Center for Law and Justice announces fall symposium, pushes for ‘transparency’ from official
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The Center for Law and Justice announced plans for a major fall gathering on systemic racism in Albany.
The center invited four key government officials to be a part of the collaboration. Key officials include the District Attorney, Chief Hawkins, the Mayor, and the Common Council President.
CFLJ claims all have accepted the invitation, except for the District Attorney.
“The center is perplexed that District Attorney Soares has not seen fit to even acknowledge our request for his participation, much less answer any of our questions,“ said Dr. Alice Green, CFLJ Executive Director.
In response, the DA’s office sent NEWS10 ABC the following statement:
“We recognize the historical landscape of mistrust that minority residents may navigate in relation to law enforcement, and because of this our current administration places outreach efforts such as youth crime prevention, restorative justice, and alternatives to incarceration on parallel with work done inside the courtroom. It is fundamental in our mission of “Fighting Crime, Building Hope.” We always value honest input from the community and strive to let Albany residents know about what services, programs, and resources are available to them should they ever become involved as victims in the criminal justice system or need help with issues involving public safety. This dialogue is necessary for victims of crime, people who live in crime-impacted communities, and the public as a whole. We welcome any dialogue with those who have honest intentions to unite our community and see these discussions as valuable opportunities for transformative change to keep Albany a safe place to work and live.”
The center is also pushing for APD to release its report regarding the 2019 First Street incident.
“Despite having to committed to releasing an investigative report by February 16th 2020, the Chief has repeatedly employed delay tactics to keep this information out of the public’s view,” Dr. Green said.
Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins also responded with the following statement:
“The Albany Police Department has a longstanding policy of immediately assessing all FOIL requests for the release of official documents. The timing of the release of those documents is in full compliance with FOIL. The current administration has not changed that policy.”
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- Center for Law and Justice announces fall symposium, pushes for ‘transparency’ from official