Democracy In Albany

Again, let me state for the record, I am not anti-police or anti-APD.  Nearly every rank-and-file cop I've ever worked with in the City of Albany has been professional, attentive and hard-working.  It's the LEADERSHIP of the APD that's the problem, and its getting WORSE, not better.

You can find Part One to this series here:
http://www.democracyinalbany.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2007/3/4/94039/96175

ALBANY COPS HAVE A VERY HARD JOB

According to the U.S. Census - about THIRTY PERCENT of ALBANY'S CHILDREN ages 1-18 LIVE IN POVERTY.  It is no secret what poverty does to a family: stress, abuse, neglect, evictions, hopelessness, sometimes drug and alcohol addictions. Poverty can often lead to more arrests and incarcerations than your average family. While New York has an extensive social safety net, a hard reality is that Albany City cops often find themselves playing social worker just as much as police officer

APD cops deal with the same families and the same people over and over again, often because these families can't break out of their poverty or leave their neighborhood which sometimes do as much to drag them down as build them up.
http://www.democracyinalbany.com/story/2007/2/25/4557/46705

THE MODEL CITY POLICE FORCE VERSUS ALBANY'S POLICE FORCE

In a perfect world, there would be a beat cop or cops for each part of the city. Police Officers that patrol a part of the city would live in the neighborhood or at least live nearby.  Through their work and their life the cops would get to know EVERYBODY: the residents, business people, neighborhood association types, shopkeepers, gadflies, elected officials, etc.  When crime happened - it wouldn't just be the cop watching - it would be a web of EVERYBODY - hundreds of eyes watching the streets, the people, the buildings and the cars.  People taking care of each other. Sometimes people assume that poorer neighborhoods are crap neighborhoods - but often poor neighborhoods are great neighborhoods - people know each other, they talk to each other, they get together for block parties and street fairs and church events. People make an effort and they give a shit. Everyone knows people love to gossip and get in each other's business. When a bad actor is out on the street doing bad things - word can spread like wildfire in neighborhoods where people take care of each other. In those neighborhoods, even the bad actors don't take a chance acting bad because they know SOMEBODY'S watching - it may not be a cop - but they know SOMEBODY will eventually report them to the beat cop or a community leader. The bad actor then gets chased around the neighborhood or if the cop knows the bad actor's identity, the cop will make a visit to their home and talk to a parent or spouse or relative about the bad actor and the bad behavior. What I am describing is commonly know as community policing. It works. Regular people and criminal justice professionals know it works. The problem is APD management like Chief James Tuffey say community policing DOESN'T WORK.

APD's RESIDENCY PROBLEM

One HUGE APD problem is that a MAJORITY of the force resides outside the City of Albany. How do you get an officer to get really involved with their work and community when they go home to Saratoga or Clifton Park or Brunswick when their shift and overtime ends? The Albany Common Council COULD push the residency law - but then the Albany Police Union's Christian Mesley's head would explode. Of course all current cops could be grandfathered in and for new cops it wouldn't have to be 100% residency - it could be a target or a goal like 75% or 80% - and it could be phased in over several years.  But try getting Jimmy Tuffey to go along with that. It would be like spitting into a category 5 hurricane. I can hear the wailing and crying now: `why are you limiting the `talent' pool from which we can draw?'  -  `Let the Chief run the department as he sees fit!'  - `why is the Council interfering?'   There wouldn't be any debate - Mesley and Tuffey and Jennings would nix it - and the Council would shut the hell up and quietly fade away. Well, maybe Calsolaro or Ellis or Smith would pipe up - but they would soon be shouted down by the `tools' of the Mayor like Scalzo or Casey or Sano or Rosenzwieg or Igoe or Timmons or Fox or Conti. (Yes, Dear Reader - Conti)

To quote Dr. Alice Green regarding Jerry Jennings when she was running in 2005 as Green Party candidate for Mayor :

"He simply dismisses those with opposing views. The mayor not only squashes dissent, he does not even tolerate debate."

And to make sure that there is a big fat cherry on top - any Council member who wanted to actually PUSH a residency ordinance and want a REAL DEBATE about it - I suspect Mesley and Tuffey and the Jer would make sure that Council member gets the `kateb' treatement.  If you don't know what that is  - check out the `kateb' diaries and commentary documenting the bullying and stalking being done by the City's political goon squad because `kateb' complained about a false arrest ordered by Jimmy Tuffey. And it wouldn't stop there - that Council member could forget about ever getting anything in the City Budget, or any streets paved in their Ward, or getting anything else that Jerry might control (read EVERYTHING) - until that silly little Council member came to their senses and decided to stop pushing to enforce a silly residency law for police officers.

NEW MANAGEMENT

Hopefully people are starting to see what the poor citzens of Albany are up against. But there is hope, the Tan One lead a lot of people to believe he wouldn't run for Mayor again. The average tenure of an Albany City Police Chief has been about 2 years so Jimmy Tuffey is more than halfway gone. The possibility of new management is just around the corner - the problem is it is doubtful that the Jerry-Jimmy-Frankie-Nicky-Joey wrecking crew are going to go quietly or peacefully.
http://www.democracyinalbany.com/comments/2007/3/7/181254/0533/3#3

This crew will want to install a dupe as Mayor who will make sure things keep going the wrecking crew's way and keep the cash flowing to their pockets. In the recent past the money was on Jimmy Tuffey being installed into the Dem/Conservative Party lines.  The way this would happen would be Jerry would conveniently 'retire' during August so as to cut off the possiblity of a Dem party primary. Trouble is, the Working Families Party has a ballot line and Corey Ellis and Luci McKnight both showed that you would work that line and win in the general election in the City of Albany. According to the City Charter - if the Jer 'retires' than the President of the City Council becomes Mayor (that would be Shawn Morris). Chances are excellent Shawn Morris would get the Working Families line and there might be a real race in the wake of Jer's 'August retirement'. Also, Tuffey's light shines much less brightly now that he has actually tried to manage the department. Tuffey has presided over more officers getting arrested for DWI - closing down police stations - all-time high overtime costs - on-duty detectives crashing their cars while asleep with alcohol in their systems - officers showing up for work drunk - having to explain away racial profiling traffic stops - taking away beat cops. Tuffey is building a reputation and its not a good one. Getting Jimmy Tuffey installed as Mayor looks like a bigger and bigger lift as the days go by. It will have to be done soon or Tuffey will be too heavy to lift.

Let us also not forget that Jimmy Tuffey spent seven long years working in various high-paying PATAKI adminstration appointments. Usually only Republicans can get those appointments. It's obvious that Tuffey IS A REPUBLICAN and therefore some City dems aren't going to be too excited about Tuffey and may be able to thwart Jimmy 'stripclub' Tuffey's installation if he tries to make a run for the Dem party line for Mayor under this scenario. Frankie 'stash' Commisso and Betty 'where's my city car?' Barnette will bust their malevolent guts trying to make sure Tuffey would get the Dem line. But it may be harder than they think.

So dear reader, hope springs eternal and the lurkers and the posters at Democracy in Albany pine for new management so Albany can come out of the 19th Century and venture into the 21st.  I am cautiously optimistic.