One of the many goals that I’ve set for my leadership when I become Albany’s 76th mayor is a major revamping of the Albany Police Department. I’ve gotten many email messages about this and people have stopped me on the street to ask about this goal.
What will happen?
My plan is to cut the APD down to size. As it stands right now, there are way too many officers and detectives on the force and it’s time to address that. Yes, there are complaints about the crime rate in Albany, but here’s the thing: crime is, as of the time that this article was published, down by around 12%.
While current city leadership deserves the credit for that decrease, it’s not good enough. Not even close. I will vow to make that decrease even better. My goal is to get it under a 16% decrease by the time that my first year is done.
Under my plan, more then forty people across all departments will be in the unemployment line. But don’t let that scare you. It’s time to do more with less. We need to tighten Albany’s belt and get rid of the bells and whistles.
Under my leadership, around 20 officers and detectives will be dismissed with no further argument.
Yes, those are drastic cuts, but I will give the APD the tools it needs to succeed. Again, it’s all about doing more with less. My plans will not put Albany’s citizens in harm’s way. In fact, under my leadership, crime will actually decrease even with less boots on the ground.
Why would I do such a thing?
Well, it might sound harsh, but it is all about the money. If we get rid of the excess fat, the city will save at least $2.6 million a year by cutting those salaries and benefits out of the picture.
With the saved money, we could improve our BID. That would make things more enticing for tourists, which would mean more money for our business’ coffers and Albany would then see more tax revenue. That would be more useful than keeping unneeded people in the APD.
We could also use it to work on our infrastructure, inspecting water mains and repairing them before an unexpected burst negatively impacts numerous lives.
There are plenty of things we can do with the money gained by kicking useless people from the police and all other departments out onto the street where they belong.
Again, this is nothing personal. It’s all about the money.