City of Kingston

Annual Report

Department: Kingston Police Department

Staff: 73 Full Time Sworn Officers
3 Full Time Dispatchers
6 Part Time Dispatchers
1 Full Time Secretary
1 Full Time Clerk
1 Part Time Clerk
Chief of Police: Egidio F. Tinti
Phone: 845-331-1671 E-mail: etinti@kingston-ny.gov
Website: www.kingston-ny.gov/police
2016 Budget: $10,686,414
Department Functions:
The purpose and mission of this Department is to protect persons and property in the City of Kingston.
The responsibilities associated with this mission are many. They include enforcement of City ordinances,
Federal and State laws, maintaining the peace and order of the City, protecting property and personal safety,
promoting and preserving a feeling of security, recognizing and protecting the constitutional rights of all
persons, generally assisting persons in urgent situations; and delivering quality services to members of the
community.
The Department consists of three divisions; Patrol, Detectives and Administration. The Patrol Division
consists of three 8 hour shifts. Each shift has three sergeants and 12 to 15 patrol officers depending on the shift.
The primary responsibility of the patrol division is to respond to calls for service and enforce all law including
vehicle and traffic laws. The Detective Division consists of a Lieutenant, Sergeant, eight Detectives, one
Officer on special assignment, three School Resource Officers and one part-time secretary. The division is
divided into 4 groups: four Detectives assigned to 8-4 shift, two Detectives assigned to 4-12 shift, two
Detectives and one patrol officer assigned to Special Investigations Unit, and three Detective Specialists
assigned as school resource officers in two schools (Kingston High School and Bailey). The Detective Division
is responsible to conduct criminal investigations ranging from mundane crimes, to missing children/persons, to
the most severe and violent crimes. Any crime or incident deemed as requiring investigation, and is not resolved
by the patrol division, gets assigned to the duty detectives. Consequently, these detectives conduct
investigations on the vast majority of serious criminal cases that are prosecuted by the Ulster County District
Attorneys Office. The Administrative division is responsible for the police department budget, the training and
development of all department members and the creation and implementation of department policies and
procedures.

1 Garraghan Drive Kingston, New York 12401 (845) 331-1671 Fax (845) 331-2166 www.kingston-ny.gov
2016 Accomplishments

Patrol Division-

Requests (calls) for Service- the Kingston Police Department responded to approximately 26,000
requests for service. Approximately 25% were motor vehicle related, 25% were public/personal order related,
20% were general enforcement requests and the remaining 30% were property and personal welfare related.

Warming Centers established: pursuant to Governor Cuomos Executive Order to shelter homeless
people during periods of cold weather, Police Officers were required to be vigilant for individuals who might be
in a state of need or inability to access shelter during brutal cold-spells or weather. While this was a normal
activity of patrols even before this Executive Order was declared, identifying such needs of the community, this
official proclamation brought more public attention to the crisis and generated more police/public dialogue
towards positive ends.

Evidence re-evaluation: The size of our evidence inventory came close to outgrowing our evidence
storage area. Therefore, an officer was dedicated to evaluating the evidence on hand and disposing of items that
no longer needed to be retained. This dedicated assignment allows more continuity while scrutinizing cases and
the evidence associated with them. Such an intense review allows for effective and accurate reduction of surplus
evidence/property items no longer needed. Literally, tens of thousands of items including drugs, guns and DNA
evidence have been purged from the storage areas, freeing up workspace and more accurate storage.

New Supervisors: City of Kingston Board of Police Commissioners appointed Rick Negron, Andrew
Zell and Brian Lowe as Sergeants in the Patrol Division. With these appointments, the Kingston PD will benefit
from increased supervision of patrol activities on the street and will also provide for more immediate oversight
and quality control at incidents and crime scenes.

New Hires: City of Kingston Board of Police Commissioners appointed Darren Dawson and Kyle
Jennings as Police Officers. Dawson was previously employed as a Corrections Officer at the Ulster County Jail
and is currently attending the Police Academy. Dawson will be on the street several days before Christmas.
Jennings was already employed as a Police Officer with several Dutchess County Police agencies and is now
working in full force on the streets of the City of Kingston at this time.

COP (community-oriented policing)-Car assignments established: Community-oriented policing is a law

enforcement philosophy that partners police and citizens in the identification and response to local criminal
issues. The co-production of public safety by police and citizens is central to this philosophy and the goals of
this partnership are to define, prioritize and address problems of crime and disorder. Ideally, the product of such
a police/community union along with the reduction of crime will be an improved public perception of disorder
and the fear of crime along with increased satisfaction and trust in the police. Chief Tinti reminds us, This
assignment is meant to enhance our efforts to positively interact with the public beyond calls for service.

Traffic enforcement regularly assigned: as part of increased efforts to create safer roadways in the City
of Kingston, Police Officers are regularly assigned to traffic details. These details may be either specific
assignments based on citizens complaints or concerns, or may be left to the officers discretion. This effort
utilizes Officers already on duty and is often supported by Officers engaged in the STEP (Selective Traffic
Enforcement Program) assignments which are separately funded. Officers assigned to these traffic details are
normally excluded from handling regular patrol activities or calls for service so that they may concentrate their
efforts on this objective.

1 Garraghan Drive Kingston, New York 12401 (845) 331-1671 Fax (845) 331-2166 www.kingston-ny.gov
 Attendance at public events and gatherings: Patrol Officers have been asked to identify and attend
events and gatherings of the community during their work shift. In doing so, their police presence at these
venues makes the Kingston Police Department readily available for any dialogue that some individual or group
might wish to generate.

Impact New Records Management: this system was evaluated and chosen as the new records
management system for Kingston Police Department. Along with increased options for data storage and
association, it offers web based access so that officers in the field can more readily write investigative reports
and complete cases or investigations while still at or near incident scenes. One of the aspects of the new system
will allow for computer aided dispatch (CAD) where officers on patrol can be contacted with more extensive
detail of the calls they are responding to. This allows for reduced radio traffic and provides officers with
information at their fingertips which helps to improve officer safety at and while responding to calls. Since all
the modules interface with each other, there is reduced duplication of records with improved searching abilities
for data, persons and vehicles.

STOP DWI efforts continued: The STOP-DWI Program seeks to reduce the incidence of drunk and/or
drugged driving deaths and personal injury crashes. The program is funded with fines paid by individuals
convicted of alcohol related driving offenses. Police Officers are regularly scheduled to this assignment and
their goal is to detect drivers who might be somehow impaired. These officers are normally excluded from
being assigned to regular patrol activities and calls for service so that they may concentrate their efforts on this
objective.

CPTED efforts continued: The past year the police department has made several changes to the CPTED
program. When first introduced, the strategy was to focus on hot spots and places that were recently targeted
for burglary. While this approach certainly generated a lot of positive public interaction and leads on other
suspicious activity, it yielded little results in terms of upgrading household items to improve the security of the
property. This is mainly due to the fact that most properties were non-owner occupied. The most progress seen
were with commercial properties. Several, including the YMCA, were extremely happy with the program and
have been making numerous improvements to address security concerns. Securing the property better was a
focus to try and reduce the number of larcenies that were occurring. Other commercial sites such as the Citgo
on Broadway, made parking lot improvements and removed some signage that blocked patrols view into the
store.
This year, after attending an advanced CPTED school, the police department has now begun to work
with Code Enforcement Officer Jeanne Edwards and the Building Dept. The police department took two
different approaches to CPTED. The first has been to address 21 properties that have had major building safety
issues or nuisance complaints. The other is planning a strategy for a longer term approach to make
improvements to an entire area. The Broadway corridor is now a focus of the police departments CPTED
efforts. To date, the police department has conducted 108 property surveys. Copies of the reports with any
improvement suggestions were mailed to the homeowners/landlords. The police department began getting
positive feedback from the tenants that have been interviewed however most expressed frustration that the
landlords were not as concerned with security. To address this, the police department has worked with Jeanne
Edwards to contact the property owners and schedule meeting times to discuss the concerns and set up a time-
line to make improvements especially regarding building safety. Most improvements can be accomplished
relatively easily by just cleaning up the exterior of the property and removing garbage, debris and abandoned
vehicles. The interviews with property owners reinforce the Citys concerns and willingness to work with the
homeowner to improve the property conditions. The police department has offered a number of places that can
lend assistance such as RUPCO, Greentech, Community Action, Habitat for Humanity and Family of
Woodstock. The owners are reminded that the City would prefer not to cite the owner with violations but if no
attempts to improve the conditions of the property are made, the city will issue the appropriate violation notices.

1 Garraghan Drive Kingston, New York 12401 (845) 331-1671 Fax (845) 331-2166 www.kingston-ny.gov
It is the belief that taking this approach has improved relations with the property owner and that improvements
have been made immediately.

Social Media: The Kingston Police Department continues to maintain correspondence with the
community it serves by regularly posting news of arrests, incidents or other items of public interest on the
Facebook social network. Such a practice works to maintain open dialogue with the citizens and is just one of
many efforts towards maintaining good public relations. Using NIXLE, the Kingston Police Department
continues to keep the Kingston community apprised of emergencies or hazardous conditions by posting
notifications of accidents, utility failures, road closures/conditions or other items of public concern. Such efforts
provide the citizens with live information not normally available and in some cases, ultimately help steer
vehicle or pedestrian traffic away from congested or dangerous areas.

Notable Events: In October, Police Officers responded to a report of shots fired and encountered a
woman whose apparent intent was to engage in suicide by cop, displaying a firearm and attempting to compel
Police Officers to shoot her to death. In recent history Officer involved shootings have become more scrutinized
than ever and are always criticized from an after the fact position. These KPD Officers exercised great
diligence and relied upon the extensive training they have received to avoid a violent end to the conflict and
diffuse the situation through patience and negotiation. Without proper training and discipline, this certainly
would have been a disaster for the Kingston community.

On Halloween, afternoon and evening patrols were provided with bags of candy and treats to distribute
to trick-or-treaters in the City of Kingston. Officers were encouraged to use their down-time when not
handling calls for service, to seek out neighborhoods and families or groups of children and distribute the
goodies. In doing so they would subsequently create a police/community forum that would generate
conversations and bring positive recognition to what the Kingston Police Department is doing in our
community. Many of these interactions were recorded by photograph or video and posted to the Facebook
social network.

Detective Division-

As of the December 31, 2016, the duty detectives were assigned 448 cases for investigation, 81 of which
had been closed by arrest and another 146 still open and being investigated. A quick synapsis of some of the
investigations conducted by the detective division over the past year: 73 missing persons, 52 grand larcenies, 48
burglaries, 40 unattended deaths, 30 assaults, one manslaughter, and numerous other various crimes. Other than
those cases that were closed by arrest, the other cases were closed by investigation, meaning that the crime has a
low probability for solvability because all leads were exhausted or the lack of cooperation from witnesses or
victims; in the case of a missing person - the person was located; or the incident initially reported was ruled not
criminal after an investigation.

Some of the more notable investigations were:

Gang assault that occurred at local downtown bar in April. Three individuals assaulted an
individual and caused serious injuries requiring surgery at Albany Med Center. The suspects
were arrested and later two of those suspects were also charged federally in an unrelated drug
investigation conducted by another agency.
In June, a home invasion robbery that occurred on Albany Ave. Several suspects were identified
through investigation and the use of DNA. The case is presently in County Court.

1 Garraghan Drive Kingston, New York 12401 (845) 331-1671 Fax (845) 331-2166 www.kingston-ny.gov
 A handgun was used to shoot a female in the head. The female had several subjects in her
residence on Fair Street in the June incident. The suspect was located and arrested for the assault.
Rondout Savings Bank was robbed by a male subject in July. There presently is a person of
interest, a parole absconder, which is being sought for questioning in regards to this robbery and
another bank robbery in the Albany area.
A robbery of a Foxhall Avenue business in October where the suspect displayed a handgun. The
handgun was later determined to be a BB gun and the suspect was arrested in the robbery.
During the year, several sex offenders were arrested for failing to register as required.
A victim was relieved of his wallet and bicycle during a gunpoint robbery in July. The suspects
were arrested in the robbery.
A subject committed suicide by walking in front of an oncoming train.
In September, a manslaughter investigation where a female was dragged to her death on Bruyn
Ave. Kingston resident, Khalil Waheed was arrested and charged as a result of the investigation.
In September, during a domestic dispute on Lincoln Street, a male was stabbed by his ex-
girlfriend. The female was located and charged in the assault.

Special Investigations Unit: As of December 31, 2016 the Special Investigations Unit opened 86 cases.
Unlike the Detective Division, the SIU generates most of the cases opened through the development of
confidential sources and information developed from patrol arrests. The SIU also assists the Detective Division
when there is a major investigation requiring additional manpower.
Through this past year, the SIU worked alongside other state and local departments on investigations
that are directly tied to the City of Kingston. Those departments are Joint Terrorism Task Force, New York
State Police Community Narcotics Enforcement Team, as well as Ellenville, Lloyd, Saugerties, and Ulster
Police Departments.

Some of the more notable investigations were:

Investigation into internet prostitution from sites such as Backpage. One arrest resulting in the
arrest of a 17 year old girl that was being sexually trafficked by a sex offender. The investigation
is still continuing.
Several investigations into illegally possessed guns, handguns and long guns. During the year
numerous weapons were seized, removing the weapons from the street. In one investigation
alone there were five illegally possessed handguns recovered.
Numerous narcotics trafficking investigations resulting throughout the City of Kingston.

School Resource Officers: There are three Detective Specialists assigned to Kingston City Schools.
Although the main schools the Detective Specialists are assigned to are Kingston High School and Bailey
School, they are asked at times to aid at other schools in the City of Kingston. The Detective Specialists are a
valuable asset to the Kingston Police Department. They frequently are able to gather information in regards to
crimes committed by juveniles/school aged children in the City of Kingston and surrounding jurisdictions as
well as identifying potential problems that may be developing.

1 Garraghan Drive Kingston, New York 12401 (845) 331-1671 Fax (845) 331-2166 www.kingston-ny.gov
Administration and Training-

Training: This year the police department continued our partnership with the Town of Ulster Police
Department to conduct two annual in-service training cycles. Each cycle consisted of three consecutive days of
training, combining classroom lecture and discussion, hands-on skill building, reality based training exercises,
and live-fire training and qualifications. This years topics included; procedural justice, CSX rail safety, use of
force, defensive tactics, DWI refresher, detective divisions updates, active shooter response, OSHA up-dates,
firearms training, low-light qualification, and the introduction of lighting systems on the patrol rifles.
In addition to 42 hours of in-service training each member attended, 41 members of the department were
sent to outside training courses hosted by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services or other
reputable outside training sources. Some examples are; seven supervisors attended leadership and/or
management courses, five Emergency Services Unit members attended NYS DCJS sponsored Basic SWAT
Operator Course, nine members of the Detective Division attended specialized investigative training courses, all
four members of our Crime Prevention through Environmental Design team attended Advanced CPTED
training.
Through the continued partnership with SUNY Ulster, the police academy conducted and/or hosted 21
DCJS approved training courses, most of which were also attended by members of the department, tuition free.
The police academy also ran a ten-week Citizens Police Academy designed to foster improved police and
community relations and educate the community on resources law enforcement has available to better serve
them.

Grant Funding: During the past year, the police department closed-out the Gun Initiated Violence
Elimination (GIVE II) grant on June 30, 2016 and were again awarded $62,500 in the GIVE III grant which
began July 1, 2016. The police department also spent down and closed-out the remaining $87,886 from the
2014 Homeland Security Tactical Team grant. The police department applied for $100,000 in additional
funding under the 2016 Tactical Team Grant program; however, at the time of this report the state has not
released notifications of award. The police department also continues to receive grant funding for Stop DWI,
Buckle-up New York (BUNY), and Selective Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP).

Equipment and Technology: Currently, the police department has several notable technological
advancement projects in-progress. The most noteworthy is the new records management system, IMPACT.
Currently, all of the software is installed and 10 members of the department have been trained as super users to
train the remaining members within the respective squads. The anticipated go-live date is tentatively scheduled
at the start of 2017. The police department also purchased a new digital fingerprint reader, commonly known as
Livescan. The police department has taken delivery of this system, and will be implementing it at the same
time of the transition to the IMPACT RMS. Another notable program is the introduction of the body worn
camera program. Currently the police department has seven WatchGuard Vista body cameras which are being
worn by the Special Investigations Unit and any GIVE funded directed patrols. The program will be extended
to include the uniformed patrol division in 2017. In addition to those advancements, the police department
improved the motor vehicle fleet through the purchase of four new police cars, three Ford Police Interceptor
Utility all-wheel-drive SUVs and one Chevy Volt, our first hybrid (plug in) police car.

1 Garraghan Drive Kingston, New York 12401 (845) 331-1671 Fax (845) 331-2166 www.kingston-ny.gov
2017 Goals
1. Increase Wellness awareness among KPD employees and improve employees welfare, health and
morale through the implementation of Blue Courage, a program being offered through the Bureau of
Justice Assistance and NYS DCJS.
2. Enhance community, law enforcement and other partnerships through enhanced data sharing via the
new record management system, quarterly community forums, the Citizens Police Academy and
more frequent use of social media.
3. Update the departments accreditation folders and files by creating electronic versions of each
standard and scanning the needed information to help reduce the need for paper copies.
4. Obtain NYS DCJS SWAT team certification through the completion of standards set by the MPTC
and the DCJS. The department has been working towards this certification over the last two years
with the use of grant funding the hard work and dedication of the officers assigned to the Emergency
Services Unit.
5. Increase the level of training received by each supervisor through the use of the many newly
scheduled courses by the DCJS. The focus of 2017 will be to identify and attend those programs
specific to leadership development.
6. Implement a community safety survey to improve the satisfaction and support of the services
provided by the police department to its community members. The survey would be carried out
through the use of interns from the local colleges.
7. Increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the resources of the police department through regular
quarterly assessments. Resource reviews would include patrol vehicle deployment, personnel
assignments and evaluations, energy use audits and technology reviews.
8. Identify alternative funding sources for department resources and programs in an effort to increase
the level of service provided to the community.

1 Garraghan Drive Kingston, New York 12401 (845) 331-1671 Fax (845) 331-2166 www.kingston-ny.gov