Mayor Bill Keeler announced the establishment of a 14-member panel that will conduct a wide-ranging review of Cohoes Police Department rules, regulations, policies and procedures on October 14, 2020.  The commission will meet publicly from October through March with an eye toward modifying and modernizing existing guidelines.  

The City of Cohoes ‘Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Committee’ was formed in accordance with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order 203, dated June 20, 2020, which requires each municipality in the State that has a police department to adopt a policing reform plan by April 1, 2021.  The Order authorizes the Director of the Division of Budget to condition State aid to localities on the adoption of such a plan.

“This commission will undertake a comprehensive overview of our current police force deployments, strategies, policies, procedures and practices, for the purposes of addressing the specific needs of the people of Cohoes”, Mayor Keeler said in making the announcement. 

“Our committee will look at a wide-range of issues, including but not limited to, use of force policies, de-escalation training, procedural justice and racial justice in policing.  I look forward to engaging and partnering with the community,” Chief Waldin stated.

“I’m grateful that these talented citizens are so enthusiastically volunteering their time and energy to help make a good police department even better”, Keeler added.