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"I don't like this book because it don't got know pictures" Chief Rhorerer

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”
“It’s becoming a disturbingly familiar scene in America - mentally unstable cops”

In Troy, a loud call for dialogue


Allegations of police brutality during bar fight open old wounds

By Kenneth C. Crowe II

Tensions regarding racial discrimination and police brutality received a public hearing Tuesday night, 11 days after a bar fight forced them to the surface.
Some demands, such as suspending police officers without pay and an external investigation, were repeated, while in other cases suggestions for reforming police department operations were new.
The City Council Public Safety Committee hearing grew from the melee on Jan. 25 at Kokopellis, 124 Fourth St., that was captured by surveillance and cellphone cameras and showed a police officer striking a bar patron several times on the head with a baton.
The Troy African American Pastoral Alliance has pushed the city government to respond growing criticisms of police brutality, particularly in the city's minority community.
"I warned you this was going to happen," Pastor Willie Bacote of the Missing Link A.M.E. Zion Church told the committee.
Bacote said the city has to change the way police act and that everyone has to take responsibility for changing the community.
Anger and passion could be heard from many of the 300 people in the audience at Christ Church United Methodist Church as they reacted to comments about the police department and actions of some officers.
"What we heard tonight is telling of people's feelings. The issue is real. It can't be ignored anymore," said the Rev. Eric Shaw, pastor of Bethel Baptist Church.
The hearing followed a march of 100 people led by the Troy African American Pastoral Alliance from Bethel Baptist Church down Fifth Avenue to police headquarters and then to Christ Church United Methodist.
Alice Green of the Center for Law and Justice in Albany urged the committee to adopt true community policing similar to what has been done in Albany.
Barry Glick, co-owner of Kokopellis, blamed the police for the fight at the club.
"The police entered my building looking for a fight," Glick stated.
Ben Brucato of the Community Alliance Against Police Violence demanded the police drop changes against anyone arrested that night, suspend without pay any police officer with a baton and have an external investigation of the incident.
Officer Robert Fitzgerald, president of the Troy Police Benevolent Association, said some recommendations had merits, but that the demands were outlandish. Mayor Lou Rosamilia said his administration and the police department have opened a dialogue with the pastors but that it is in its early stages.
Shaw added that race is a component of ongoing discussions and that it must be dealt with and not ignored.
Councilman Robert Doherty, the committee chairman, said the meeting was a good start, but that more information has to be gathered to decide what actions to take.

Chief John Tedesco will speak to the committee when it reconvenes at 6 p.m. Feb. 12 at Christ Church United Methodist.