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SCHENECTADY — City Council President Leesa Perazzo says she wants to examine ways the city might be able to provide clear-cut guidance on how police should handle emergency calls involving a public official or prominent person.
She put the topic on the agenda in the aftermath of a special prosecutor’s findings and recommendations into the confrontation last year between Mayor Gary McCarthy and two women in a car that McCarthy followed.
That report, released last month by Saratoga County District Attorney Karen Heggen, was critical of the police and McCarthy but absolved both the mayor and the driver of the other car, Sarah Dingley, of wrongdoing.
The report said a sergeant who was among the officers who dealt with Dingley and McCarthy at the police station said he smelled alcohol on the mayor but could not determine if it was coming from his breath.
The sergeant also said the mayor was glassy-eyed and his behavior was erratic but neither McCarthy nor Dingley was given a field sobriety test common in a drunken driving investigation.
Heggen was appointed special prosecutor to look into the May 19 clash with Dingley, who told police in a frantic 911 call that a man following her was drunk. The man behind her was McCarthy, who has insisted he was not intoxicated. He has repeatedly refused to publicly discuss Heggen’s report.
Heggen criticized how police handled the situation.
Perazzo is expected to raise the issue at Monday night’s City Council meeting but it is unclear if it will be discussed in public or in a closed-door executive session.
“I’m interested in putting anything in place that will continue to guarantee the success of our officers and also to give the public peace of mind that everything will be done in an equitable manner,” Perazzo said. “I think there’s enough gray area that the public’s not there with it.”
City Council member Vince Riggi, the only non-Democrat on the panel, said last week he sees no legitimate reason to hold the discussion behind closed doors and questioned if he and his colleagues even have the authority to direct the police force on department policy.
City attorney Carl Falotico said Friday he needed to talk more with Perazzo about the scope of the planned discussions before offering city leaders his legal advice on whether the issue can be discussed in private.
Riggi renewed his calls for the city or police department to issue a public statement that they plan to follow Heggen’s recommendations.
Heggen wrote in her report that McCarthy should have called police for help instead of trying to handle the situation himself and that police erred by not calling in an independent outside law enforcement agency to investigate.
She also questioned why police did not take written statements from Dingley and McCarthy, and a passenger in Dingley’s van.
“If one of the City Council people gets pulled over, we’re not the boss of the Police Department, the mayor is, so what are you going to have … different rules for city council people, for the mayor, for people that work for the city,” Riggi asked. “It should be the same rules for everybody, no matter who you are, and that’s the way I look at it.”
Perazzo said she has received letters and comments from people on the case.
“When an outside source comes in and does an investigation and puts forth recommendations, I do feel like, as elected officials, we are obligated to look at that recommendation and try to align something with it that will make the situations like this in the future more clear cut and easier for everyone to understand and feel comfortable with,” Perazzo said.
She said the mayor, who typically attends committee meetings, has a right to be a part of the conversations.
Police Chief Eric Clifford has previously said the department is handling the matter internally as a personnel matter.
Riggi said the best way to address the issue is to update the city’s antiquated charter, which defines the organization, powers, functions and essential procedures of the city government.
“Our city charter is a mess,” Riggi said. “We need charter reform to make it clear what’s the duties of the city administration and what’s the duties of the City Council.”
He traces some of that ambiguity in the charter to the days when Frank Duci became a strong mayor, and all city officials did was cross out “city manager” and substitute “mayor.”
Any changes to the charter would have to come about through a public referendum, he said.
pnelson@timesunion.com • 518-454-5347 • @apaulnelson
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