Saratoga Springs’ incoming Commissioner of Public Safety, Jim Montagnino, is accusing the current commissioner, Robin Dalton, of political chicanery. It revolves around the replacement of John Catone, the retiring assistant chief of the Saratoga Springs Police Department.
Although Catone is scheduled to retire early next year, Dalton is moving to choose a replacement this year, a move that Montagnino sees as a political one, intended to keep him from choosing a chief who might better align with his values.
He is also worried that the new assistant chief would be caught in the state Attorney General's sights when a investigation into police department and civil right abuses is completed. The city will be stuck with an assistant chief who is under scrutiny, Montagnino said.
“I’m very troubled by this whole thing,” Montagnino said in a recent interview.
Dalton does not see it that way.
"I think this is a very unhealthy and unproductive approach," to go to the media and cry foul, Dalton responded in an interview.
Three major positions were filled just before she took office in January 2020, she said. That included Catone moving into his position and Chief Shane Crooks.
“To politicize this appointment is...extremely worrisome," Dalton said. She said both in the interview and in a written statement that she encouraged Montagnino to come to interviews and be part of the process.
This all stems from a July press conference after some late night bar fights on Caroline Street in downtown.
Catone's comments at that press conference helped to instigate Black Lives Matter protests when he suggested that he would change the narrative of how police are perceived by relying on the 130 years his family has lived in the area and calling on the area’s silent majority to speak up for police, adding later that “You are either with us or you’re not. If you are not, you are part of the problem.”
Many groups condemned the statements. BLM supporters took that as dog whistle politics and shortly thereafter held a major protest that blocked city streets. Supporters have been arrested for blocking traffic and charged with violations for disrupting city council meetings.
As part of the fallout of this activity, the state Attorney General’s office is investigating the SSPD for civil rights violations.
Montagnino and other Democrats ran and won council seats earlier this fall partially on the idea that they will institute a Civilian Review Board and make other changes in the police department. Montagnino has already said that he will make changes to the policy regarding some arrest warrants.
She said that she is following proper civil service procedure.
The people in the interview process have passed the necessary exams to fill the role of assistant chief. Under civil services rules, a person can be put in place, in a sort of shadow position during a short transition period, Dalton said.