New York Governor Kathy Hochul is investing $19.5 million to support law enforcement in Albany, saying the funding is part of a comprehensive plan to reduce crime.
Hochul convened a roundtable discussion on public safety Tuesday at the Albany Public Library. The Democrat pointed to challenges on the streets of New York City, Albany, Rochester, Syracuse and Buffalo.
"But I want to talk about the $1 million that I want to surge for the city of Albany Police Department," Hochul said. "I want a stronger police presence. The officers I spoke to know the impact that they have when they're walking down a block, and it gives people a sense of confidence, a sense of security. So we'll assist with overtime. We'll cover overtime shifts to ensure overnight coverage is even more enhanced. We'll pay for new intelligence gathering technology. I have seen this work very successfully in other cities, and I want to make sure that we're having the state of the art, the best in class technology available here. I also want to provide the sheriff with $500,000 for personnel, overtime pay, however he feels it needs to be used.”
Hochul says the funding will allow the city to expand resources in areas experiencing persistent crime. But she said statewide, crime is down, and pushed back against criticism of her home away from home.
"The narrative that Albany is a crime-ridden city is false. False," said Hochul.
Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple says the money his department receives will likely go toward overtime so deputies can increase their presence in the city and show residents they're there to keep them safe.
Police Chief Brendan Cox was asked about the department’s current shortcomings:
"We are having an ongoing hiring retention issue. We are about 79 people short. We are currently hiring off of the civil service test that we have active right now. We also have an active hiring process. We are providing a test in May. So joinapd.com is something we have going on right now. We're also looking at other avenues to be able to fill some of the needs for non police services. We often get many calls for service that don't require police response, so we're looking at those as well. We'll be utilizing some of this funding to be able to add on patrols," said Cox.
Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan says the police department will work with the state to ensure funding will be spent wisely.
“This is just an important but, but one piece of broader initiatives that are happening in the city of Albany with respect to addressing overall feelings around public safety," Sheehan said. "And so we know that crime is down, but people still report that they don't feel safe. And oftentimes, if somebody is talking about not feeling safe, they're talking about the fact that they saw a homeless person, or they saw a panhandler and or they saw somebody who clearly seemed to be having a mental health crisis, and so we have to ensure that we're working with the partners that are responsible for addressing those issues, and that's Albany County.”
Fellow-Democrat County Executive Dan McCoy attended the governor's announcement. ‘’These assemblymembers and senators I obviously represent communities across the great state of this of New York, are all pushing saying, Yes, this, we need to fix it. I think it was Assemblywoman Walsh that, you know, she goes, ‘look, I lived in suburbs my whole life. I but I've been down here where…,’ how unsafe she feels. They're all advocating for this," said McCoy. "This should say a lot to everyone that they even see the issue. Coming to the state capitol every year, their staff don't feel safe. They don't feel safe. They don't come to the downtown businesses and walk around. And that's alarming. It's because, like, you know, years ago when session was out, they would walk around. They’d go to the restaurants. They’d stay at the hotels in downtown Albany. They would be seen all over. Now they're scattered throughout the Capital District. You see them in Colonie, see them in East Greenbush, primarily, not in the city anymore. Soon as they're done with session and they’re out of that building they're out.”
McCoy says he would be surprised if anyone votes against the previously announced proposal of $400 million dollars for the city of Albany as part of Hochul’s state budget, which is due by April 1st. State lawmakers have not released their versions of the annual plan yet.
