The Village of Malone is still dealing with controversy surrounding its police reform plan; after the first one contained concerning things like referring to African Americans in the community as “Transient.”Village officials have been hard at work this past week attempting to right their wrongs. “Some of us have been putting a lot of time and hours into this report,” said Malone Chief of Police Christopher Premo. “Reaching out to other communities, reaching out to other departments to see how they’ve handled it. Right now, we have a 21-page report.” Chief Premo said they’ve fixed the hurtful language in the original report. “We have removed a lot of the language that was in the last report. Anything like derogatory stuff that people felt derogatory. All that’s been removed,” Chief Premo said.Another public meeting was held on Friday afternoon via Zoom and in-person at Malone Village Hall.Topics of discussion included: the police department getting training for dealing with people with special needs or disabilities, instituting a strict policy for officers not using body cameras, and even extending use of force training and de-escalation.Numerous suggestions were also brought up during the meeting on how Malone could include committees with members of diverse backgrounds in the planning process.Meanwhile, a protest organized by The North Country Poor People’s Campaign, with the support of groups like Black Lives Matter Potsdam and We The People Syracuse, was held outside the village hall during the public meeting. Teresa Veramendi, with The North Country Poor People’s Campaign, expressed her scrutiny of the plan.”We are not going to let this kind of language fly. It is not acceptable and it’s time for folks to get educated and, frankly, to wake up. Yes, some of this is unconscious and yes, we can wake up to it, if we’re willing to work on it,” she said.The next public meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 29 at 4 p.m. Those interested in checking out the recent draft of the police reform can find it located here.
The Village of Malone is still dealing with controversy surrounding its police reform plan; after the first one contained concerning things like referring to African Americans in the community as “Transient.”
Village officials have been hard at work this past week attempting to right their wrongs.
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“Some of us have been putting a lot of time and hours into this report,” said Malone Chief of Police Christopher Premo. “Reaching out to other communities, reaching out to other departments to see how they’ve handled it. Right now, we have a 21-page report.”
Chief Premo said they’ve fixed the hurtful language in the original report.
“We have removed a lot of the language that was in the last report. Anything like derogatory stuff that people felt derogatory. All that’s been removed,” Chief Premo said.
Another public meeting was held on Friday afternoon via Zoom and in-person at Malone Village Hall.
Topics of discussion included: the police department getting training for dealing with people with special needs or disabilities, instituting a strict policy for officers not using body cameras, and even extending use of force training and de-escalation.
Numerous suggestions were also brought up during the meeting on how Malone could include committees with members of diverse backgrounds in the planning process.
Meanwhile, a protest organized by The North Country Poor People’s Campaign, with the support of groups like Black Lives Matter Potsdam and We The People Syracuse, was held outside the village hall during the public meeting.
Teresa Veramendi, with The North Country Poor People’s Campaign, expressed her scrutiny of the plan.
“We are not going to let this kind of language fly. It is not acceptable and it’s time for folks to get educated and, frankly, to wake up. Yes, some of this is unconscious and yes, we can wake up to it, if we’re willing to work on it,” she said.
The next public meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 29 at 4 p.m.
Those interested in checking out the recent draft of the police reform can find it located here.
