By Phil Blackwell
Amid the national outcry in the wake of the death of George Floyd and the massive protests that followed, states, cities and smaller municipalities are all closely examining the work of their police departments.
So it wasn’t a big surprise that a large portion of the June 18 meeting of the village of Baldwinsville Board of Trustees focused on the village’s police department — its past record and its future plans.
In a report to the board, Chief Michael Lefancheck offered a review of what his department was doing, including a timely run-through of what to do in high-tension situations.
“We have a comprehensive use-of-force policy,” said Lefancheck.
In situations where any officer uses force to deal with any complaint, they would have to write multiple reports which would then get reviewed at three levels — by a sergeant, then by a lieutenant, and finally by the chief.
The result, said Lefancheck, is that his department has fewer use-of-force incidents than neighboring police forces.
Still, at the behest of questions from board Trustee Mark Wilder, the department reviewed all the training its officers went through for the last 18 months.
What they found, said Lefancheck, was that every single officer in the force attended multiple training session in subjects ranging from use of force to anti-bias, community policing and de-escalation, along with mental health training.
“We have been as proactive as we can be on many of these topics long before it was brought to the forefront at the national level,” said Lefancheck.
Still, prodded by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order that all police departments in New York State offer review and reform plans by next April, Baldwinsville is already beginning this process.
Among the changes the department plans, said Lefancheck, was having a body camera on each officer, adding to the cameras placed in department police cars for the last 20 years.
Mayor Richard Clarke praised the department’s work, saying that national commentators who criticize police departments would do well to look at the work done in Baldwinsville.
“We’re a model for [good policing],” said Clarke. “As far as I’m concerned, we have a pretty good system.”
Also on the agenda
The board approved the transfer of more than $28,000 to a tax refund account, made payable to a landowner after he reached an agreement with the towns of Lysander and Van Buren and the Baldwinsville School District on the reassessment of property at 80 Smokey Hollow Road that dated back to 2014.
Also, the board approved a $20,000 payment from its sewer fund to purchase a stake rack truck, which is a flatbed truck with stake pockets inserted for storage purposes.
Clarke announced that the village’s “Park-A-Truck” program has resumed, where residents clearing trees, leaves and brush from their property can borrow a truck from the village to do that work and then return it within a short time.
