North Country Public Radio
Protestors gather at a Black Lives Matter rally in Saranac Lakeâs Riverside Park on June 2, 2020.
(Enterprise photo â Elizabeth Izzo) The village of Malone faced fierce backlash last month after its draft police reform plan praised the community’s white heritage and described Black residents as transient. But that controversy led to more nuanced conversations about racism in Malone and a new police reform plan that acknowledges systemic racism. The first draft of Malone’s police reform plan dismissed racism and said the village’s white heritage was an asset to police. It linked Black people to the local prisons and said Malone’s proximity to the native reservation at Akwesasne led to a “never ending crisis” of illicit drugs.