Saratoga Springs finds itself in political turmoil as the city council held another open dialogue on police reform on March 31 on zoom. This meeting was the last open dialogue held before the city council voted to adopt the 50-point plan on police reform created by the Saratoga Springs Police Reform Task Force (SSPRTF). The SSPRTF created the 50-point plan to address Saratoga’s reform of the Saratoga Springs Police Department (SSPD). The proposal has been met with reluctance by the Saratoga city council and open hostility from the SSPD. However, the third draft proposed by the city council was passed with only one member in opposition.
The community spoke overwhelmingly in support of police reform. Many individuals shared personal experiences and anecdotes. One woman shared about how she grew up in Saratoga Springs and now lives in Albany. She explained how she was born and raised in Saratoga Springs and would like to return someday with her family. However, after the revelation of the Darryl Mount case, she doesn't feel comfortable as a Black woman taking her son, who is a Black man, back to her hometown.
The local support for police reform was clear, vocal, and prominent. The meeting, however, was not as well orchestrated as it initially appeared. Most of the questions asked to council members were not answered. The city council was dismissive at best and actively censored voices in the audience at worst.
Local activist Lexis Figueroa asked Mayor Meg Kelly why there has been no internal investigation into Darryl Mount’s death eight years later. In response, she kicked him out and stated, “you have been here before, you know how this works,” and “you know that you can’t ask anyone a direct question.” He was not the only activist to ask this question; all activists who asked these questions were removed. Mayor Meg Kelly was visibly offended by the mention of Darryl Mount.
People asked basic questions about police reform. Meg Kelly, who controlled the mic, let the Saratoga Police Benevolent Association (PBA) continue on a five-minute dialogue about why “they’re good.” Most of the questions asked that night were ignored and cut off after 2 minutes. Meg Kelly was asked a straightforward question about the 97 SSPRTF report about why, according to it, 50% of all SSPD encounters within a year are with People of Color, despite constituting only 2% of Saratoga’s population. She again ignored this question as did the PBA.
Furthermore, specifically “on the record statements'' were not being given by the city council. Members of the SSPRTF in attendance at the meeting asked the city council about controversial aspects of the city council’s plan and why some aspects could not be implemented if they faced no legal scrutiny. They got no response.
The community has made its call for police reform abundantly clear. The city government's contempt to deal with it has damaged the average citizen’s trust to never-before-seen lows.
The SSPRTF released a bombshell 97-page report and poll on the SSPD. Even though 53% had a favorable or semi-favorable view of the SSPD, out of the sampled group of 1,896 Saratoga county residents, 75% of young adults surveyed hold an unfavorable opinion of them. An abysmal 24-30% general approval rating for the SSPD was found among people ages 19-39, and 51% responded that law enforcement, in general, does not treat people with respect or fairness. The survey revealed a police force that is losing support rapidly from a younger, diverse community trying to grow in Saratoga. If the SSPD truly prioritizes restoration of police-community relations, these numbers show them going in the opposite direction.
These surveys, however, have not swayed the SSPD to reform but instead have made them more hostile to the SSPRTF. There seemed to be open hostility between the city council and SSPD against the SSPRTF that went unaddressed throughout the meeting. The SSPD and Saratoga PBA misrepresented their involvement in the 50-point reform plan to discredit the proposed project altogether. During the meeting, the Saratoga PBA claimed that they had not been in contact with the city’s police reform task force, and as such, the proposal was biased against law enforcement. At the same time, SSPRTF officials who were present contradicted this. They stated that they had been in contact with the police commissioner and had multiple lines of communication for the PBA and SSPD. The reform task force sent phone numbers and email links to the SSPD to keep an open line of communication. The officials having email and phone correspondence disproves the truthfulness of police claims. Clarification would have been helpful, but the city council never addressed the discrepancy or the conflict.
The meeting only showed the inevitability of a full constitutional crisis within Saratoga, even though the council voted in favor of the resolution due to intense public support. Many activists within Saratoga doubt that the police reforms will be honored. Protests are planned to continue into the future. In fact, political organizing is escalating beyond protests, into calls for a renewed city government.
The meeting amplified the fact that the city government is in a state of decay. Police corruption in the United States has reached epidemic levels. American police corruption potentially damages the U.S.’ credibility abroad in issues of foreign policy. The problems of the SSPD have put the city on the crossroads to a constitutional crisis. Mr. Kim, a local resident expressed how it is a liability not to pass police reforms. He later added how the city would inevitably be sued, if it was not passed. He stressed how the SSPD is in desperate need of modernization. His statement fell on deaf ears and was not commented on by the police.
All is not lost, however; Saratoga has passed police reform. The question now is whether the city council will honor their word and implement the reforms they passed.
Author’s Note:
As of April 3, 2021, the city council passed only 46 of the 50 points that were proposed, and while it is a step towards greater police reform and accountability, the four provisions not passed by the city council are the most important and controversial and include the following:.
They have not passed a civilian accountability board.
They have not banned no-knock warrants on homes.
They have not banned military assault weapons or vehicles for the police.
They have not repatriated assets seized by the police back into the community.
While some of these do face legal scrutiny like the repatriation of seized goods and the ban on military assault weaponry, the other points such as establishing a civil accountability board and the banning of no-knock warrants could be passed without legal challenges. The city council just seems unwilling to move on these important points.