Glenville police chief presents concepts for moving forward
The mood was tense as officials and residents from Scotia and Glenville listened to a presentation Wednesday, March 29, by Glenville Police Chief Michael Ranalli on police consolidation efforts between the two municipalities.
Concepts for consolidating were presented to a Village Hall packed with residents, police officers and town officials, including Village Mayor Kris Kastberg, Town Supervisor Christopher Koetzle and both of their liaisons for police departments.
I don’t know if it is the right time right now, but I do think it is time for us to take a serious look at it, said Kastberg about the consolidation talks. `There are a bunch of small things that we could possibly do. The largest is consolidation, and it also is the most complex, so it made sense to tackle that one first.`
Earlier consolidation talks had gone by the wayside but were revisited recently with the village looking at ways to save money. Now the Village Board of Trustees must decide whether Scotia wants to continue looking into consolidation, a decision that is expected to be made at the board’s next meeting on Tuesday, April 5.
Ranalli said the March 29 meeting was a way to present some solid concepts to the public so both municipalities had something to `sink their teeth into` as they decided whether or not to move forward.
`Anything you see in this presentation tonight is absolutely not carved in stone. This is a conceptual review,` said Ranalli. `While I put together some patrol concepts and some deployment concepts, they are not set in stone. You need a group of people that are experienced and know the community admittedly better than I do to come up with a final product.`
For 22 of his 27 years in law enforcement, Ranalli worked with a larger department in the Town of Colonie, and that experience there has allowed him to see how a larger department, covering a town and village, can work for the benefit of both.
`I think we are much stronger, or could be much stronger, instead of 13 and 22, as 35. I think that the people, the talent, the resources that we could pool together would produce an even stronger department than either one of us can do right now,` said Ranalli. `The village has certain expectations and the town has certain expectations, so I am not going to tell anyone here something that is not true just to make something happen.`
Consolidation concepts shape up
The Village Police Department has one chief, three sergeants and nine officers currently, and the Town Police Department has one chief, two lieutenants, three sergeants, 13 officers and three detectives, with the village and includes the 13 from the village and 22 from the town. In his patrolling concept, he assumed there would be 33 officers since he expects some might leave if the consolidation is realized.
Even if the consolidation doesn’t move forward, Ranalli said he didn’t want the mutual aid relationship strained between the two departments.
`Our two departments work together very cooperatively, and I do not want that to change. We have accomplished a lot in the time I have been here, and I want to keep that going,` said Ranalli.
Both the village and the town have a minimum of two officers on duty at all times, Ranalli said, which can sometimes be a struggle to maintain patrols. With cyber crime and other sophisticated crimes, the departments can have trouble keeping up, and while Ranalli said both departments are doing a good job, there might be a way to do it better.
`When I started in 1984, things are a lot different then than they are now. Crime has become increasingly sophisticated,` said Ranalli. `While you say you have a two officer minimum for both of us, the problem with that is if those officers have cases they have to follow up on, they can’t because they have to be available for calls.`
One reason many residents and village officials rejected consolidation efforts in the past is the familiarity with having a high police presence in the village. Comments from village residents after the presentation echoed that feeling.
`You are used to right now within the Village of Scotia you have two officers and that is the mindset,` said Ranalli. `High visibility patrols versus increased support services that is what it is going to come down to. For the Village residents it is going to be a decision; do we stay with the concepts that many of you have lived with your whole lives, or do we change the paradigm to a system where we are going to have increased support services.`
Since the 1970’s studies have been showing increased police presence alone does not decrease crime, according to Ranalli. He said the studies also show the public `loves it` due to constantly seeing police cars and officers. Having high intensity and high visibility patrols need to be targeted, he said, in problem areas where it is needed. Many of the most time consuming crimes including identity theft, sex offenses, sale of drugs, domestic violence aren’t affected by high visibility patrols.
`More support services would allow follow up for more cases,` said Ranalli.
Crime trends within the community could also be looked into further, said Ranalli, because there is little coordination or effort between the two departments currently. Once data is complied the focus areas for increased patrol could be assigned. A larger department would allow for specialized skills and areas to be focused on such as sex offenses.
There would be three coverage zones, said Ranalli, with the consolidated force, with Zone 1 covering West Glenville, Zone 2 covering the village and an extended portion around Wal-Mart and Freeman’s Bridge Road and Zone 3 covering the remain portion around the town municipal center. There would also be a hybrid Zone 2/3 in the middle of the two zones when officers were available.
During the midnight shift he said there could be a 5 officer maximum and 3 minimum. The day shift would have a 6 to 7 officer maximum and 4 minimum and the afternoon shift would include a 7 maximum and 4 minimum. Ranalli noted the village would rarely have no officers on patrol and only for a short period of time when it does occur.
If the merge occurred Ranalli said the current village department would remain functioning as an office and for walk-ins. He also said the Glenville department would expand to the second level of the municipal center and he jokingly said for the department to get a window since the current headquarters has none.
According to rough estimates, Ranalli said the village would have a savings of $300 for the average home assessed value of $124,000, which results in a decrease cost of 21 percent. The town though would see an increase of cost by 10 percent with the average taxpayer seeing a $58 increase. Koetzle said the increase isn’t acceptable and a way to reduce the cost to town residents would need to be found.
`My opinion, a merger now will help us to prepare for the future,` said Ranalli. `I am not standing up here saying this is just for Scotia, this is for us, this for Glenville too. It will add our capabilities dramatically.`
Opinions expressed over plans
Scotia Trustee Joseph Rizzo said he would be concerned about the lack of police presence in the village under the consolidation plan. He said he wanted to make sure the village isn’t going to `lose` in the deal.
`If one car moves off we are going to have the village unprotected without a patrol care and that is one of my concerns. We are going to leave the village open and we are going to shuffle things around,` said Rizzo.
Ranalli said the nature of zones would have cars moving out of areas when they are needed in different zones, but the same goes for the village when there is a need for more officers there would be more responding.
`Zones exist for when nothing is going on,` said Ranalli. `When it comes to something going on that needs attention the officers are going to go where they are needed.`
Scotia resident Bill Pytlovany said he liked the idea of joining together experts from both departments to best utilize their skills and address more serious crimes.
`I, for one, would rather make sure somebody spends time catching a rapist than whether a bike gets stolen out of Collins Park, not that I think that is good,` said Pytlovany.
On more of an aesthetic note he asked whether the cars would say `Scotia-Glenville Police` or just `Glenville Police,` because he knows it is an issue with residents. Kastberg said it had been discussed, but no clear answer was given either way.
When asked by a village resident, Ranalli stated again it is his feeling to have positions offered for all existing officers, but the two boards would decide the actual outcome.
`I can’t give you a solid answer, because it would depend on what model that was settled on,` said Kastberg. `If a model was adopted that didn’t have that high of staffing than the fact is that people would lose their jobs.`
Scotia Police Chief Thomas Rush addressed his concerns of being able to properly staff his police force and provide ample coverage to residents. He said he doesn’t want to revisit consolidation efforts again in the future if funding issues continue to be a concern.
`The state government put so many mandates on us my officers are in the station doing stupid paperwork that the state requires us to do, so we are tied up doing paperwork. I’m going to tell you straight up my 12 officers bust their humps day in and day out to do what they have to do.`
Also, when serious crimes occur, such as the recent Glen Sanders Mansion robbery, Rush said he doesn’t have `the people to do the job` and while he didn’t support consolidation he urged everyone to face the situation realistically.
`The Village of Scotia is in the closet,` said Rush to attendees about the amount of serious crimes the town faces. `When I have something major going down I have to pull them out of patrol. I do not have people dedicated strictly for investigations I have no problems staying with the Village of Scotia; I need more people. Give me more people.`
Kastberg said the needs expressed by Rush are part of the reasoning for beginning to look at alternatives.
`You heard the frustration from our chief, which is really the impetuous for starting to look at some of these options. Obviously the goal of the village board is going to be to keep or improve the policing that we have ion the village in the most economic way possible,` said Kastberg.“
