AG report slams former Spa City leaders

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- A preliminary report by the New York Attorney General’s Office claims Saratoga Springs leaders violated the constitutional rights of Black Lives Matter protesters. The alleged violation occurred during demonstrations following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

According to the AG’s office, the 28-page report lays out the mistakes made by city leaders when BLM members were arrested following protests in 2020 and 2021. It gives recommendations to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

NEWS10 spoke to leaders from both sides who have varying opinions of the report.

“I found it to be inaccurate,” said Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll.

“I'm definitely happy what has come out from the report,” said Saratoga BLM co-founder Chandler Hickenbottom. 

The report says officials, specifically former Mayor Meg Kelly, former Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton, and the former Chief of Police Shane Crooks, “Implemented an unconstitutional official policy of retaliating against BLM protesters based on their speech.”

The report claims the sweeping arrests violated the police department’s written policies to protect protesters’ First Amendment rights. “Because those arrests were caused by official hostility to the protesters and their message, they violated the First Amendment.”

Coll said he found an issue with parts of the report. “They tried to attribute some things, facts to the Saratoga Springs Police Department that were not correct,” said Coll.

Hickenbottom says the group is satisfied with the findings. “The actions of some of the city council members at the time prove that there are issues within our city,” said Hickenbottom.

Both parties tell NEWS10 they look forward to working together going forward.

“All in all, I'm hoping that this report will really help us to move forward,” Hickenbottom.

“We look forward to having a collaborative relationship with anyone that wants to do that I haven't heard from them, but my door is open for all of them to come in,” said Coll.

The report is preliminary and in the next few months, the AG’s office will be holding a public listening session.  Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford tells NEWS10 that city officials are now reviewing the report, learning from its content, and proceeding with the development and implementation of policies, procedures, and practices to address the recommendations made by the attorney general’s office.

The Attorney General made the following eight recommendations:

1. The SSPD should be required to enhance and make mandatory its framework for responding to protests that prioritize the First Amendment.

2. The SSPD should be required to implement rigorous restrictions on investigating and arresting individuals engaged in activity protected by the First Amendment, including during City Council meetings.

3. The SSPD should be prohibited from conducting surveillance of protesters.

4. Saratoga Springs’s elected officials should be prohibited from ordering the investigation or arrest of specific individuals, and SSPD should institute protocols to protect the independence of its investigations.

5. The SSPD should be required to maintain documentation of all communications between the SSPD and Saratoga Springs elected officials during protests.

6. The SSPD should mandate after-action reports following any police response to protest activity.

7. The SSPD’s internal affairs investigations and officer discipline process should be improved.

8. The City of Saratoga Springs should implement document control protocols consistent with the SSPD’s criminal discovery and FOIL obligations