6 September 2021
To the editor
The Times Journal
Regarding “We’re Getting Drones…” Times Journal 26 August, are we? The story did not report what action the Citizens’ Collaborative Committee (CCC) took in response to the Sheriff’s proposal. Are we to assume the CCC has endorsed the drone plan?
The TJ story reported that Sheriff’s Dept. Sergeant Reinharts said the proposed policy includes “...pieces that address privacy concerns that come from the ACLU.” What pieces? Was there collaboration with the ACLU in development of the proposed policy?
I inquired of the NYCLU and the ACLU but did not learn of any collaboration with the Schoharie County Sheriff’s Dept. concerning Drones. To the contrary, the ACLU is very critical of law enforcement drone deployment because of the risk of excessive surveillance and privacy violations. Readers can search “CCOPS” to learn more and read the ACLU’s suggested legislation Community Control Over Police Surveillance.
According to the TJ story the Sheriff’s presentation emphasized search and rescue and other non-investigatory uses for the drones. However, a read of the proposed policy reveals a great deal of content regarding the use of drones for surveillance and evidence collection. Exactly what the ACLU is concerned about. If search and rescue is the justification for drones then they should be controlled by the Fire Coordinator’s Office, not the Sheriff.
The Citizens’ Collaborative Committee, which grew out of the state mandated police policies and procedures review, is apparently not intended to provide police oversight. However, oversight is exactly what is needed. I urge the CCC to review the ACLU’s concerns about police surveillance and examine the legislation they propose. Additionally, the committee should reconsider their purpose and establish a mission statement. They will then want to revisit the Sheriff’s Dept. drones question.
Wayne R. Stinson
Summit, NY
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9/15/2020
To the Schoharie County Law Enforcement Reform Committee
America is at risk of becoming a fascist state. Some Black Lives Matter protesters believe we are already there. For the average citizen police impunity for misconduct is a painful interface with this ugly reality. Correcting for the police impunity/accountability problem is an important first step in preserving our democracy. I wish you success in this effort.
Observations and recommendations:
The Law Enforcement Reform Committee (LERC) should not be constituted of only law enforcement individuals or police agency representatives. It must include a significant number of community representatives with codified responsibility to influence the committee’s output. This is necessary in order for citizens to accept it’s legitimacy and to respect it’s recommendations.
The LERC must deal honestly with transparency and accountability issues throughout county government including; the Board of Supervisors, relevant sub-committees, Sheriff’s Dept., and the District Attorneys office. These are core issues with which we have notably failed in recent years.
Also, within our community two additional police agencies deserve scrutiny by the LERC; The Cobleskill Village Police Department and the SUNY Cobleskill Police Department. Since both these agencies can affect any county resident they must be considered and their reform efforts coordinated.
The New York State Attorney General’s Special Investigations and Prosecutions Unit as well as the State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit, proffered as “independent” investigators in police involved incidents, have failed us in recent years. The LERC’s findings should take note of these failures and demand greater oversight of these agencies by community representatives.
The LERC must consider how citizen participation in police conduct oversight might be accomplished. There are several models in other jurisdictions which can provide guidance. Lacking a formal system of community police oversight, whatever reforms might be imagined will be negated and transparency or accountability will be difficult if not impossible.
In closing, I have to say, I do not envy your position or the task you must undertake. It will be a great deal of work and, if done right, could make enemies of some friends, family and county employees. Please take care to avoid being part of a theatrical event. Make it real. Do it right and get it done expeditiously.
Wayne Stinson
Summit, NY
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10 Sept. 2020
To the Editor
The Times Journal
This past June Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 203 announcing the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. EO203 requires local jurisdictions to review police policies, procedures and practices, and develop a plan to foster trust, fairness and legitimacy and address racial bias. The Schoharie County Law Enforcement Review, Mission Statement can be accessed at the county web page. www4.schohariecounty-ny.gov.
Other states have issued similar orders in response to the recent Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers and shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha in addition to other recent serious police misconduct across the country.
This kind of government response has occurred following previous episodes of public unrest in response to police misconduct. The most recent was President Obama’s President’s Task Force for 21st Century Policing Report* issued May 2015. Such efforts have been undertaken at least four times over the past sixty years and have not corrected the problems with policing. I am concerned this latest attempt to reform policing will not be any more effective.
One of the most serious unresolved issues with policing is lack of accountability. The very officials
who are now being tasked with identifying needed reforms and implementing them are the individuals who lack the initiative, integrity and courage to hold criminal police officers accountable. Specifically, I name the New York Attorney General, local government legislative bodies, local District Attorneys and Police Commanders, including Sheriffs. Some of the individuals serving on the Schoharie County Law Enforcement Reform Committee have exhibited these failings in recent history.
Oversight of police performance can not be left to other law enforcement involved individuals or agencies. Instead, an independent entity charged with oversight of the police service, and including significant community representation, should have the authority to demand police agency transparency, and to determine discipline or recommend termination of miscreant officers.
* Read the report here
Wayne Stinson
Summit, NY
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Socialist World Journal September 2020 issue,
How to End Racist Policing, an excerpt:
“Socialist Alternative calls for:
Immediately fire and prosecute all cops who have committed violent or racist attacks.
Remove the national guard from Minneapolis and elsewhere and end city curfews. They have achieved nothing for racial justice and instead have been used to attack protests, terrorize working-class communities, injure journalists covering non-violent protests, and protect banks and police precincts.
End the militarization of police. Ban police use of tear gas, rubber bullets, chokeholds and military equipment. Disarm cops on patrol.
Put policing under the control of democratically elected civilian boards. These should have real teeth, including power over hiring and firing policies, reviewing budget priorities, and the power to subpoena. All of this should be done openly and publicly.
Massively defund police and reinvest those funds into schools and affordable housing. Massive taxation of the rich to invest in green jobs, social programs, public education, and permanently affordable social housing.
Police unions are dominated by reactionaries that defend abusive police, and should not be given cover by the labor movement. Labor needs to be decisively on the side of protestors and against racism and police violence. It must demand that police unions reject racist policing policies and agree to support a purge of the police in order to remain in or join labor councils.
Political representation Both major political parties have demonstrated their loyalty to the racist and oppressive system of capitalism. Democratic city mayors and city councils have done little to stop the killer cops. We should have no trust that either major party can represent us. We need to build a new fighting multiracial working class political party, independent of big business, out of our struggles.
The Whole System is Guilty – Malcolm X said: “You can’t have capitalism without racism.” To win lasting change, the fight against police racism and the corporate political establishment must be expanded into a fight against the capitalist system itself and for a socialist alternative.”
Read the whole piece at https://www.socialistalternative.org/2020/06/17/socialists-and-the-state-how-to-end-racist-policing/
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Friends,
The police can be held accountable by your political
representatives. If you witness what you believe is improper conduct by
a police officer you should contact the appropriate municipal
authority...it's your responsibility as a citizen.
Chair, Richard Lape, Richmondville Town, Cell Phone: (518) 231-3084 lapelspc@midtel.net
Steve Winhofer, Broome Town, 518-827-4510, Broomeclerk@midtel.net
Margaret Hait, Jefferson Town, (607) 652-7223 jeffersontwnsup@gmail.com
Harold Vroman, Summit Town, Home: (607) 397-8187, summitclerk@midtel.net
The Capitol Albany, NY 12224-0341 https://ag.ny.gov/contact-attorney-general-letitia-james
Times Journal: tjournalnews@yahoo.com
Mountain Eagle/Schoharie News: theschoharienews@gmail.com
Times Union: tuletters@timesunion.com
Daily Gazette: PO Box 1090 Schenectady, NY 12301 https://www.dailygazette.com/ [could not find serviceable link for email submissions]
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