"Except for their uniforms, except for their armaments, except for their vehicles" said Saratoga Springs City Council Public Safety Commissioner James Montagnino "nothing that they said or did even vaguely resembled the conduct of police officers."
Public Safety Commissioner speaking out at the Tuesday's City Council meeting after Saratoga Springs Black Lives matter activists called for city council members to speak on the death of Tyre Nichols.
Montagnino said what happened to Nichols had such a strong emotional impact on him, it's hard to put into words.
Activists are continuing to call for change...change in the way officers are trained.
"There is nothing on the video that I saw that has ever been taught in the police academy" said Zone 5 Regional Law Enforcement Academy Training Director Rocco Fragomeni "if you're not disgusted by what you saw, you're not a human being."
When officers leave the academy, Fragomeni says they leave with the most up to date education the academy can give them.
Meaning as much role-playing and interactions of real-life scenarios as possible, including how to address situations before they become tragic like the one that took place in Memphis.
" The ability to work with someone in crisis is crucial now for police departments" said New York State Law Enforcement Mental Health First Aid/Crisis Intervention Trainer John Cooney "it's probably always been but with recent events the officers need more of a knowledge base and how to handle that part of the job."
Crisis teaching is a big part of officer training, it plays an even bigger role now then its ever before.
"I think the biggest problem is it's not academy training" said Fragomeni "I think it's more in-service training that needs to continue after the Academy."
Police training in the academy Fragomeni says is always evolving, whether that's keeping up with industry standards on equipment, and tactics.
The challenge is for agencies and officers to implement those best practices and continue them well beyond graduating from the academy.
"The challenge is to our leadership right now" said Cooney "to our officers to maintain decorum, good conduct, trust, but our Chiefs need to get on there and say if you don't have those factors for me, you're not part of this department you can move onto another career."