Student leads push for community-policing plan

  Sam Frumkin first stepped foot on the University at Albany campus as a student in August of 2008. Less than two months later, his fellow student, then-senior Richard Bailey, was shot dead on the corner of South Lake Avenue and Yates Street.

   “It was shocking and incredibly heartbreaking,” Frumkin said. “There’s just no sense to it; that’s the worst thing about all of the violence, not just with Richard Bailey. It’s hard enough just acknowledging it; I can’t imagine being a family member or a close friend of the victim.”
 

  Over one year later, Frumkin, a sophomore social welfare major from Ithaca, is spearheading the push from University at Albany students for a strong community-policing plan from the next Albany Police Chief. Former Chief James Tuffey resigned in September amid controversy and an advisory committee has been put in place by Mayor Jerry Jennings to recommend a candidate for appointment to the position.

   Since November, Frumkin has rallied UAlbany students to attend Albany Common Council meetings and public forums, demanding the advisory committee recommend a candidate that will restore the public’s trust in law enforcement and have police officers walking the beat in every Albany neighborhood.

   “There is very little trust and partnership between the communities and their police officers. So if a community fears their police officers, how are they going to work together to form a safer community?” said Frumkin, who lives on campus. “The people and the police have to be on the same team. The only person that should fear a police officer is someone who is committing a crime and that is the minority of these people in these communities.”

   In December, Frumkin and over 30 students packed into a Common Council meeting at City Hall and presented a petition filled with more than 500 signatures of students that were “outraged by gun violence and murder” and supported community policing.

   Larry Rosen, a former Albany county judge and chair of the search committee, said the committee heard the students’ calls.

   “The stereotype of the college student at SUNY Albany is that the weekend starts on Wednesday night,” Rosen said. “I have been very favorably impressed with the interest in the students in this issue, with the interest with the students in the community and with their aggressiveness in pursuing their agenda. We will interview the final eight candidates during the month of March, and in that interviewing you can be sure that the points that are important to the students will be spoken about with the candidates.”

   Rosen said many of the points from the petition were included in the job description for the position. The description says the next police chief must be committed to “the continued development of the department and its commitment to community policing.” 

   Search-committee member Alice Green, a well-known Albany-area activist and founder of the Center for Law and Justice, and Frumkin have both been critical of the search process, which they say has been largely closed off from the public.

   “What went wrong is that the community became shut out of the process, not only with the committee work being done behind closed doors without providing any information to the community, but the information that the committee received from the community was never used,” Green said. “For instance, there was no discussion of anything that was said at [a public forum held in November] or any attention given to information that was sent to the committee from the public in the form of letters.”

   In response to public outcry, two additional public forums were scheduled. One was held last Wednesday, which Frumkin attended with other UAlbany students, and one scheduled for this Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Albany Community Development Agency at 200 Henry Johnson Blvd.

   Frumkin said he thinks the forums are being held in an attempt to gain some positive press. He said he hopes to gather a group of 30 to 40 UAlbany students to attend this Thursday’s meeting.

   “These two meetings are not happening from the good will of the mayor or the search committee,” Frumkin said. “These meetings are happening because of public pressure and public criticism and they are trying to save face. But I’m glad they are having these meetings, because we’ll be there and we’ll be attacking.”

   The committee will begin interviewing the final eight candidates on March 11 and finish the initial interviews by March 25.

   Frumkin said he hopes to start a student group based on political activism in the city of Albany in the coming weeks and has began the process of being recognized by the Student Association. The interest of students in the search for a commissioner has already left a positive impact on Green.

   “I’m really proud of how the students have been involved,” she said. “I think in the past, maybe students came out for something one time, maybe twice. But the students that have been involved are extremely articulate, they are very knowledgeable, they are very passionate about this issue, and they have concerns not only about the college community but also in the broader community, which is really, really exciting.”
 

  For more information on joining the group, visit its blog at stopviolenceinalbany.blogspot.com.