DeWitt adopts police reform plan

TOWN OF DEWITT-On Monday, March 22, the DeWitt Town Board unanimously approved its policing reform plan in accordance with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order last summer, which required all municipalities that have a police force to review the department’s policies and procedures, and if necessary, propose reforms.
The plan was compiled by the Town of DeWitt Police Commission, which is made up of three elected officials and 11 community residents.
In a brief discussion prior to the vote Police Chief Case Bilodeau said minor wording changes had been made since the March 8 public hearing on the plan, and the police commission will continue to refine department goals and strategies in the future.
“We’re going to submit this plan, but it’s never done,” Bilodeau said. He complimented the work done by the commission and added that it is his goal to maintain that level of community involvement when it is not a time of crisis.
The full text of the plan is available at townofdewitt.com and the public can comment on the plan by emailing police@ townofdewitt.com. Bilodeau urged town residents to communicate with the department as policies and procedures will continue to evolve after the plan is submitted to the state.
Arrests and tickets down in 2020
Bilodeau also provided the board with an overview of the police department’s annual report, which indicated a steep decline in calls for service, tickets issued and arrests last year.
There were a total of 719 arrests in 2020 down from 1,159 in 2019. Tickets issued were down from 2,763 in 2019 to 1,010 in 2020. Bilodeau said the reason for the reduction in tickets is two-fold. Not only was traffic significantly reduced because of the pandemic, but in order to limit contact, patrolling officers looked for the most egregious violations.
More evidence of the reduction in traffic during the pandemic was the number of car accidents, which were down about 50 percent in 2020.
One area of increase is the number of use of force incidents involving police. In 2020, there were 52 use of force incidents by DeWitt police. Of those, seven led to minor injuries and none required medical treatment. These incidents led to five minor injuries to officers. One officer suffered ligament damage to a shoulder and the remaining injuries were cuts and abrasions.
Bilodeau said that in 2020, the police did encounter “a significant number of individuals” who were willing to disregard the commands of police.
“That officers are using as limited force as possible,” he said.
Not all use of force incidents indicate contact between the officer and the suspect. Bilodeau said that simply drawing a taser and pointing it at a suspect is considered a use of force.
Bilodeau said DeWitt police administered 25 vials of Naloxone to people actively overdosing on drugs. These incidents involved 14 different individuals, 13 of whom survived.