Understanding how policing has changed over the years and learning about policies and procedures are the key themes to be addressed Thursday night as the City of Batavia Police Collaboration Advisory Stakeholder Group meets for the first time.
The two-hour session is set for 7 o’clock at City Centre Council Chambers.
“We plan to share an overview of policing as a profession and how it and law enforcement, in general, have evolved,” Police Chief Shawn Heubusch said on Tuesday.
Heubusch said he’s looking forward to working with the 20 members of the committee plus industry experts from several health and human services agencies who have been invited to participate.
“Anytime we can bring people in to help us deliver services in the community is a good thing,” he said. “We have a cross section of the community in the group. I think every ward is represented (by citizen members) and we’ve checked all the boxes of those who have to be involved per the governor’s Executive Order.”
He also noted a “good representation of the minority community” to assist in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s mandate that municipal police departments engage with stakeholders in their communities to review current police policies and procedures and then develop a plan to adopt and implement the recommendations resulting from the review and consultation.
Per Executive Order No. 203:
Each local government entity … must perform a comprehensive review of current police force deployments, strategies, policies, procedures, and practices, and develop a plan to improve such deployments, strategies, policies, procedures, and practices, for the purposes of addressing the particular needs of the communities served by such police agency and promote community engagement to foster trust, fairness, and legitimacy, and to address any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color.
The plan must be submitted to the state Director of the Division of the Budget by April 1 or communities could risk losing future state funding.
Thursday’s meeting will include a review of Executive Order 203: New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaboration, and feature a presentation by the Batavia Police Department.
Topics include the evolution of policing, current operations and the BPD Policy Manual, with members to receive copies of the department’s Policy 300 Use of Force as a "take home assignment."
“Policing methods change depending upon who’s in power in Albany and in the federal government,” Heubusch said, noting that one recent change involves how officers handle people using drugs. “With the PAARI (Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative) program we have now, the approach is much different in that we refer them to GCASA (Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuses) and the peer advocates (to get help). Before that, it always was arrest, arrest, arrest.”
Heubusch also pointed to changes concerning use of force policy, specifically mentioning the (Eric Garner) Anti-Chokehold Act passed by the state legislature and – as part of a package of 10 police reform bills -- signed into law as by Cuomo in June. The law criminalizes the use of chokeholds that result in injury or death.
Advisory group meetings will take place on Thursdays, likely at 6 p.m. going forward, Heubusch said, with two meetings scheduled for October, two for November and one or two in December to finalize the plan.
“Our goal is to complete this task as expeditiously as possible,” he said.
Advisory group members are as follows:
Law enforcement/Legal – Heubusch, Assistant Chief Chris Camp, First Assistant District Attorney Kevin Finnell, Public Defender Jerry Ader, Batavia PBA President Matt Wojtaszczyk.
City of Batavia – Interim City Manager Rachael Tabelski, City Attorney George Van Nest, Council Member Kathleen Briggs.
Residents/Business – Brandon Armstrong, Raelene Christian, Bill Hayes, Francis Marchese, Gregory Munroe II, Victor Thomas, Michael Henry, Bill Blackshear.
Other – Rev. Martin Macdonald (City Church), Batavia City School Superintendent Anibal Soler Jr., Batavia Housing Authority Director Nathan Varland, YWCA Executive Director Millie Tomidy-Pepper.
Representatives from Genesee County Department of Social Services, Genesee County Mental Health Services, Lake Plains Community Care, RESTORE Sexual Assault Services, City of Batavia Youth Center and Genesee County Sheriff’s Office 9-1-1 Center also will provide information and answer questions.
Jay Gsell and Erik Fix will serve as moderators.
The meetings are open to the public, with COVID-19 protocols in place.
