The plans are the result of a mandate issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last summer in the wake of the George Floyd death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, and which resulted in national protests against law enforcement. Under the governor’s directive, every police agency in New York state is required to access its operations and prepare a reform plan, based, in part, on input from the public. As part of his mandate, Gov. Cuomo said that any police agency that doesn’t present a reform plan could risk losing state aid.

Locally, Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone announced last week his office’s draft plan was completed. That plan is now being reviewed in a series of public input sessions taking place this week and next week. A deadline for written input is March 10.

Meanwhile, the Jamestown Police Department has also completed its draft plan. During a conversation this with Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist, the mayor said that plan will be released to the public in the coming days, while also explaining the process for collecting input for the plan.

“The police reform committee, which is comprised of the public safety committee, as well as our police department and some other components of the city, worked diligently to draft a reinvention program and looked at different portions of what we currently do in the city and where we should be going, in conjunction with the multiple stakeholder group meetings they held through the city and with the survey information we got from folks across the city who supplied that survey information,” Sundquist explained.

Video of the input sessions can be found at the city of Jamestown website.

Sundquist also said now that a draft plan is in place, it will now be put before the public for a final round of input before being passed along to state officials.

“We’ve taken all that information and put into a draft, and that will be released to the public for comment. Then the City Council’s Public Safety Committee will host an information session and an additional public input session later this month. The plan will then be finalized and voted by the City Council for approval by the end of this month, and then submitted to the state,” Sundquist said.

No date has been selected yet for when the public safety committee will review and discuss the plan, but the next two scheduled meetings are for March 8 and March 22.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s office held its first streaming input session for its plan on Tuesday, with the next one scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m.  All meetings are being streamed at Facebook.com/ChautCoSheriff.

James Quattrone

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone announced this week that his office’s draft Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan will be available on the web for public comment, and that he will be hosting streaming sessions on the plan over the next month. Comments should be directed to the Sheriff’s Office by March 10, 2021.

“Many of the elements in the plan were already underway, or existing policies, of the Sheriff’s Office, but the process has given us an opportunity for introspection and review and helped connect to concerned community members who bring important voices to the table,” said Sheriff Quattrone. “Over the past several months, we distributed written surveys and reached out to many diverse stakeholders to develop the draft plan, including law enforcement and human services agencies, and held two county-wide community meetings and numerous one-on-one discussions with community leaders.”

Given the limitations on in-person meetings during the COVID 19 pandemic, Sheriff Quattrone is making the draft plan available on the office’s website, Sheriff.us, and will be providing copies to local libraries on CD’s. Additionally, the live internet sessions where he will present the draft plan and take public comment, will also be recorded and available for later viewing.

“There will be five different opportunities to join us on Facebook Live sessions so we can reach the maximum number of county residents who have an interest. Individuals interested in learning more about the plan and make comments can log on to Facebook.com/chautcosheriff on the following dates and times: March 2 at 1 pm; March 4 at 6:30 pm; March 9 am; March 12 at 6:30 pm; and March 13 at 1:30 pm,” Quattrone added.

Written comments can be submitted by email to quattrone@sheriff.us, or mailed or hand-delivered to the Office of the Sheriff at 15 East Chautauqua Street, Mayville, NY 14757.

Executive Order 203 of Governor Andrew Cuomo, titled “State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative” required each policing agency across the state to undertake a review and involve community stakeholders in creating a plan to address specific criteria of police services. Each plan must be approved by the local legislative body and then a certification submitted to the State. The County Legislature will review the plan at its March committee and full legislature meetings, and the public can also submit comments at that time.

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with recently appointed Jamestown Police Chief Tim Jackson to learn more about his goals for the JPD, as well as getting an update on the JPD’s effort to comply with the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative –  the state mandate involving police reform.

Tim Jackson

The guidance offers a framework and topics for consideration by local police departments, elected officials and citizens as they develop their local plans for reform.

Per the Governor’s Executive Order, every locality must adopt a plan for reform by April 1, 2021 to be eligible for future state funding.

“We have to address the tensions and lack of trust between our communities and the law enforcement that serves them. I am sending a letter to 500 jurisdictions, explaining that it is imperative that we address this urgent crisis,” Governor Cuomo said. “I understand it’s complicated. I understand it’s difficult. But people are dying. New Yorkers do not run from a crisis – this is a time for leadership and action. Local elected officials must work together with the community and their police forces, to develop and implement reforms for a safer, fairer policing standard.”

The guidelines -which are 130+ pages and can be found at the governor’s website –  builds on Cuomo’s actions following the death of George Floyd. Earlier this year, Governor Cuomo signed into law a series of reform policy items – called the “Say Their Name” agenda – including allowing for transparency of prior disciplinary records of law enforcement officers by reforming 50-a of the civil rights law; banning chokeholds by law enforcement officers; prohibiting false race-based 911 reports and making them a crime; and designating the Attorney General as an independent prosecutor for matters relating to the deaths of unarmed civilians caused by law enforcement.