Articles for Daniela Porat

Jan 19

2017

City Hall ignoring police mandate

Many police departments get what amounts to a stamp of approval from outside evaluators that review, advise and ultimately accredit them as adhering to best practices. But not Buffalo. The Buffalo Police Department is currently not accredited, even though it’s required by the City Charter. The issue of accreditation is more than a technical matter. The process is intended to improve the professionalism and efficiency of police departments, and Buffalo faces numerous challenges in this regard. The department has a middling track record of solving crime, its relationships with the minority community is strained, and its training involving use of[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Jan 10

2017

Porat talks police training on WBFO

Investigative Post reporter Daniela Porat discusses police use of force training in light of the recent incident involving a Buffalo Police Department SUV striking a civilian who was holding a knife. The interview aired Tuesday on WBFO’s Press Pass. Porat previously reported on the department’s lack of training in the use of force and weapons, and a lack of urgency by city leaders in addressing the problem. She and Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney also discussed the issue in a recent podcast.

Posted 8 years ago

Dec 29

2016

Podcast: Porat discusses Buffalo police

In this episode of Investigative Postcast, reporter Daniela Porat talks about her recent story on the failure thus far of city’s elected officials to address the inadequate training of police in de-escalation tactics and other measures to avoid a Ferguson-type situation here in Buffalo. Porat, in her discussion with Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney, also spoke about her curious interview with Masten Common Council Member Ulysees Wingo done in the course of researching her story. Wingo has protested police violence in other cities, yet expressed a hands-off attitude when it comes to the lack of police training in Buffalo.

Posted 8 years ago

Dec 14

2016

City Hall in no rush to improve police training

Buffalo officials are in no hurry to address the police department’s lack of training in tactics that many other cities have deployed in response to police shootings of African Americans in Ferguson and elsewhere. In fact, Mayor Byron Brown said he is satisfied with the status quo. He said he sees no need to improve training programs that show officers how to de-escalate potentially volatile situations and make restrained use of force in dealing with citizens. “We are very pleased that when you look at what’s happening here in Buffalo versus other parts of the country, we are not experiencing[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Nov 1

2016

Porat talks police training on WBFO

Daniela Porat discusses her report on problems with how the Buffalo Police Department trains officers in the use of force. Interview aired Tuesday on WBFO’s Press Pass.

Posted 8 years ago

Oct 31

2016

Tempting a Ferguson in Buffalo

As the body count rises – nearly 1,800 civilians fatally shot by police nationwide the past two years – a growing number of law enforcement agencies are retraining their officers to minimize their use of force. Police are being trained on how to de-escalate volatile situations and make smart use of their firearms. It’s part of a policy and cultural shift intended to avoid the Ferguson-type scenarios that have rocked city after city the past couple of years. “Police departments really need to embrace this and get in front of this,” said Paul O’Connell, a policing consultant and professor of criminal[...]

Posted 8 years ago

Sep 15

2016

Arbetter on Cuomo’s “pathology’ of self-interest

Susan Arbetter has built The Capitol Pressroom into an influential interview program with a daily audience of 100,000 listeners by practicing what she described Tuesday as “broccoli dipped in chocolate” journalism. Speaking to a near sell-out crowd at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, Arbetter said her approach – tackling serious subjects with a dash of flavor and humor – gives voters the information they need in a way they can digest. “We need to eat vegetables to have real democracy,” she said, “but people are opting to only eat dessert,” referring to the gluttony of media consumption preoccupied with sports,[...]

Posted 8 years ago