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Council debate highlights limits of private security and need for consistent park policies
Summary
Council members questioned whether private security could lawfully detain or arrest at park events, raised past park shootings as reasons to retain city officers, and urged consistent treatment across venues such as school events and RiverLink Park.
Multiple council members and speakers raised concerns that private security cannot perform arrests and often must call the Amsterdam Police Department to handle violent or criminal incidents. One council member said that when private security "takes people down it makes everybody liable" and that private guards frequently must call APD because they cannot make arrests.
Speakers compared Mohawks events to other city-sponsored events and to the Greater Amsterdam School District's practices, arguing for consistency so that all event organizers are held to the same standard. Councilors who favored retaining the on-duty requirement noted prior incidents in parks and urged that police be paid "on the books" with protections for officers rather than off-the-books cash arrangements.
