KINGSTON– The Kington Re-envision Public Safety Task Force has submitted its report to the city common council.
As per a gubernatorial executive order, the special committee was formed to review the needs of the community served by its police agency, and evaluate the department’s current policies and practices; establish policies that allow police to effectively and safely perform their duties; involve the entire community in the discussion; develop policy recommendations resulting from this review; offer a plan for public comment; present the plan to the local legislative body to ratify or adopt it, and; and present a plan t the state by April 1.
Mayor Steven Noble said among the recommendations is to expand the membership on the city’s police commission as well as a number of issues dealing directly with the officers.
“Additional training related to unconscious bias, making sure that as we look at how our police department interacts with young members of our society that we are doing so with the best practical opportunities and using he most up to date science and research and criminal justice reform practices so that we are not doing more harm than good when interacting with the next generation,” he said.
The City of Kingston commissioned the Peaceful Guardians Project to facilitate the task force with members selected from many walks of life.
Each of the members chose a topic to research from four key areas: Use of Force & Accountability, Police Recruitment, Training & Morale, Community Policing, and Alternatives to Police Intervention. Two virtual town hall meetings were held to gather community feedback. Additional input was solicited through EngageKingston.com. The Task Force’s final recommendations incorporated public comment and have been finalized for review and ratification by the common council.
“This unique group of people with a broad range of experience and expertise brought such good insight to the task force,” said Mayor Steven Noble. “I hope the Common Council will adopt and ratify their recommendations, which I believe will benefit our entire community greatly. Once ratified, we will work with the Council to see what initiatives should be funded with the budgeted $100,000 in the coming months.”
