FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 3, 2021
City of Kingston
to Introduce New Police Initiatives
Officer Engagement
Will Seek to Improve Community Relations
KINGSTON, NY – Mayor Steven T. Noble and
the Kingston Police Department are pleased to announce that the City of Kingston will begin deploying several
proactive police-community engagement initiatives, starting in May.
The initiatives include walking or bicycle
patrols, attending community meeting and events, field information gathering,
traffic details, and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).
Details will be conducted on an overtime basis under the supervision of a
police sergeant with officers who elect to participate.
Each of the five participating sergeants
will be given up to six hours of overtime per week to deploy at least two
officers in one of the new operations. The sergeants will choose the timing of
their deployment that best fits the initiative. Each sergeant will be reviewing
any reports submitted by the officers and will provide a written summary of
their operation to the Deputy Chief every two weeks and will provide monthly
reports at Police Commission meetings. Any relevant data obtained from these
reports will be sent to the Crime Analyst for compilation and
analysis.
The focus will be community trust building
and information gathering, however, if officers come across criminal activity,
they may address it appropriately.
“We hope these initiatives will
demonstrate our commitment to trust-building with true community policing
endeavors, while also empowering our officers to take community engagement into
their own hands with this grassroots approach,” said Mayor Noble. “This is a
model that has not yet been seen in our area. We are proud to lead the way by
introducing these new initiatives to garnering community trust while giving our
officers autonomy over the public engagement process.”
“We see this as a positive community
policing initiative and anticipate it will be a highly effective response to
the recent increase in gun violence,” said Chief Tinti. “A report from the New
York Attorney General’s Office expressed concern over the law enforcement
partnership conducted last year, and we have heard that loud and clear from our
community as well. We know we need to approach police-community interaction
differently, and we hope these positive initiatives will be a step in the right
direction.”
“Engagement and forming partnerships with
the community are essential aspects of community policing and is imperative
when developing trust between police and citizens,” said Alderwoman Rita
Worthington. “Toward that end, we remain committed to proactively building
community relations with law enforcement through forums, events and meetings,
and I remain positive that these police-community engagement initiatives will
be one of many steps toward fostering that trust.”
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a
cooperative partnership between the Kingston Police Department and Building
Department staff to provide property owners and tenants with assistance in
property upgrades and repairs such as lighting installation, overgrowth
removal, and other community-based issues that create a safer environment for
all.
Studies on the impact of foot patrol
efforts in high crime areas show reduction in violence and a significant gain
of community knowledge and information.
Helpful links:
http://publichealthlawresearch.org/news/2013/12/foot-patrol-can-be-used-curb-violence-and-improve-public-health
https://www.policefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/PF_Engaging-Comminities-One-Step-at-a-Time_Final.pdf
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11292-016-9271-1