COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - The village of Cooperstown held its first Police Community Advisory Board meeting Wednesday night.
In accordance with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's executive order 203 on police reform and reinvention, Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh created a 10 person advisory committee.
Cuomo announced the executive order in June and released guidance in August.
The executive order mandates localities review police policies and procedures. Every locality must adopt a plan for reform by April 1 to be eligible for future state funding.
Police chief, Frank Cavilieri, who was just sworn in Tuesday after serving a year with the department, says luckily, there is very little crime in Cooperstown but there are other challenges to address.
"I think here we do a very good job with positive policing and community-oriented policing; training is very important and talking to the community, seeing what their needs are and talking to them is very important," Cavilieri said.
Mayor Tillapaugh also agreed that the police department and the community have good relationships, but she says there is always more work to do.
"Our police department has been well supported by the community and we've always gotten very good feedback from visitors and residents," Tillapaugh said. "This is an opportunity to just look and make sure that all our policies and procedures are what they should be."
The board plans to meeting every two weeks to meet the governor's April 1 deadline. The mayor and police chief say members of the public are strongly encouraged to attend to give their input and suggestions.
The next meeting is set for Sept. 23 at 5 p.m.
All information discussed at the meetings will be made available on the village's website.