Finn Institute for Public Safety gets $100,000 grant funding

Albany, NY (News10) — The state is committing 100-thousand dollars for a group that helps local police officers do their jobs. The money will help offset recent cuts in federal funding. News10’s Valerie Wencis brings us the story. 

The Finn Institute for Public Safety conducts research to help police departments perform more efficiently and effectively. Flanked by NY State Police officials, Assemblymember Phil Steck expressed his gratitude for the organization.

“We’re very pleased we were able to put this money in the budget to address this problem and continue the great work that the Finn institute does,” Steck said.

The money will fund studies like the one Senior Research Fellow Alissa Worden is currently conducting. She is examining the causes of crashes, particularly of cyclists and pedestrians. The focus is on Central Avenue stretching from the Bryant Stratton Campus in Albany to Colonie, and make recommendations to improve pedestrian safety.

“I think it’s safe to say nobody would’ve designed Central Avenue to look like it does today. It’s a site of numerous crashes, accidents and a really tragic number of fatalities,” Worden commented.

She said they’re looking to find “hot spots” or particular locations that create more vulnerability and risk. 

“It is a very dense commercial district,” Worden stated. “Right about one block behind it is a dense residential district, so lots of people coming and going, lots of school busses. And that’s complicated by the fact it’s a multi-lane road.”

Her team is partnering with Colonie PD, using data from their accidents records. More than 4,500 accidents have occurred in that radius between 2015 and 2023. 

“A lot of things have changed since 2015,” said Worden. “There’s more distracted driving, there’s more aggressive driving, there’s more variety in the vehicles. We see a lot more motorized bikes and e-bikes than we used to see ten years ago.”

She said they will be looking at potential for interventions as they evaluate the causes, conditions, seasonality, and other potential influences for the accidents.

“We can try to see if conditions of the road or time of day makes a difference. If there’s days of the week that are higher risk, and also to look at the population of people who are involved in these kinds of accidents,” Worden said.

Worden says preliminary findings from the study will be available later this fall.