It’s a new day for the Buffalo Police Department as 37-year veteran Alphonso “Al” Wright has taken over as its acting police commissioner.
Wright, an East Side resident, replaces Joseph Gramaglia, who resigned on Jan. 13, after an early morning meeting with Acting Mayor Chris Scanlon.
Gramaglia is remaining with the BPD as a captain. He was named police commissioner in 2022 and has been with the department for more than 30 years.
Scanlon said the decision was a hard one to make.
“It's not something I thought of for the first time today. We've been having conversations, I've worked with Commissioner Gramaglia for a decade now and just based on philosophies and maybe some priorities that I have might not align with his,” Scanlon said. “He was focused on certain things I wanted to be focused on others, that's typical of any transition with a new administration coming in.”
Wright joined the BPD in 1988, starting as a patrolman where one of his tasks was focusing on gang violence and quality of life issues.
He was one of Buffalo’s first Community Police Officers and rose through the ranks as lieutenant, captain and in 2018 — district chief. Wright was most recently First Deputy Commissioner of Operations.
“I do have some ideas, I'm going to get with the men and women, I'm going to go to each district, I know some of the things I've spoken to them about, so I know some of the things that they are having difficulties with. We'll get down and we'll talk to them, we'll make sure that we try our best to address their needs,” Wright said.
Wright’s formal promotion to police commissioner requires Buffalo Common Council approval.
