An executive order from then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo mandated each community in New York to create a plan for policing. The Ithaca Police Benevolent Association announced earlier this month the city took its “first public action…to formally reverse” abolishing the department.
“It means a lot to us. It’s the first sign of stability we’ve seen in quite a long time,” said Thomas Condzella, the Ithaca PBA president.
Condzella is referring to a report that passed the Common Council in early April.
“The public has made it clear they want a police department, they want a professional law enforcement agency to protect their community,” said Condzella.
On April 5, the Common Council voted to approve a proposal from the Special Committee of Common Council. Their report made five main recommendations. One of those included creating a deputy city manager to oversee public safety and help transfer some calls to agencies besides police.
Another recommendation is making a public safety co-response team to respond alongside officers and connect people with services. Also recommended was a plan to protect police whistleblowers and train the community police board. The PBA has made public statements in the past, condemning the reimagining plan and their role in the process.
“We’re the core of it and we want to be part of it and until recently we felt like we hadn’t really been. We were kind of just an afterthought. But the conversations are getting deeper, they’re getting much more involved, and it's starting to feel much more like a partnership and less like an afterthought,” said Condzella.
The PBA has repeatedly referred to the reimagining plan as an abolishment of the department. Phoebe Brown worked with the Special Committee of Common Council.
“That is not something I’m familiar with and I don’t remember it ever being mentioned, to abolish IPD,” said Brown.
The reimagining plan previously included a change in the department’s name and leadership. Two days after the April vote by the Common Council, a memo from city Acting Mayor Laura Lewis says the Ithaca Police Department will keep that name, will continue to be led by a chief of police and no officers will lose their job or rank.
“Hopefully when we have our new police chief, our city manager in place that we can begin the work and the healing, most importantly,” said Brown.
A repeated theme throughout the reimagining process has been healing between the community and the police.
“So this community came together in full force and asked for change, yes, paradigm change, cultural shift, not to get rid of policing,” said Brown.
Both the mayor and police chief in power when the reimagining plan was created are no longer in those roles. The City and IPD are currently under acting leadership, with Acting Mayor Lewis and Acting Police Chief Ted Schwartz.
