Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - 20:44
Enterprise file photo Michael Koff
Guilderland Police officers patrol Crossgates Mall.
GUILDERLAND Social workers will respond to some calls that Guilderland Police used to handle if a draft for reform here is adopted and implemented.
Among the 18 recommendations and 34 action items in the draft for Guilderland Police reform are the recommendations that social workers and medics respond to calls involving mental health, despondency, substance abuse, and homelessness and that certain cases be diverted from the criminal-justice system.
The draft also shows that a much higher percentage of Blacks are arrested in town than the 3.5 percent of the Guilderland population they make up. This is largely due to arrests of out-of-town suspects made at Crossgates Mall, according to Police Chief Daniel McNally.