Sheehan touts crime decreases under Hawkins as he leaves
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ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Following the announcement that Albany Police Chief Eric Hawkins will resign to become Police Commissioner in Warren, Michigan, Albany's Mayor Kathy Sheehan touted his accomplishments. Sheehan stated that crime in 2024 has decreased in several key categories compared to 2018 the year Hawkins started.
“I just want to confirm that I am, I will be departing the Albany Police Department as of early December,” said Hawkins. “And notwithstanding the very challenging times that we had. You have continued to stay focused on what it means to keep a community safe to make a community safe and the numbers speak to that…” Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan later added.
Police department figures show murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny, and arson are all down in 2024, compared to 2018 when Hawkins became chief.
“As some folks in the media talk to me about crime and crime being up sometimes they sense my frustration because I have to say you need to look at the numbers," said Mayor Sheehan.
Department numbers also show that individuals killed and confirmed shots fired have all decreased over the past year.
Since 2023 however, gun recoveries have increased, shooting victims are up 29 percent and shooting incidents are up 34 percent, despite homicides being down.
“With that tells us is what we've seen consistently throughout this year is that it appears that's an indicator that our shootings are more targeted than they've been in previous years,” said Hawkins.
When the figures were all said and done, Hawkins left some parting words for the department he led for the last half dozen years.
“So I feel good about the effort and the passion that I gave to this city,” said Hawkins.
Mayor Sheehan will not be seeking another term. A new mayor will be elected in November, and that person may also appoint someone new…meaning Sheehan's new police chief may only last a year.