The Buffalo Common Council had its first meeting since Buffalo Police shot a man who allegedly struck an officer with a baseball bat while they responded to a mental health crisis call downtown over the weekend.

What You Need To Know

  • Buffalo Common Council discusses police reform at its latest meeting 
  • The meeting comes days after an officer shot a man during a mental health call
  • Councilmembers are asking police officials to be at their next meeting

"We think about the protests that happened in Rochester, that could've been Buffalo from this situation," said Buffalo Common Councilmember Rasheed Wyatt.

It's a situation that has caught the attention of Buffalo's Common Council. Councilmembers met Tuesday afternoon to discuss the latest push for police reform in the city, just days after police responded to a mental health call and ended up shooting a man who struck an officer with a baseball bat.

Buffalo Common Councilmember Ulysees Wingo said, "We are ensuring that the folks that are responding to the constituents and the residents of the city of Buffalo are being met with officers who understand their humanity."

On Monday, the mayor announced the formation of a Behavioral Health Team that will allow police and clinicians to work together to respond to behavioral health crisis calls. The common council wants to make sure those services are available all the time. That's why they approved a resolution Tuesday calling for the police department to hire full time mental health professionals who can be available 24/7.

"You need someone to be on scene as rapidly as possible," said Council President Darius Pridgen.

Many also wondered why police didn't use a taser on the man. The Common Council said it approved funding for the purchase of non-lethal tasers for Buffalo Police in the 2019-2020 budget. Mayor Byron Brown blames cuts to the police department as to why they weren't purchased.

"If you can't purchase it, you need to tell us why and if you can't tell us why, we'll find out but it shouldn't be this way. This is not what the public is asking for, they're asking us to be transparent, we’ve got to be," said Pridgen. 

The council is now calling for the department to purchase the tasers and would like police officials to be at their next meeting to see what the hold-up with the purchase is.