SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Last month, the Saratoga Springs City Council voted to eliminate the position of Assistant Police Chief.
The position was held by Robert Jillson, who took over following the retirement of John Catone in December. The vote by the council was part of a restructuring and reallocation of officer resources in the city. Jillson was demoted back to his previous rank of Lieutenant.
According to Saratoga Springs Commissioner of Public Safety Jim Montagnino, the move was made to create a greater police presence with cops on the beat where and when they’re needed the most.
Former Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton has been leading a petition drive to restore the position. Dalton also spoke out at Tuesday evening’s city council meeting.
“I just wanna know when you profess to support kindness, respect, how we’re supposed to speak truth to this council, how you can sit here and allow your law enforcement officers to be called sub-humans? How are you allowing that? Practice what you preach,” Dalton said.
“I think that the actions taken to defund the assistant chief of police were reckless, there was no transparency, there was no opportunity for the public to weigh in and I would just urge this council to pause on the budget transfer so that the public is allowed to give some input and let you know how they feel about it because that’s how you should be operating. You’re not here to serve yourself, you’re here to serve the citizens and the people of Saratoga. So, I’d like to see that happen,” Dalton added on wanting more discussion on the issue.
Saratoga Springs resident Chris Mathiesen, who served as Public Safety Commissioner from 2012-2017, also questioned the lack of open debate around the topic.
“I was extremely surprised how suddenly and without real notice to the community, the four of you decided to vote to approve the elimination of that position,” Mathiesen said.
“If Commissioner [of Public Works, Anthony “Skip”] Scirocco were here, I’m sure he would advise you to table that until everyone had the opportunity to weigh in and understand exactly what you’re doing,” Mathiesen continued.
“The command structure of the police department is very lean. It’s been very effective and the reliance on having an assistant chief as well as a chief has worked out very well but I think you made a big mistake,” Mathiesen added regarding the decision.
There were also city residents who defended the council’s decision, during the public comment session.
“I’m doing this for my child but I’m also doing this for our community because I love our community and I’ve worked to be an ally to people of color almost my entire life. It’s hard to live in a community where people are being targeted,” Saratoga Springs resident Laurie Zucker commented.
“I do support reallocation of funds from that assistant commissioner. I do not support hiring more police officers. I think we have a problem with housing in this community and we could spend money on that. We have mental health issues, there are so many other things we could do. My child’s very involved in food justice. I think we know there are people that live in this community that don’t have enough to eat, so why aren’t we taking public land and turning it into food? There’s so many other things we could do that would be loving and supportive, instead of targeting black and brown bodies in our community, a community that I love. So, let’s support reallocation of funds for housing, mental health services, harm reduction, community outreach, and restorative justice,” Zucker added regarding other uses for funds.
“One of the things about the debate about the assistant chief position is one side is being entirely disingenuous. Opponents of eliminating the position are saying that this is defunding the police as if it’s some kind of scary boogeyman to be afraid of. What they don’t want to mention to you is that the money being reallocated is going to more patrol officers. Whether I agree with that or not you’ll find out in a little bit. Conservatives always talk about how government should be run like business and that we should look to businesses on how things should be efficient. Businesses all the time consolidate and eliminate positions that are ineffective and redundant. In my last comment here I talked about the problem with crime, where police are seen as the thin blue line but hold no responsibility for crime that happens nor preventing crime. The police are merely reactionary in their existence and are in a win-win,” Saratoga Springs resident Matthew Marshall remarked on the function of the department.
“Over the past two years, we’ve had violations of constitutional rights, attorney general probes of obstruction, conspiracy, and policing on the basis of race. Last year it was ‘take back the narrative.’ The only narrative that seems to persist is that the administration of the SSPD continues to be a black eye on the city. Over 50 percent of the city’s budget goes to public safety and all I ever hear is that they need more. More money, more equipment, more technology, more cooperation, more officers, more, more, more. At what point do we start wondering, maybe this department isn’t very effective at anything they do and perhaps throwing more money at reacting to crime, doesn’t prevent it,” Marshall added regarding the return on investment or lack thereof for taxpayers.
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April 07, 2022 at 12:13AM
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Discussion lively surrounding Saratoga Springs assistant police chief position - The Saratogian
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