Ithacans for Reimagining Public Safety

11/10/2022

This Election Day, almost 4,500 Ithacans showed up and voted YES on the creation of a City Manager here in Ithaca. That's almost 80%!

With the City Manager comes a Deputy Manager for Public Safety. This position will be the long-term and dedicated civilian oversight our city needs as it goes forward with the creation of a unit of unarmed responders.

This would not have happened without YOUR help, YOUR support, and more importantly, YOUR votes!

Thank you from all of us at Ithacans for Reimagining Public Safety.

11/08/2022

GO VOTE!

TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y.—Sources have exclusively confirmed to The Ithaca Voice that there are a few elections this week. Despite this surprise, The Ithaca Voice has you covered. We’ll be posting […]

11/02/2022

Scott Garin, a candidate for Chief of Police at the Ithaca Police Department, is opposed to the civilian oversight included in Reimagining Public Safety.

He said that the department “does not need more administration” and fails to grasp why civilian inclusion is necessary, which is to give the department accountability and perspective that a closed group lacks.

News Retired Lieutenant Garin opposes civilian oversight at IPD 1 day ago in Community, Local Photo: Saga Communications, WHCU ITHACA, N.Y. (WHCU) — A candidate for Ithaca Police Chief is against having civilian leadership. Retired IPD Lieutenant Scott Garin says the department does not need more...

10/14/2022

Ithacans for Reimagining gathered your voices and sent a letter to our Common Council this week, asking why the proposed 2023 budget did not include funds for unarmed responders.

Alderperson Robert Cantelmo is now proposing an amendment that would explicitly fund three unarmed positions.

While we will continue to push for more unarmed responders, we are glad to see the city begin to Reimagine Public Safety.

10/12/2022

"To anyone who knows Eric and Karen the accusations levied against them seemed absurd; an obvious political attempt to delay and derail the efforts to reimagine law enforcement. While the obstructionists search for mouse bones in the chicken soup, the residents of Tompkins County must continue to demand courage from their elected officials to face the demands of the time and implement the changes that will lead to a more sensible and just system of policing for our community. "

I just read the article titled “Two at Center of Ethics Investigation Deny Wrongdoing.” I write this letter as a resident of the city and as one who has known

10/12/2022

"Stories of violent incidents, always catnip for newscasts, are used to portray a sense of crime that may or may not comport with reality. And Fox News has been very active in trying to portray exactly that sense."

Official data on crime is sketchy, but that's irrelevant to pre-election rhetoric.

10/10/2022

Please watch out for the PBA's latest misinformation spam campaign.

The Ithaca police association is sending mass texts to Ithacans who never signed up for it, linking to an article that makes spurious arguments and spreads misinformation.

The article references the PBA's claim that Reimagining is causing the IPD to lose recruits - this isn't true.

With a national staffing shortage and numbers in Ithaca recruitment comparable to the rest of the region, there's no evidence to assert that the IPD's staffing woes are a result of the plan that adds unarmed officers to the force - not takes them away.

As usual, rather than attempting to build community bridges, the PBA is complaining and fearmongering.

Also: a friendly reminder to never click on a link from a number you don't recognize!

09/29/2022

An interesting read for the afternoon. "America’s last major crime wave, from the 1960s through the early ’90s, happened alongside a rise in inflation for much of the same time period. That likely was not a coincidence, said Richard Rosenfeld, whose research has linked crime and inflation.

How can inflation lead to more crime? For one, there is a direct link: People might try to get around higher prices by stealing. But a bigger dynamic is also at play, Rosenfeld said: Higher prices can push people to seek cheaper — and potentially stolen — goods at gray markets, such as pawn shops. These purchases effectively boost demand for stolen goods, enticing more thieves and robbers."

Murders are declining, but other crimes are still disrupting American life.

09/12/2022

Why vote? There's plenty of reasons! Make sure to save the date- November 8th!

09/09/2022

Over the course of the summer, a member of our team spent several weeks interviewing Ithacans on what Reimagined Public Safety looked like to them.

These kinds of first-of-their-kind solutions will look a hundred different ways to a hundred different people, but when we start to key in on some of the key overlaps- compassion, de-escalation, and familiarity amongst some of the more common themes- then we can start to visualize what this kind of system might look like on a larger scale. A huge thank you to everyone who lent their voice to this piece!

We asked Ithacans what Reimagining Public Safety looked like to them. Here's what we learned: 1. The Ithacans we talked to don't feel safe relying on the cur...

09/02/2022

The city of Durham in North Carolina has already has a team of unarmed first responders! Data released earlier this week shows some of positive results of their program.

You can learn more in this story from WRAL News:

Since launching in late July, Durham's unarmed responders have gone to 199 calls.

09/01/2022

In Today's News:

"Area wildlife experts attribute the nocturnal sounds to red foxes, despite some guesses that the screams are from fishers, a small, reclusive member of the weasel family that's a close relative to martens and wolverines."

Residents in rural Tompkins County say they are hearing shrill cries in the night.