Daily Freeman: U.S. Rep. Ryan touts police funding bill

DAILY FREEMAN, DIANE PINEIRO-ZUCKER

U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan stood alongside law enforcement leaders from Ulster, Dutchess and Columbia counties Friday to tout the bipartisan “Invest to Protect Act” at a press conference held at the New Paltz Police Department.

Ryan is a cosponsor of the bill which he said will provide funding for public safety by offering small-town and midsize police in the 19th Congressional District and nationwide access to training, retention, counseling and safety equipment, including body-worn cameras. Invest to Protect potentially carries a $500 million price tag that would be spread over a five-year period although the final cost will be dependent on reconciliation in both houses of Congress.

A similar bill has passed the Senate but will have to be reconciled before it can be sent to the president, Ryan said.

“Our police departments protect our communities but often lack the resources necessary to carry out the enormous responsibilities entrusted to them,” said Ryan. “This bill addresses that problem directly, providing funding to small and midsize police departments across New York’s 19th Congressional district so that they can continue to keep our communities safe.”

At the event in support of Ryan, D-Gardiner, and Invest to Protect Act were Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa, a Democrat, New Paltz Police Chief Robert Lucchesi, Hyde Park Police Chief Robert Benson and Columbia County Undersheriff Jacqueline Salvatore.

Ryan, who won in a special election on Aug. 23 in a race against Dutchess County Executive Mark Molinaro, now faces Republican Colin Schmitt for the redistricted 18th Congressional District seat. He was sworn into Congress on Sept. 13 and will serve the 19th Congressional District until January.

Schimtt, in response to what he called “Ryan’s last-minute political theater,” said in a statement that, “He and Juan Figueroa made Ulster County a Sanctuary County and barred local law enforcement from communicating with federal immigration authorities about illegal aliens convicted of serious crimes. Pat’s last-minute efforts to save face and rework himself are laughable and disgusting at the same time as crime runs rampant and cops are left without support. The Hudson Valley deserves better than the anti-cop, anti-safety track record Ryan has saddled us with.”

In welcoming Ryan to New Paltz, Lucchesi said the bill will go a long way in promoting future collaboration.

Lucchesi said the bill “provides critical funds for small agencies like ours in New Paltz, with 24 officers” and “will enable us to better maintain the quality of officers that our community wants and deserves. It will also help us to maintain existing programs, like our body-worn camera program, de-escalation training and our police mental health crisis intervention team training.”

He said the funding provided by the bill will go a long way in supporting the maintenance of body-worn cameras and their replacement. Body-worn cameras cost about $1,000 a piece and have a two to three-year life expectancy, Lucchesi said. Those cameras provide both transparency to the community and “a level of protection for the officers as well,” he said.

Benson said his small department with only 17 members “kind of get(s) forgotten about. … So much of this funding is important for us for increasing our de-escalation training, increasing, starting our body-worn camera program to help with transparency.”

As sheriff of Ulster County, Figueroa said he’s worked alongside Ryan, who served as Ulster County Executive for three years. “If you think about what’s happened the last three years,” Figueroa said, “it is the biggest change in the history of law enforcement and grants really help facilitate and fund a lot of the issues we have in law enforcement.”

The bill would provide funds for psychological support for members of law enforcement who “are exposed to more trauma in one year than most of us have been exposed to in our lifetimes,” Salvatore said. “Police officers don’t take the job and say, ‘I want to shoot someone,’ but sometimes it happens and it takes its toll.”

Ryan, who has served in the House of Representatives for less than one month, said that, “Sometimes the politicians down in D.C. make things more complicated than they have to be. But this one is a no-brainer,” he said, referring to the legislation which has bipartisan support and has passed in the House with more than 90% support.

Also on Friday, Ryan announced more than $2.6 million in federal funding for local law enforcement and public safety initiatives, provided through the federal Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

“This funding for the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office and the Hyde Park Police Department is a critical investment in public safety,” he said. “Together, it represents more than $2.6 million in federal support for programs like body-worn cameras, law enforcement diversion programs for substance abuse disorder and community-based treatment to combat the opioid epidemic.”

He said that the lack of funding will be addressed when Invest to Protect becomes law.