A couple of days ago, I mentioned a possible plan for Albany County and the municipalities within it to share resources. Well, an anonymous source approached me and asked if I heard about something going on behind the scenes that they (Sheehan and McCoy) don’t want us to know.
If the scuttlebutt is true, there are not enough applicants to meet the needs of the APD. That would mean we’d see county deputies patrolling our city and responding to calls. Gee, I can’t imagine why people wouldn’t want to work for Albany!
Now, again, if this is true, this would explain why McCoy’s announcement this week came as a surprise to everyone, even those within city and county governments. It came out of left field.
There’s always something going on behind closed doors, folks. And for some reason, they don’t want you to know what may end up happening.
Time will tell if this is true, but if it is, then that means Albany’s safety might be in jeopardy, because the APD’s leadership as it presently stands is incompetent.
Despite all of this, my goal for 2026 remains: when I become mayor, I will go through the department from top to bottom and cut people left and right.
Now why would I continue to push for the cuts given this recent revelation, something that has yet to be confirmed as true? Because we can do more with less. It’s all about scheduling, assigning territories and in general being smarter than the current administration.
Of course, if things turn out to be worse than we know, I might be convinced to at least hold off on the cuts and see how bad things really are. But the question that must be answered is this: if we do end up having to make a choice between standing on our own or caving in and helping the monster that is Albany County, what will it cost us? After all, it is all about the money.
If there were to be a pooling of resources, the county would ostensibly send us deputies, but if we can’t get people to join up (and we should have a hiring freeze in effect anyway!) we apparently wouldn’t be able to reciprocate and what would the ramifications of that be? Would Colonie’s officers respond to calls? They don’t have enough officers to keep Dunkin happy, so that wouldn’t work.
There are a lot of options on the table right now. At least as far as the public knows, the pooling of resources is merely a possibility. Maybe something sinister is going on behind the scenes. But if the APD is handing over any form of its law enforcement’s control to the county, then that spells trouble.
Then again, maybe Albany would be better off without APD. Instead of cutting a few officers and detectives, maybe the better idea is to dance with the devil by the pale moonlight and hand at least some, or maybe all, law enforcement duties to the county. The problem is that some of the snakes in the grass (APD officers and detectives) will just slither to the county, and then we’ll be back in the trouble that we’re currently in.
One of my proposals when I become mayor would be the possible complete dissolution of APD and using the money saved to just hand everything over to the county. It would be a bold move indeed, one that might even result in a recall election if I end up making the wrong move, but maybe the city needs something bold to happen. And bold is my middle name!
APD’s current top leadership is incompetent and ineffective, but the county sheriff seems to have a brain and he is leading the office in the right direction. Maybe our city’s law enforcement duties should be placed under his leadership. In that event, the APD’s leadership would be dismissed. Maybe that would be a good thing.
As much as I would hate to surrender anything to the county, it might prove to be a wise move to just shut APD down and put every officer, detective and employee in the unemployment line. Then I’d really get my cuts, wouldn’t I?
Keep in mind that I’m just spitballing here. Thinking out loud as it were.
It’s going to be an interesting rest of the year, folks. A mayoral election and possible problems within the APD that could and probably should lead to its dissolution.
Just remember…if the APD is still a thing when I take office, I will do right by the city even if it means throwing away one of my biggest goals for my tenure. I can swallow my pride in the name of making a better, brighter Albany.