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| ZALEWSKI |
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| DOHERTY |
In no uncertain terms, Councilman
Ken Zalewski, D-District 5, shot down a proposal by Councilman Bob Doherty,
D-District 4, that would make it a crime for police to prohibit citizens from
videotaping officers while they work.
“I will state this clearly to you
right now: If any legislation is presented to the Public Safety Committee that
attempts to target police officers for actions that are already covered by law
and procedure, I will vote against it,” Zalewski wrote to Det. Sgt. Sean Kittle
in response to a letter he addressed to the entire Council. “In addition, I
would encourage my colleagues to vote against it as well.
“This is a bit presumptuous of me,
but I’m fairly confident that any such legislation would never make it out of
committee.”
Doherty, chair of the Public
Safety Committee, said his ordinance would carry a fine of up to $5,000 and up
to 15 days in jail.
Kittle, in his letter to the
Council, said he was “disheartened” by the ordinance, not because he disagrees
with it in principal but because there are already laws protecting a citizen’s
right to videotape police officers. Also, he said, it violates the Constitution
by singling out police officers.
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| ZALEWSKI LETTER |
“I am disheartened because I
expect much more from an elected city official than an attempt to advance legislation
that is directed at only a select group in our society,” Kittle wrote. “A naïve
person may believe your intent is honorable because of misconceptions that
exist. But, if you simply change the words from “Troy Police Officer” and
replace it with some other specific group (ex: race, religion, disability,
etc.) you may begin to realize that you, as an elected official, are not embracing
the basic principles held in the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Earlier, Capt. John Cooney called the ordinance an "insult."
Doherty has not formally proposed
the legislation but it came out of a third Public Safety Committee meeting over the
Jan. 25 melee at Kokopells bar that ended with eight officers injured – six requiring
hospital care – and eight people arrested for a host of crimes including
disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
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| KITTLE LETTER |
During the first, well-attended
Public Safety Committee meeting, many of the public claimed the TPD implements institutionalized
racism and often uses excessive force with little or no ramifications. The criticism
continued during the second, but Police Chief John Tedesco did have an
opportunity to respond to the accusations and many citizens defended the police
not only for their actions on Jan. 25 but in general.
The letters came to this blog through someone with close ties to the Council.
