Internal committee to be formed for reorganization, shared services
The proposal to dissolve the Scotia Police Department was tossed aside Wednesday, April 5, after much public outcry.
The Village of Scotia and the Town of Glenville had just begun consolidation talks after Scotia Mayor Kris Kastberg approached town officials, but the Village Board of Trustees on Wednesday unanimously chose to forgo any future talks.
The board’s work session, which had been moved to the Lincoln Elementary School cafeteria, was filled to capacity with residents looking to weigh in on the proposal.
The board tonight said that they did not favor putting together a consolidation committee, said Kastberg after the meeting. `We are going to look at our own department, but still intend to work with the Town of Glenville to see where we can collaborate rather than consolidate.`
Plans to form an internal committee to evaluate the Village Police Department for any possible savings and enhancement to services will now be pursued. This would involve cutting back on the overtime of police officers, which Scotia Chief Thomas Rush said is already down to the `bare-bones.` Kastberg also has tossed around the idea of sharing an investigator with the town to help ease patrol officer workload. The minimal contract requirement is to have two police officers on during any given shift.
`The question is, what can we do to restructure [and] how we do our shifts and maintain better coverage in the village,` said Kastberg. `It is complex because there are contractual issues involved.`
The big turnout at the meeting wasn’t a surprise to Kastberg, and several residents addressed the board for roughly an hour. The general consensus was that even if taxes had to increase, they would pay to continue the high patrol amount per square mile.
`I understand that we are looking for ways to economize and to make things better for our residents,` said Gary Normington, member of the Scotia-Glenville Board of Education. `One of the things that I am here for is I am a parent first, and I look at what my three boys are going to have in this community. I know right now the officers in this town look out for our children so if we start to go to a larger police force where they don’t know our village and they don’t know our kids, I’m afraid we are going to lose that connection.`
High visibility patrols praised
Adam Halbfinger, president of the Scotia PBA, discussed the population density difference between the village and the town. Scotia has more than 8,000 residents in 1.7 square miles, and Glenville has nearly 22,000 residents in 47.2 square miles. The village’s population density per square mile is much higher than the town’s, at roughly 4,740 residents per square mile to 464, respectively.
`Due to the population density and the proximity of Scotia to Schenectady, the Scotia Police Department proactively patrols the village,` said Halbfinger. `The patrol pattern is a valuable part of our police department. It has been argued that this patrol style is not efficient and is outdated. However, due to this patrol pattern we have arrested suspects in numerous crimes in progress.`
During Glenville Chief Michael Ranalli’s presentation to both boards on Wednesday, March 29, he said studies since the 1970s had shown increased police presence alone does not decrease crime, but he added the studies also find `the public loves it.` He argued increased services to the village through a consolidation would allow for more follow-ups on more cases.
Some of the cases where high-visibility patrolling proved valuable, said Halbfinger, was during a series of tire slashings three years ago, when a rash of graffiti broke out and helping to solve the growing crime of larcenies from vehicles.
`In the past couple of years, I have personally arrested six suspects in four separate incidents for larcenies from vehicles while on patrol,` said Halbfinger. `This includes arresting a suspect from a larceny from a vehicle of a village trustee here today, which the iPod was returned to her.`
Decision comes with a price
When the board took a break before making its decision, Glenville Supervisor Christopher Koetzle said consolidation is not a Glenville plan but one to benefit both municipalities. He stressed the town wasn’t forcing this on village residents and the village had approached the town.
`We have got to react to facts and not emotions,` said Koetzle. `There is no question that Scotia has a great police force, and there is no question that the residents like to have that police force, but in today’s day and age, it would be irresponsible of us not to look at ways of trying to save the taxpayer money while continuing to deliver the same services.`
Koetzle said there are many options to look into if the village didn’t want to consolidate, but he is interested in ways to save the village money if the residents desired it.
`If the village residents want to continue to pay more for services, then that is their prerogative,` said Koetzle. `We would like to try to find a way to meet their needs and deliver the same services at a lower cost.
While nobody spoke out at the meeting in favor of consolidation, Kastberg said he has heard from some residents concerned about rising taxes. In his current proposed budget, the tax increase would be 4.68 percent for the upcoming year if everything remained intact.
He said after the Wednesday meeting was over, he heard from one resident who was interested in consolidation but afraid to speak up at the meeting.
But overall, the meeting seemed to indicate many residents are willing to pay for the village environment they’ve had for years.
`I’ve been involved in a 12 percent increase [and] 10 percent increase and not one person showed up to the budget hearings, not one person showed up to the public hearing,` said Kastberg about past tax increases. `People are willing to pay in the village.`
Scotia resident Drew Kinum asked the crowd how many people thought of the village as a bit like Mayberry from `The Andy Griffith Show,` in which everyone in the fictional town knew one another very well.
`How many times on Halloween do we see Schenectady kids coming over here?` asked Kinum. `My biggest fear is control of our police department, village control. We have other people that enjoy this village because of us and what we have.“
