Cobleskill’s Citizen Advisory Board to review police procedures and policies is now in place.
Village board members last Tuesday named Patricia Mesibov, John O’Donnell, John Stiles, Wendy Cook and John Sapovits to the panel.
Having a Citizen Review Board is one of the outcomes of Cobleskill’s review of the Police Department, mandated statewide by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Police Chief Jeff Brown expects the new board to meet several times annually and has said in the past it’s a helpful way for police officers to connect with the public.
There were eight applicants for Cobleskill’s board. Chief Brown, Mayor Terk and Trustees Tom Johnstone, Howard Burt and Lance Rotolo rated the eight individually, and the top five were named to the board.
They didn’t interview the candidates but “went off what they wrote” when they applied, Mayor Terk said.
“We thank everyone who threw their hats in the ring,” she added.
None of the five is a person of color, an issue on Citizen Advisory Boards in some municipalities.
But then, “nobody who applied was a person of color,” Mayor Terk said.
“We didn’t specifically reach out to anyone. It was a blanket invitation to the community.”