NEWBURGH – In accordance with the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative, the City of Newburgh is pleased to release its draft plan of action. A copy of the plan, along with additional information regarding Executive Order 203 can be found at http://bit.ly/3oazAKR. The Executive Order 203 Oversight Committee was formed this past summer and is comprised of community stakeholders tasked with working collaboratively with the City to achieve the mission of the New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative.
The draft plan will serve as a blue print for the City as we embark upon critical changes to policing in the upcoming year. The implementation process has already begun, and will continue until all aspects of this plan have been completed. Newburgh Police Chief Arnold “Butch” Amthor worked directly with the committee since its inception, and praised their dedication and work ethic, “This has been a collaborative effort from the start. I have listened to all of the recommendations, thoughts and options expressed throughout the process and I am glad that we have finalized our draft plan of action. Our work is far from over, and we will continue our collaboration with the community as we implement the important recommendations of the plan.” Councilmember Sklarz also spoke to the collaborative effort achieved when he stated “Members of the Committee have been reviewing police polices for several months and have provided valuable recommendations for improvement of services. We have made significant progress but it is clear that there remains more work to be done. While we will report the Committee’s findings to Albany, to meet the April 1st deadline, our work will be ongoing.” Prior to finalizing the draft plan of action, the Committee hosted multiple public listening sessions in December. Chairman Harvey, Bishop Woody and Pastor Obed will join Chief Amthor in addressing the Council and the community on the plan in advance of the public comment session scheduled for Monday, January 25, 2021.
Councilmember Monteverde spoke to the importance of hearing from the community during the upcoming public comment session, “Opportunities for dialogue and action involving the community and police will lead to better relationships. We need to hear from the public so that we can finalize the plan and move forward with implementing this important work. It’s going to take time to heal the community and build trust and it is important that we move forward together.” Chairman Ray Harvey echoed the importance of the community being involved when he stated that the work accomplished thus far “Is a good start, but we have a lot of work still to be done and we need to hear from the community.” Bishop Jeff Woody, a pillar of the community and dedicated member of the committee spoke to the commitment to implement the action items outlined in the plan when he stated, “This collaborative effort is definitely a step in the right direction as we continue to do the heavy lifting for our beloved Newburgh.”
Any interested party is encouraged to participate in the upcoming public hearing so that their comments can be incorporated into the final report. You can sign up to speak at the upcoming session by registering via Zoom http://bit.ly/3bXiPRa and selecting to comment. For a full list of instructions and further guidance on signing up for the public comment session please log onto http://bit.ly/2LLkcb3.
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