The City of Albany is readying for the return of a familiar face as police chief.
Brendan Cox will take over the department as Chief Eric Hawkins leaves the city for a similar post in Michigan.
In January 2017 the department held a "piping out" ceremony to mark Cox’s retirement.
Fast forward to November and Cox was back at city hall with Mayor Kathy Sheehan:
"Given that we have an election year coming up and our chief serves at the pleasure of the mayor, I reached out to our former Chief, Chief Brendan Cox, to see if he would be willing to come back and serve as an interim chief of the department," said Sheehan. "As you know, Brendan was chief of this department. He was a deputy chief of this department..."
Cox said "...this is really a unique opportunity. There's a transition happening. I was really honored when the mayor called. We got to talking. This made sense for where I am in my personal life."
In his 23 years with the APD, Cox oversaw the city's installation of red light cameras and saw to it that Albany would test body cameras on its officers. His tenure was also marked by community conversations with residents and a mandate that officers carry business cards to better identify themselves to citizens they meet. His major accomplishment came in June 2015 when Albany celebrated its becoming the third city in the United States, and first in the Northeast, to adopt the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion or "LEAD" program, aimed at reducing low-level arrests, recidivism, and racial disparities.
The late Dr. Alice Green directed the Center for Law and Justice:
"I stand here in what I believe to be one of the grandest moments in the history of the city and the county of Albany. I stand here with some leaders who are key to our community. And we collaborated for a long period of time and they brought us to this moment of agreement, which is fantastic, " said Green.
"Dr. Green had a really good relationship with incoming Chief Cox," said Ta-Sean Murdock, who replaced Green as Director of Operations at the Center after Green’s death this year. He says the choice of Cox is dynamic in the current socio-political climate.
"While Dr. Green isn't here with us today, I think she would be pleased to know at least in the interim that the selection of Chief Cox could have a profound impact on our community in its current state," Murdock said. "And the center also wants to focus on, you know, re-establishing, or the bolstering of community policing, because we've seen here in the city some reduction of that. "
Murdock says he hopes to have a sit-down with Chief Cox in the days to come.
Albany Community Police Review Board Investigative Chair John Levendosky says the panel preparing to move under city oversight welcomes Cox.
"Looking at Chief Cox' record and statements he's made and writings he's done and his history with the city, I am very hopeful and optimistic that we'll have a positive relationship with Chief Cox going forward. And in the interim I'm hoping that he definitely be helpful when the permanent chief and help the transition and make sure that the community is represented in how it's policed and making everything better for the city and the department and the citizens," Levendosky said.
15th ward Common Councilor Tom Hoey chairs the public safety committee and sees Cox as a logical fit to fill the void when Hawkins leaves for Michigan next month.
"I had the pleasure of meeting Brendan Cox when I first took over as the public safety chair for the Common Council. I went to a conference, it was a two day conference at UAlbany at the downtown campus at Rockefeller College, and Brendan talked about his work. He works nationwide with the L.E.A.D. program. When he retired from being a policeman in the city after 23 years, he wanted to try to get into nationwide policing. I think he has a strong background in community policing, and I think that's that will help us. Will it take every gun off the street? No, I think we need the federal government more to step in," said Hoey.
Cox officially takes over December 2nd and is expected to serve as interim chief through 2025.
