Subscribe
to TIC!

Albany Police Stations to Close, More Street Cops in Neighborhoods

“Broken” is the word Police Chief James W. Tuffey used to describe the current system at the Albany Police Department. The former director of the New York State Emergency Management Office promised a unique way to solve urban crime and gang-related problems. According to Chief Tuffey, police officers should be on the streets working with members of the community as partners instead of remaining at stations. Some would say this strategy is bringing back traditional police work, or perhaps leading a new paradigm.

Chief James Tuffey is speaking to the public about his new plan for fixing the “broken” system in the Albany Police Department.

Chief Tuffey has announced his plan to close two police stations—on Henry Johnson Blvd near Arbor Hill and the other on Washington Ave near Pine Bush. Closing the stations will put nine more officers on the streets everyday.

Tuffy presented his plan to the public in September. Several public meetings have been held to discuss implementation, but he said he will not make a decision until he hears from all neighborhoods. Albany Common Council member Willard Timmons (Ward 5) said the last thing his constituency wants is another empty building in Arbor Hill. Several council members are expressing concern, but Mayor Jennings said “Their job… is really to evaluate this from the perspective of the whole city.”

“It’s got to be good for each neighborhood,” said Council President Shawn Morris. “The health of the city is dependent on the health of its neighborhoods.” She said Tuffey’s efforts to incorporate community input has won him a lot of respect.

Tuffey explains that less stations mean less bureaucracy and more movement of officers to problem areas. “We will anticipate the crime trends and move with those crime trends.” According to Tuffey, they are “changing the way they do business in the city of Albany... Officers will be accountable, treat people with dignity, share information, and cover the city better.” Tuffey stresses that all officers, not just beat officers, should get to know their communities.

Terry O’Neill, an Albany lawyer with The Constantine Institute (for the Study of Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism) with a specialization in the legislative process—and who served as Counsel to a state legislator representing a high-crime, minority district in Rudolph Giuliani’s New York City—thinks the closure of the stations with the reassignment of officers to street patrol is not the problem. “In those neighborhoods most bedeviled by crime, the people want ‘community policing’. Chief Tuffey uses that term frequently, but the organization and tactics he’s proposing are totally inconsistent with that strategy as widely understood.”

A dictionary definition for 'community policing’:

“A political philosophy in which the police and police department are seen as members of the community, with police officers being part of where they live and work… tend to do much more community work than traditional police departments. This often includes having more police officers who ‘walk the beat’ as opposed to driving around in police cars. The basic idea is to create bonds of trust and reliance between police and the public.”

This approach requires officers to be “open minded, unbiased, and sensitive to the concerns and problems of others” and is also known as “the new policing paradigm”. Officers should “try to listen and understand the problem” and “display empathy and compassion with sincerity, not in a rehearsed way.” Police are to develop skills in planning, problem solving, organization, interpersonal communications, and critical thinking.

Tuffey said his plan is not racially motivated and has nothing to do with a budget squeeze, but that it’s a novel approach to combat crime. “Allow me to manage the police department (and) hold me accountable,” he pleaded. Besides street patrol, he plans to equip patrol cars with computer-generated maps and information showing where crime is and who is doing it, turning them into rolling police stations.

Mayor Jennings and Albany County District Attorney David Soares are backing the police chief’s plan. The mayor said he has confidence in Tuffey and his recommendations.

As county prosecutor, David Soares works closely with police in his district. “If you want to cure what ails these communities, you have to be in this community… you have to listen to this community... The greatest investment that any agency can make is in the street-level cop, whether its beat cops or patrolmen, providing them with every single resource that they need to effectively do their job.”

Dr. Alice Green, the executive director of Albany’s Center for Law and Justice and who ran against Mayor Jennings last year, said she is troubled that the plan has not been released in writing for public view, which makes it hard to analyze and critique. Tuffey said a final plan is to be drafted once he hears from all areas of the city and that his plans are constantly changing in response to public input.

Even though the mayor’s proposed 2007 budget doesn’t allocate money for new officers, the police are recruiting as many people as possible because they say it’s hard to tell what’s going to happen. The application deadline is October 25th.

What is the FBA?  |  FBA Website Prototype  |  Cost Estimates  |  The Team

Publishers of The Informed Constituent.

Contact the FBA