Meet Colonie's new Police Chief: Jay Gerace

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Lifelong Colonie resident James "Jay" Gerace is stepping into a new role: Police Chief. With nearly 25 years of experience in law enforcement, he said he has a hometown advantage.

“I think if you live in the community that you police right, you’re connected to it, you’re a part of it," Gerace said. "These are my friends and neighbors, I’m their friend and neighbor.”  

Gerace said he wants to take a proactive approach to some of the town's problems.

“We’re going to try to take our police department on a quest to solve problems before they start," Gerace said. "Really try to, instead of dealing with the aftermath of an issue, let’s try to intervene.”  

One of those issues is an uptick in retail crime.

“I think we do need to bring all the stakeholders together," Gerace said. "All of the retail establishments, the district attorneys, our legislators, and try to look at what interventions can you make. So there’s a lot to look at, there’s a lot to do, but I would acknowledge that retail crime theft is one of our major problems in the town of Colonie.” 

Another issue is a rise in traffic and pedestrian safety concerns.

“There’s more traffic," Gerace said. "People are always speeding. So traffic has always been a priority in the Town of Colonie. We have a robust traffic safety unit well-regarded in the state and so we’re going to continue to make investments in that.”

Gerace said the department has not seen the recruitment issues other departments are facing nationwide, but they are seeing less candidates and he is hoping to address that by starting with teens who show an interest in law enforcement.

“What we’ve found, in our department, is that that come from our cadet or explorer programs," Gerace said. "So that’s where we’re investing, in the kids that want to be here. 13, 14, 15 years old, They have a drive to be a part of policing, at least they’re curious, and so we want to embrace that curiosity.”