Pleasantville to Prepare Draft Recommendations for Police Reform
Pleasantville officials are drafting a set of police reform recommendations this month to present to the community before submitting the village’s final report to the state.
The Village Board is reviewing transcripts from the series of forums with the Police Reform Steering Committee that began in November and hopes to present a draft of actionable recommendations to the community by the end of the month, Mayor Peter Scherer said.
“We will publish and send it out so people have a chance to look at the recommendations,” Scherer said. “Then we will schedule another public forum to discuss the draft before finalizing the recommendations for the state.”
The village will also present a secondary list of items and issues that surfaced in the forums but require more in-depth discussions with the public. Those topics are expected to be presented in a number of subsequent public forums.
Trustee Paul Alvarez, an immigration attorney, will hold a live-streamed presentation in Spanish on Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. explaining the operation of the police department.
The village’s police reform forums featured presentations by Chief Erik Grutzner and focused on use-of-force and de-escalation policies, police diversity training, inclusion and racial bias, the complaint and review procedure, community policing practices and community outreach and engagement.
Recurring suggestions from the public called for police officers to patrol on foot, have greater visibility in the community and increase outreach to local youths and schools.
Residents were also invited to send e-mails raising policing issues they want to see addressed. The first two forums attracted numerous participants but attendance has tapered off during the last three sessions.
The village’s Police Reform Steering Committee is comprised of the Village Board, the police chief and the department’s administration and village administration, along with other stakeholders including residents and the local school community.
In response to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last spring, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order in June mandating that all jurisdictions with police departments in New York State review their police policies, procedures and practices. A final report to the state from each community is due by Apr. 1 and must include recommendations on how each police agency will improve practices and address the needs of their community.
Pleasantville residents are invited to submit comments at policereform@pleasantville-ny.gov. For more information on the police reform process and to see videos of prior meetings, visit: https://www.pleasantville-ny.gov/police-reform-reinvention-collaborative.
Abby is a local journalist who has reported on breaking news for more than 20 years. She currently covers community issues in The Examiner as a full-time reporter and has written for the paper since its inception in 2007. Read more from Abby’s editor-author bio here. Read Abbys’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/ab-lub2019/
