‘Ithacans For Reimagining Public Safety’ Campaign Manager Alana Byrd made her first public statement, in a thinly disguised editorial in the Ithaca Voice Tuesday afternoon.
Byrd has previously been employed by Washington, DC based Young Elected Officials as a Policy Coordinator. The Young Elected Officials Network is a program of The People For the American Way Foundation. Svante Myrick recently left the Mayor’s office to serve as Executive Director of The People For The American Way.
There is little to be known about ‘Ithacans For Reimagining Public Safety’ as an organization, apart from Byrd’s LinkedIn profile indicating she is ‘Executive Director’ and her Ithaca Voice letter to the editor. Byrd had previously published an editorial in the Ithaca Times titled ‘Real Crime Data in the Wake of Disinformation‘ where she accused the Ithaca Police Benevolent Association of engaging in “disinformation” and “fearmongering.” The editorial was also highlighted on The People For The American Way’s website.
After contacting a representative of the Ithaca Voice this reporter was able to confirm that the Alana Byrd of YEO Network/The People For The American Way/Ithacans For Reimagining Public Safety and the author of the Ithaca Voice Letter to the Editor ‘Are our police officers protecting and serving all of us?‘ are indeed the same person. The Ithaca Voice updated the heading on the opinion piece to reflect this fact.
It is unclear at this time what role The People For The American Way will play in the implementation of the Reimagining Public Safety Plan. It is also unclear what its ties to former employee Byrd’s organization Ithacans For Reimagining Public Safety are, and to what extent now former Mayor Svante Myrick will remain involved in the Reimagining Public Safety Process in his capacity as Executive Director for The People For the American Way.
The Reimagining Public Safety Working Group implementation plan for Recommendation #1, ‘Replace the City of Ithaca Police Department with a Community Solutions and Public Safety Department,’ will be presented at the Wednesday meeting of the Ithaca Common Council at 6 PM.
