Albany area law enforcement agencies gather at Albany Tech during three-day summit

ALBANY – The concept of community-oriented policing has been around for decades, but this week area law enforcement officers are getting a refresher course on the topic.

Presenters at the three-day Criminal Justice & Law Enforcement Summit hosted by Albany Technical College also are delving into other topics, including human trafficking, mental health and “swatting.”

“This is a part of community-oriented policing seeking to build partnerships between the community and criminal justice/law enforcement agencies,” Kenn Singleton, the summit committee chair and associate vice president of academics and emergency management at the college, said. “Basically, the key thing is the partnerships between law enforcement agencies and the community gives the community say-so in addressing issues. It’s not just a criminal justice/law enforcement problem; it’s citizens needing a say-so.”

Singleton said that Albany Tech President Emmett Griswold approached him about a year ago about an event to provide the educational opportunity for officers.

The summit, which kicked off on Tuesday in conjunction with the annual National Night Out, convened on Wednesday at Albany Tech with an opening ceremony and was followed by speakers addressing ethics in leadership, community policing, mental health/illness, the criminal justice system, and officer safety and wellness.

Presenters included local law enforcement officers as well as those with links to federal agencies.

“With Albany Technical College being an educational institution, I think one of the reasons we decided to host this is you can be proactive in enhancing the quality of life for our citizens, make criminal justice/law enforcement partnerships, have training and have the opportunity to fellowship and meet with all of the criminal justice partners to show what’s working and what’s not working,” Singleton said.

While swatting, which refers to an individual making a prank report of a crime in an effort to have officers dispatched to a particular address to intimidate or potentially bring about harm to a targeted resident at that address, has not been an issue here, Singleton said covering the topic will help local officers “be ahead of it.”

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]