Buffalo's new police commissioner told reporters Monday that the night of violence on the 4th of July, in which 11 people were shot, stemmed from a block party on Stevens Avenue with a planned “street takeover” at East Delavan Avenue and Grider Street.
Erika Shields defended her decision not to call in more resources, such as the Erie County Sheriff and New York State Police.
Retired Buffalo Police Captain Jeff Rinaldo telling WBEN, "With all due respect to the commissioner, she's new to Buffalo, and new to the area. I get the hesitation to, 'pull the fire alarm,' because you have to be able to handle policing within your jurisdiction, but you have a department that is down about 100 officers. I guarantee that there were at least 50 to 100 officers that were working forced overtime. It's a tired department that is having difficulty recruiting and with retention. You have to come up with creative solutions," he said.
There was a large street party, fireworks, gunshots. How do you begin to manage a scene like that?
"You really need crowd control techniques. You need field force units that are designed to handle unruly crowds. You have to have the proper gear, the proper training. Unfortunately, Buffalo doesn't have a lot of that organized."
There were no arrests for the violence on the 4th. That was not a surprise to Rinaldo.
He said the priority in those situations is to disperse the crowd."Sometimes," he added, "trying to make an arrest can actually escalate a situation and cause more violence, so I understand that."
The retired captain and security consultant said officer bodycams and other cameras can be used to go back later and find who was responsible.
"I guarantee that there were at least 50 to 100 officers that were working forced overtime. It's a tired department" - Jeff Rinaldo
"I guarantee that there were at least 50 to 100 officers that were working forced overtime. It's a tired department" - Jeff Rinaldo
