organization:gov. andrew cuomo's administration

  • Daily Kos: BREAKING: Cuomo Tries to Shut Down Occupy Albany (But Cops Push Back)
    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/24/1029509/-BREAKING:-Cuomo-Tries-to-Shut-Down-Occupy-Albany-(But-Cops-Push-Back)?det

    In a tense battle of wills, state troopers and Albany police held off making arrests of dozens of protesters near the Capitol over the weekend even as Albany’s mayor, under pressure from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, had urged his police chief to enforce a city curfew.
    ....
    “We were ready to make arrests if needed, but these people complied with our orders,” a State Police official said. However, he added that State Police supported the defiant posture of Albany police leaders to hold off making arrests for the low-level offense of trespassing, in part because of concern it could incite a riot or draw thousands of protesters in a backlash that could endanger police and the public.

    “We don’t have those resources, and these people were not causing trouble,” the official said. “The bottom line is the police know policing, not the governor and not the mayor.”

    A city police source said his department also was reluctant to damage what he considers to be good community relations that have taken years to rebuild. In addition, the crowd included elderly people and many others who brought their children with them.

    “There was a lot of discussion about how it would look if we started pulling people away from their kids and arresting them ... and then what do we do with the children?” one officer said.
    ...
    Joshua Vlasto, a spokesman for Cuomo, did not respond directly to questions about contact between Cuomo’s secretary, Larry Schwartz, and Jennings. “The state is working collaboratively with the city to enforce the curfew,” Vlasto said in a statement Friday evening.