the tolbert plan: fighting crime and safe streets

7/27/2019 The Tolbert Plan: Fighting Crime and Safe Streets

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SAFE STREETSThe Need for a Better Choice

The number one mandate for any

government is publ ic safety.

Currently Buffalo is the 11th most dangerous

city1 in the entire nation and the 2nd most violent

city in NYSMORE DANGEROUS than NYC,

Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers.

During the first six months of 2012 the crime rate

in Buffalo increased by 10.9%.

There were 48 murders in the City of Good

Neighbors, 138 forcible rapes, almost 1,400

robberies and more than 1,800 aggravated

assaults.

1The national data about Buffalos 11th national ranking is based on FBI data of the number of violent crimes in

each US city with 25,000 or more people. FBI's Uniform Crime Report is used to assess the list noting the number

of murders, non-negligent manslaughters, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults.

My almost 22 years of

experience as an FBI Agent

and additional 10 years as a

security professional, gives

me the vision and the

expertise to end this reign of

terror that defines Byron

Browns Buffalo.

The membership of the BPD

PBA voted to endorse my

candidacy. Clearly morale in

the Department is at an all-

time low and the Officers on

the Street see the need for

change.

We are working on ways to

start fighting crime and

violence in Buffalo as soon

as I take the oath of office.

Im not going to need a

honeymoon period to know

that we need to put more

officers back on the streets

rather than in private details

with select members of City

Halls administration.

A MESSAGE

FROM BERNIE:

SAFE STREETS


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A Better Choice: THE TOLBERT PLAN

There are several contr ibuti ng factors that impact the state of

safety in our city; al l of them are resolvable and many are avoidable.

Buffalos Police Department is adversely affected and influenced

by City Hall Politics. The City has misallocated resources, made poor

decisions around budget cuts and made no long term investments. All of

these malfunctions prevent officers from protecting residents and all but

eliminate the ability to be proactive in fighting crime.

A lack of transparency that prevents citizens from understandingand having voice in what is done well and what needs improvement.

Inconsistent professional culture that leads to, by some, disrespect

of officers in the city, but also disrespect for certain communities within

the city; these circumstances are compounded by a lack of

professionalism within the leadership of Buffalos police force.

From day one my policies and actions will be comprehensive, but

also targeted to address the malfunctions that have been allowed topersist under the current administration.

My plan will: restore integri tyto the Buffalo Police Department;

promote professionali sm and a high performance culture; adequately

staff and resource the Buf falo Poli ce Department; and, invest in the

futurethrough youth development and restorative justice.

My commitment to these efforts as well as execution of my plans

for education and economic development will move Buffalo out of the

top 15 most dangerous cities by the end of my first term.


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4- POINT PLAN

POINT 1- RESTORE INTEGRITY TO THE BUFFALO

POLICE DEPARTMENT

Restoring integrity by increasing accountability, creating betterdepartment policies, streamlining data and monitoring procedures,

facilitating department transparency and improving community

relations.

Ensure that the process for addressingissues or complaints related to biased

policing is transparent, equitable and

employs best practice;

Hold regular public meetings to discusspolicy, training, and other high levelinitiatives to insure that public input is

received and considered;

Developing protocols for communitycommendation and recognition;

Provide opportunities for communitymembers to learn about policing from thepolice perspective and to share feedback;

Re-establish and enhance BPD CitizensAcademy; Increase administrative andmonetary support for the BPD Explorer

Program.

Increase community interaction byleveraging technology;

Revise policies for hiring and contracts toguard against nepotism and cronyism;

Ensure quality and excellence in careertracks beginning with new leadership atthe Buffalo Police Department- with the

track record, experience, and skills to

manage the citys police force;

With the new Police administrationDevelop a written Code of Ethics

including biased policing in our new

Department Code of Ethics and requiringeach BPD employee to review,

understand, and sign as a condition ofemployment and provide annual, on-line

ethics training;

Provide consistent data reporting, trackingand metrics at the department level and get

information to the Public by implementing

a dashboard of key performance metrics

that are tracked and used to buildexpectations and drive improvement;

Provide more crime analysis and crimeprevention information at the

neighborhood level;


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POINT 2- PROMOTE PROFESSIONALISM AND HIGH

PERFORMANCE CULTURE

Promoting professionalism and a high performance culture through

systematic enforcement of professional standards that are aligned withethics and principles, delivering excellent leadership, and training.

Re- establishing a professional culture by rewriting and updating the code ofethics professional standards policies - to ensure alignment with foundational

principles and ethics;

Convene a committee to choose the next Commissioner of Police who will havethe respect of rank and file officers;

Convene Standards Committee to review practices and support implementation; Create positive culture, confidence and morale by recognition of officers and

staff that exemplify excellence in ethics and foundational mission principles;

Execute excellent leadership and supervision in order to ensure that our police,fire and emergency medical technicians (EMT) officials as well as those

officials under the purview of the Mayors office have appropriate leadership toenhance morale and motivation and appropriate discipline and supervision inorder to deliver quality, equity and results in all services provided;

Make promotions timely and re-design civil services promotional exams to beless biased;

Ensure recruitment standards and practices emphasize the diversity and identifythe commitment of every new officer to understand and protect city and its

residents;

Work to recruit skilled communicators, people of color, people who areknowledgeable, and come from Buffalo;

Better utilize daily training and meeting time to discuss case study violationsand mistakes as method of professional development and improvement.


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POINT 3- ADEQUATE STAFFING, RESOURCES AND

TRAINING

Adequate staffing and resourcing will be achieved through recruiting,

training, and re-deployment of resources to address the most seriousaspects of crime and safety.

Build an adequate police, fire and EMTstaff pipeline and work force in order to

increase the number of officers capable

of protecting our city and our residents.

The rate of retirement cannot outpace therate of recruitment;

Create clear and effective organizationalstructure and deployment of resources inorder to organize, operate and sustain

service delivery;

Convene a workgroup to develop astrategic plan for the city that focusseson succession planning, training, and

short and long term crime initiatives;

Re-evaluate One-person patrols andofficer safety issues.

Improve responses and tactics involvingmultiple officers;

Convene a work group to evaluate gapsin the BPDs use of technology, data andanalytics and create a plan and proposed

policy to enhance safety with these tools;

Enhance and deploy Anti-crimefighting techniques

Appropriately resource officersincluding expanding camera andtechnology;

Much of the violence occurring in theCity of Buffalo is directly related to the

75-80 identified gangs within the City.Because of the actual violence, the

potential of violence and the vastamount of gang and crime intelligence

in our schools we will have at least two

(2) School Resource Officers (SRO,

assigned to each of the ten (10) most inneed schools with three (3) Detectives

available for confidential interviews.


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POINT 4- INVESTING IN THE FUTURE THROUGH

YOUTH DEVELOPMENT AND RESTORATIVE

JUSTICE

Investing in the future through city resourced youth developmentprograms and restorative justice practices is a major cornerstone of

preventative policing. It is essential to invest in our youth to mitigate

factors that create theschool to prison pipeline and make streets safer

for all.

Create programmatic and permanent structures to connect education and

youth development, including not just a focus on literacy but all academic

areas;

Implement policies supported by city resources to enable neighborhood

schools to provide engaging after school programs that extend into the

evening, especially beyond youth crime peak hours;

Engage youth early in criminal justice, law, citizenship and civil rights by

ensuring high engagement in participation in Youth Court, Peer Mediation,Debate as well as neighborhood supported midnight basketball leagues, arts

and cultural, and youth leadership programs;

Increase trust between youth and police by providing opportunities for

youth to interact with BPD in a non-confrontational environment and

enable the Police Athletic League & Citywide sports programs to be a

primary presence in neighborhood as well as redefining the role of

community justice centers to provide direct mentoring;

Establish a Mayoral panel to develop a plan that provides alternatives to

incarceration, develops a real accessible prison to employment pathway

and provides for restorative justice policies for youth offenders;


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the tolbert plan: fighting crime and safe streets

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