The Town of Greece today released its required draft Police Reform and Reinvention Plan in accordance with Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203 issued regarding the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. The draft plan is available for download and community member comment at https://greeceny.gov/news/1186-ny-executive-order-203-reform-and-reinvention-plan
As required by Executive Order 203, municipalities across New York State are required to prepare a plan in response to the Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative structured by the State. The plans are created collaboratively with the police department and the public, adopted by the legislatures of each municipality, and submitted to the State for review and approval.
The Town of Greece is excited to introduce its draft plan for yet another stage of community review. This plan has been developed by a team of individuals from the Town, Police Department leaders, and community members from various stakeholder groups. The cohort groups have been working tirelessly on the plan. Town and Police Department officials are thankful for all of the voluntary participation from community members and community groups. This plan could not have been completed without community input and support.
With the release of the full draft plan today, the Town is issuing another survey to seek further community input and additional feedback on the police accountability plan prior to Town Board review and submission to the State on April 1, 2021. The Town further announced today that community involvement will not end once the draft is submitted to the State because police accountability, like all government employee accountability, is an ongoing conversation and involvement and input of Town residents is continuously a priority for the Police Department and all departments. Accordingly, the Town of Greece’s plan for the Greece Police Department will be a living document open for continuous feedback from Greece residents. The Greece Police Department understands and appreciates that its police officers and civilian staff provide a service to the public, and therefore, feedback regarding our service is essential to continuous improvement.
A link to the Town’s most recent survey is found at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3THXXNN
The Town’s draft document provides answers to specific questions posed by the State and lays out multiple initiatives and actions to continue progress and improvement on police reform and police-community relations. The plan covers transparency and accountability, community engagement, policies and procedures, and an emphasis on police training and wellness, which was a huge priority for the Town of Greece stakeholders.
The plan included work by several committees and sub-committees with many individuals volunteering their time to this initiative. Input for the draft plan was derived from multiple discussion from the Police Reform and Reinvention Committee. The plan was worked on extensively by the Police Reform and Reinvention Committee established by Supervisor Reilich.
The Town extends its thanks and gratitude for everyone’s hard work on this plan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To comply with the Governor’s order, a final plan will be adopted by the Town Board before April 1, 2021.
If you have any comments about the Town’s plan, the Town asks that you email Deputy Chief Jason Helfer at jhelfer@greeceny.gov.