focused on Boston, which in 2017 lowered its default speed limit on city streets from 30mph to 25mph. Researchers found that after the city lowered its speed limit, the estimated odds of a vehicle exceeding 35mph fell by 29.3 percent. Also, the odds of a vehicle exceeding 30mph fell by 8.5 percent and by 2.9 percent of exceeding 25mph. These reduced speeds will help to curb the city's incidence of serious injuries and fatalities in pedestrian involved accidents. In 2014, New York City lowered its speed limit from 30mph to 25mph, as part of a program known as "Vision Zero," aimed at ending all traffic related deaths and serious injuries in the city by 2024. To date, the three years following implementation of the program have been studied and the number of traffic related fatalities declined for these three consecutive years and went down 23 percent overall. In August of 2022, Governor Hochul signed bill S2021A/A1007, which grants municipalities the authority to lower the speed limit to as low as 25 mph. FISCAL IMPACT(S) The amount of signs that need to be replaced is currently unknown. The City of Schenectady recently changed about 200 signs and the cost was about $20,000.00. Matter in strikethrough to be deleted. Matter underlined is new material.