Albion police chief to retire on March 31

Roland Nenni has led Albion PD for nearly 10 years

Photos by Tom Rivers: Albion Police Chief Roland Nenni speaks during a press conference on Dec. 11, 2020 with District Attorney Joe Cardone when they announced arson and reckless endangerment charges against an Albion resident after homemade fireworks badly damaged three houses in the village.

ALBION – Roland Nenni, Albion police chief for nearly 10 years, will retire on March 31 after working in local law enforcement for 29 years.

Nenni started his career in Holley in 1992 and joined the Albion Police Department in 1994. He also has served as the Holley police chief about five years in an intermunicipal between Albion and Holley. Albion will continue to provide leadership for the Holley PD until June 1.

Nenni also has served as the SWAT commander for Orleans County and teaches at the Rural Police Academy at GCC.

“I gave it everything I had and I’m proud of that,” Nenni said today. “I took the job very seriously.”

The Albion Village Board accepted his resignation letter on Wednesday evening. Mayor Eileen Banker praised Nenni for his commitment to the department. “He gave the job 150 percent,” she said.

Nenni pushed for community policing, working with about five different neighborhood watch groups in the village and co-leading the annual National Night Out at Bullard Park. That event drew about 1,000 people for games and activities with local law enforcement officers and agencies.

He pushed for close connections with the community before that was a mandate in police reform from Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“Certain officials in government have given us a black eye and insisted on us doing things we’ve already been doing,” Nenni said.

Nenni is a Holley resident and former Holley fire chief. He said the experience as fire chief proved to an asset in incident command as police chief.

In his role as Albion police chief he pushed the department of 13 full-time officers (which includes the chief’s position) to be trained and prepared to respond to many different calls, including medical and mental health.

Albion and Holley Police Chief Roland Nenni, left, and Albion Lt. David Mogle helped direct traffic during the Flag Day parade in Holley that passed through the intersection of routes 31 and 237. They are shown on June 14, 2019. Mogle is the second-in-command of the Albion PD.

The Albion and Holley patrol cars all have Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) because Nenni said the officers are often the first on the scene in medical emergencies and the AEDs can save someone in cardiac arrest.

The police chief secured grant funding for the AEDs. He also was successful getting grants for traffic enforcement, child car seats, pedestrian crossing safety and awareness, and other public safety initiatives. He has been recognized for his work by AAA.

The Albion PD on Oct. 1, 2016 also was the first local police department in Orleans County to use body cameras on all officers.

Nenni said he tried to empower the Albion officers, with each being a trainer in a different aspect of police work. All were trained to field training officers.

He has worked closely with the Albion school district to have a school resource officer and to quickly respond to any threats at the district.

Nenni has a reputation for being very detailed and writing lengthy event action plans, whether for local festivals, parades, food distributions and even 5Ks races.

“I’ve never been a wing it guy,” he said. “I like to be prepared for when the ‘what ifs’ happen.”

The police chief, 49, said he is proud of the officers. In Albion, he hired all but two who are currently in the department.

“The sign of an outstanding leader is the performance of the people,” he said. “We’ve had really great officers.”

In retirement, Nenni said he would like to teach more at the Rural Police Academy.