To the Editor:

The following letter was submitted to the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators, regarding police reform.

In June 2020, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued Executive Order #203, which required local governments that operate police forces to submit a plan which describes how they will reform how their police operate in the community:

In St. Lawrence County, the Sheriff’s Office began to work on a police reform plan. The sheriff held two public meetings: Oct. 14 in the afternoon, and Oct. 21 in the evening. On Dec. 21, 2020, the Board of Legislators approved a police reform resolution.

The Leadership Team of the NYS Poor Peoples Campaign: North Country Committee believes that St. Lawrence County’s effort to conduct police reform does not meet the standards of Gov. Cuomo’s Executive Order #203 because:

a. The effort does not address the particular needs of the communities served by such police agency;

b. The effort does not promote community engagement to foster trust, fairness, and legitimacy;

c. The effort does not address any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color.

We have not seen a county police reform plan. We have only seen a PowerPoint presentation, and a board resolution. Will the county submit a PowerPoint presentation to NYS? Where is the plan?

· The Village of Canton has a police reform plan on its website and invites public comment. Why doesn’t St. Lawrence County do this?

We do not feel that two public meetings, held more than five months before the deadline for submission of a police reform plan, provided sufficient opportunity for community involvement.

· Why were there no community surveys, why were there not meetings in every community, why was there no continued public outreach?

· Why can’t there be additional public meetings between now and April 2021?

NYS reports that Persons of Color (POC) make up 7% of the county’s population, but account for 15% of all arrests, 21% of all felony arrests, and 25% of all those sentenced to prison.

· Has the county’s reform plan addressed these statistics? What is the county’s response to these statistics? What will the county do to make sure that POC are not disproportionately targeted by the police?

Did the board of legislators or the sheriff attempt to involve People of Color in their reform planning? If so, when? What groups?

· Did the board or the sheriff involve Black Lives Matter group?

· Did the board of the sheriff involve the Poor Peoples Campaign? Representatives from the Poor Peoples Campaign attended the public meetings held in October, as well as a public meeting held in July. They can attest that these meetings were basically presentations, not opportunities for community discussion.

Was the board or the sheriff aware of public demonstrations to promote racial justice, including fair treatment by police, that took place across the County throughout the summer and into the fall and winter?

· Over 1,000 people marched in Potsdam on June 1.

· More than 200 persons attended a demonstration in Canton the next weekend.

· Demonstrations and marches were held in Gouverneur, in Massena, in Ogdensburg, and other communities.

- Did the Board or the Sheriff attempt to involve the people who organized these demonstrations, or who participated in these demonstrations? If yes, then how? If not, why not?

The Poor Peoples Campaign is aware that the Sheriff’s Office has proposed to have all of its officers wear body cameras. This is an important step, and we support it strongly. We demand that the Board of Legislators support this body camera program through the budget.

The Poor Peoples Campaign is also aware that the Sheriff has proposed to hold a public meeting 4 times per year in locations around the County.

This is not sufficient outreach or community involvement.

The Poor Peoples Campaign demands that the county establish a citizen review board,

to ensure an open, citizen-controlled process for:

· providing public accountability over the powers exercised by local law enforcement,

· preservation of the integrity of local law enforcement, and

· a forum for citizen complaints regarding local law enforcement to be heard and reviewed fairly and impartially.

Smaller communities that maintain local police forces might be invited to participate in a county-level citizen review board.

The Leadership Team of the NYS Poor Peoples Campaign: North Country Committee stands ready to work with St. Lawrence County to achieve police reform that addresses the needs of communities served by the Sheriff’s Office, that promotes community engagement, and that addresses racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color.

Leadership Team of the NYS Poor Peoples Campaign: North Country Committee

Jamey Merkel, Canton

Raamitha Pillay, Colton

Jaclyn Ryan, Canton

John Tenbusch, Waddington

Gary VanKennen, Massena

Teresa Veramendi, Canton

Dave Weissbard, Canton