What: A Caring & Compassionate Albany: Defining Community Safety Town Hall
When: October 20, 2021, @6pm
Where: To join by phone-only, dial: (646) 558-8656, Meeting ID: 499 359 9983#
Background:
As the violence in our communities continues to worsen, residents of cities throughout the Capital Region call for programs designed to decrease harmful interactions between police officers and the public to be implemented. Join us as lawmakers and activists go over programs like the Albany County Crisis Officials Responding and Diverting (ACCORD) program which is Albany county's attempt to creating a more human-centered system. The ACCORD program will allow a unit of social workers to be deployed along or without police to handle situations with people suffering from emotional distress or mental illness. This program aims to decrease the rate of adverse and potentially dangerous encounters between law enforcement and community members, where police officers’ duties can shift to the hands of professionals trained to respond to a mental health crisis. This allows law enforcement to shift their focus to addressing other issues threatening the safety of our communities. Albany County created this program in response to former Governor Cuomo’s mandate to reimagine policing in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
RSVP to join us!
Contact: Lukee Forbes 518-598-4588 / Lukee@vocal-ny.org
NY