Police Commissioner: State Police Effective In City

Schenectady Police Commissioner Wayne Bennett told the city council he is "happy with the results" of the assistance the SPD has received over the last six days from the New York State Police. Bennett said the streets have been relatively quiet with no cases of shots fired since troopers began patrolling with local cops Wednesday. 

"We believe that's had an impact because we really don't have a case of shots fired that we can validate as occurring since that took place," Bennett told the council. Outside the council chambers, Bennett told CBS 6 News he is not taking credit for the relative calm that was preceded by at least twenty-six cases of shots fired in the city and one gun-related homicide on a city street on April 15.

"I don't claim credit for anything yet," Bennett told CBS 6 News. "A few days is certainly not a way to give valid assessments, if you will. It's way too brief a time period. I would hope within a month's time if I can stand with you here again and say, 'Yes, we've had a reduction in the number of shots-fired complaints,' or hopefully - it may be Utopia, but - no victims and no shots fired period, then maybe we'll claim some limited victory." 

Bennett told the council the shootings have a few common factors. He said they are usually the result of personal vendettas between individuals or groups, often involve people who know each other and often involve robbery.

Asked whether the typical offender would respond any more to troopers than to local officers, Bennett said, "I don't know. I don't know what they're mind set is. I do know this: If we have police circulating around on a regular basis and they are visible more often to whoever these potential players may be, they are certainly going to give long and hard thought before they do anything in the presence of these police."

Bennett says the shootings are happening in any place at any time, but are happening mainly on Hamilton Hill, in Mont Pleasant and in the Central/State Street. He says year-to-date statistics are similar to what the city saw at the starts of 2006 and 2007.

To put more officers on the streets, Bennett told council members he plans to ask judges to make themselves more readily available so that defendants can be arraigned and go straight to the county jail. That would leave two officers who now work in the police lock-up at night free to work the streets.

Bennett says he met with members of the police officers' union, asking them to encourage members to refrain from taking time-off that they are entitled to. With twenty-four hours notice, officers are allowed to call in and announce they won't work a shift because they are taking compensatory time, which the department refers to as T.C.

"They are on board with the concept," Bennett told the council. "They told me they understand what I'm asking them and they told me they will do everything in their power to get all of the officers to make a personal committment to making sure our staffing levels are what they need to be...This is a complete and total effort by everybody involved. There's a universal obligation by everybody to one another."

Bennett said he would meet with State Police Major William Sprague the following day to discuss the future of the state police involvement with his department.

"It's temporary but there's no ending date," Bennett explained to CBS 6 News, "and again, I can't predict what may happen when state police decide the resources have to be pulled elsewhere or whatever. We'll have to see what transpires there but again, we don't have any ending date on this temporary measure."

Bennett said the problem his department is battling is "the result of a lot of other failures, none of which the police control. We're essentially the last stop on the line. There's a host of issues that need to be addressed, none of which fall within the jurisdiction of police officers but all of which lead to additional problems for us and we only control part of the solution."

After his presentation to the council several people in the audience gave him applause, which Bennett later said he found gratifying.

"I certainly didn't anticipate it, but you know, my message here today was to say to people, 'Look - we're well aware of what's going on here. We're as concerned about it as anybody and we're doing everything possible to serve you as the citizens to try to correct this behavior...I appreciate the support they showed for it."