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John Blankley (opinion): I once voted to keep cops on The Ave. Now I ve changed my mind
John Blankley
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A Greenwich Police officer directs traffic at Greenwich Avenue and Elm Street in Greenwich, Connecticut, in January 2020.File / Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media
Here we go again, a decades-old debate: the issue of traffic police on the Avenue is item 1 on the Representative Town Meeting’s agenda (“the call”) on March 8, pitting traditionalists against modernists.
When I first served on the RTM a dozen years ago one of the first votes I took was to keep “cops on the Avenue.” The proposal at that time was to install traffic lights, a soulless idea, so the choice then was easy and an overwhelming majority nixed it. And it was all the easier for me because when we’d arrived from the UK almost 25 years before we saw local police directing traffic and it was such a reminder of “Olde England.”
Albany settles 2 lawsuits from First Street police response
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Police body camera footage shows Albany Police Officer Luke Deer taking down Armando Sanchez during a March 16, 2019, altercation on First Street. Officer Deer was charged with felony assault and a misdemeanor count of official misconduct. (Albany Police)
ALBANY – The city quietly settled lawsuits over the summer with two men seen in videos being struck by police officers responding to calls for a loud party on First Street in March 2019.
The settlements were approved at the July 21, 2020 Board of Estimate and Apportionment meeting. There was almost no discussion on the matter. The city did not admit any liability or wrongdoing as part of the settlements, according to the meeting agenda. The Times Union discovered the settlements while researching another story on the city’s website.