Dear Neighbors:

Members of the Croton Police Department have completed Anti-Bias and De-Escalation training.  This welcome news was reported to the Board of Trustees at Monday’s meeting by the Village Manager on behalf of the Chief of Police.

The Anti-Bias and De-Escalation training was provided by New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal (NYMIR). The NYMIR courses provide lessons on identifying biases, avoiding biased policing, maintaining an unbiased and respectful culture and strategies for resolving conflicts peacefully.

This training was just the latest of the progressive steps taken by Chief Russel Harper since he was appointed by the Board of Trustees and I in 2018.  In the last few years, the Village has also added our first two bilingual officers and the first woman in uniform in nearly a decade.

This is all only part of an ongoing process to make sure that the public gets the protection it deserves. Last month, Governor Cuomo issued an Executive Order requiring local police agencies–with input from stakeholders–to engage in a public and open process to develop a plan to promote policing that provides for equal treatment and the protection of civil rights.

The Village Board of Trustees and I will continue to work with our police to ensure that our Croton-on-Hudson progresses towards this goal.

Sincerely,

Brian Pugh, Mayor