The Saratoga Springs Police Department today admitted fault for closing the Saratoga Springs City Court to visitors on Tuesday Sept. 21.
SSPD Chief Shane Crooks issued a short statement that admitted errors. The statement reads:
“An investigation concerning the restriction of public access to City Court on September 21, 2021 has revealed that such restriction was improper and resulted from a misunderstanding in communication between on-duty members of the Saratoga Springs Police Department. At no time did City Court ask the Police Department to restrict access.
“As the Chief of Police, I apologize for the error, and have taken all appropriate measures to ensure that it will not occur again.”
The investigation started after Tuesday Sept. 21 when members of Black Lives Matter Saratoga spoke during the city council meeting saying that they had been barred from entering the courtroom and even from entering City Hall itself earlier that day.
A handful of BLM protestors, who were arrested on violations and misdemeanors stemming from a July 14, 2021 protest that blocked traffic in downtown Saratoga, were scheduled to be arraigned that morning.
Police spokesperson Lt. Robert Jillson said that the problems were of either a “clarity” or “communication” type, between SSPD officers in the lower level police department and the officers who watch the entrance of City Hall on the first floor.
He said that the people being arraigned that morning were allowed to access City Hall via the Lake Avenue entrance, in the lower level near the police station. Their legal counsel could enter there with them.
However, friends and supporters were asked to walk around the building and enter through the Music Hall entrance of the building on Broadway, the entrance that is now being used as the main entrance of the building.
These changes in how people enter the building had been a topic of discussion for some time before the issues on Sept. 21. The city is trying to establish policies that limit entrances to give staff a better handle on how many people are in the building and what business they have there. [Read more here.]
(Jillson said that in the past, pre-COVID, when the building was much more open, the police had found homeless people sleeping in various rooms.)
Somehow, the decision to deny visitors at the lower-level Lake Avenue entrance was communicated to the first floor officers as well, and they denied people access at the Music Hall entrance.
"We don't know why [this happened], but that's what we're finding,” Jillson said.
He said that placing an officer at the Music Hall entrance with the greeter was a new idea and part of the overall policy change.
"I think part of that role [the officer was to play] was not clearly defined in the beginning," Jillson said, adding that he believes the officers who work that position will be asked to stand back and let the greeter handle the job unless asked to do otherwise.
As yet, no one has been disciplined, but the command staff is still looking at that, Jillson said.
Commissioner of Public Safety Robin Dalton said she had no comment at this time.
Earlier she told the gallery at the city council meeting on Sept. 21 that she had heard that New York Court police, who are in charge of safety in the courtroom, might have closed the court or that Judge Jeffrey Wait had closed the court. She promised to look into it and later started the investigation.
The New York State Office of Court Administration pushed back vociferously in an email and in an interview saying that court had not been closed, and that they had not limited access.
In fact, Chief Court Clerk Casey Scatena said that they knew Tuesday morning might bring many visitors, and the court had made changes to accommodate them.
“I was wrong,” Jillson said today when he first reported to the media that it looked like the NY Courts officers may have closed the courtroom.
Today, Scatena referred questions to the Office of Court Administration.
Lucian Chalfen, the press agent for the OCA, said in an email statement: “We appreciate their [the SSPD's] alacrity in looking into the matter and determining where the communication issues arose. We look forward to continuing to work with them, as we share facilities, and consider the matter resolved.”