Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A chaotic scene on Chippewa Street last weekend in Buffalo points to a larger problem for Buffalo Police, according to retired police Cpt. Jeff Rinaldo.
Bodycam video shows a large altercation with a number of police officers attempting to stop assaults. Deputy police commissioner Craig Macy was among those officers, and was captured shoving a woman to the ground.
Rinaldo feels Macy was leading from the front, in this case.
"He was on the front lines with his officers, watching what was happening, and he is not going to standby while officers were being swarmed in these violent altercations," Rinaldo told WBEN.
Rinaldo commends Macy for what he did last weekend.
"For far too long, the department has had senior leadership that has not been willing to engage in that type of situation," he said.
Rinaldo, who was with Buffalo Police for 23 years, says Chippewa Street has been a problem for over 20 years. The City of Buffalo has spent millions of dollars in police resources to try to control the area, but it is still a problem.
He adds it's time for the co-mingling experiment on Chippewa to end.
"Obviously, having people under the age of 21 in the same space as adults, in the overnight hours, is a bad combination," Rinaldo said. "We've seen time and time again where this has spiraled out of control and become newsworthy."
Police staffing is a major focus in Buffalo right now. There are more police retiring than being brought into the department.
"You have a department with a union president screaming about how understaffed and overworked they are, and you have leaders of the department who want to be there with their front line officers showing their support," Rinaldo added.
