From left, Tupper Lake village police Chief Eric Proulx, Trustee Clint Hollingsworth, Mayor Paul Maroun, newly hired police officers Gage Madore and Kristopher Clark, and Trustees Leon Leblanc and Ron LaScala sign Madore and Clark onto the force in January 2020. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

TUPPER LAKE — A public hearing on the Tupper Lake police review committee’s draft report will be held tonight, and the public can weigh in on the plan before it is sent to the state for consideration ahead of the April 1 deadline.

All New York communities with police departments are going through a review and revision process of their police force policies and practices, required by an executive order Gov. Andrew Cuomo made last year amid several well-documented killings of Black people by police.

Tupper Lake’s committee report focuses more on improving rather than overhauling TLPD policies and practices.

The report the committee drafted recommends increasing officer training, specifically in deescalation, use of force and diversity; adopting an anti-discrimination policy; establishing an annual review committee to assess department policies; and getting mental health professionals involved in more drug- and mental health-related calls.

Tupper Lake Mayor Paul Maroun and TLPD Chief Eric Proulx both said this proposal has a local focus, focusing on the village’s rural needs more than the needs of larger cities.

Several of the controversial policies and uses of force the governor asked departments to review in his order are already banned or regulated by the Tupper Lake department.

Chokeholds, retaliatory force, quotas, stop and frisk or the “broken window” theory of policing, which involves ticketing every violation, no matter how small, are all banned.

Officers carry tasers and pepper spray, use of which are regulated, and are authorized to use deadly force or carotid control holds — applying pressure to the sides of the neck, restricting blood flow to the brain — as last resort measures.

After public comment the village board will set a date to hold a special meeting to adopt the plan before the state’s April 1 deadline.

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Arrest data

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Statistics compiled by the TLPD for the committee show a demographic breakdown of the 6,223 traffic tickets it issued between 2006 and Dec. 1, 2020, as well as for 5,687 physical arrests from 1993 to 2018.

This data shows 2.65% of people issued tickets and 2.13% of people arrested were Black. From 2000 to 2010, the year of the last available census results, Tupper Lake’s Black population was between 0.71% and 0.46%. This arrest data is higher than these percentages. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates Tupper Lake’s Black population in 2019 at 1.7%. The data from the 2020 Census is yet to be released, as it has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data shows 94.07% of people ticketed and 96.1% of people arrested were white. From 2000 to 2010, Tupper Lake’s white population was between 97.93% and 97.49%. For 2019 the U.S. Census Bureau estimates this at 93.8%.

Native Americans were ticketed and arrested slightly more than at population rates. Asian and East Indian people were ticketed at higher rates, but not in arrests. Hispanic people were ticketed at rates lower than the local population. No data was included for Hispanic arrests.

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Anti-discrimination policy

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The anti-discrimination policy proposed is similar to one Maroun drafted for the village last year. If approved, it would become an official policy of the department.

“There is to be no discrimination by, for, or to anyone or any group: by race, creed, color or sexual orientation (LGBTQ, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning),” the draft policy states. “This applies to the hiring of police officers or the arrest of suspects.”

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Police review report public hearing

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The Tupper Lake police review report public hearing will be held over Zoom at 5 p.m. tonight. The public can attend by Zoom at https://bit.ly/2P49oWR and by phone at 1-929-205-6099 using the meeting ID 977 9180 2008 and passcode 669318. The ID and passcode are the same for entering the Zoom meeting.