Mayor Byron Brown nominates Joseph Gramaglia for new Buffalo police commissioner

Gramaglia, a 25-year veteran of the Police Department, served as deputy commissioner under Byron Lockwood, who retired as police commissioner after 38 years with the department.

Gramaglia rose through the ranks, serving as officer, lieutenant and captain of B District and Investigative Services in Homicide. He also was a supervisor for the Patrol Division before being tapped as deputy commissioner in 2018. He supervised day-to-day operations and is the liaison for homeland security. 

Deputy Police Commissioner Barbara Lark will serve as first deputy commissioner and C District Chief Alphonso Wright will serve as deputy commissioner of operations, Brown said.

Brown also nominated Cavette Chambers as corporation counsel. She would become the first Jamaican American woman to serve as the city's corporation counsel. Chambers, now the acting corporation counsel, has been an assistant corporation counsel in the Law Department since 2006 and senior deputy corporation counsel since 2017. 

Timothy Ball left his post as corporation counsel last month to take a job at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

Cathy Amdur would become the first woman commissioner of permits and inspections, taking over for James Comerford, who retired. Amdur was appointed deputy commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services in 2021. She also served in various roles in city government, including supervisor of building construction and as a senior engineer in the Department of Public Works.  

Brown tapped Chief Building Inspector Kevin Gould to serve as deputy commissioner of permit and inspection. The mayor also nominated Christopher Savage to become parking commissioner. Savage is a management analyst in the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority.

“These appointees are all dedicated public servants who exemplify the hard work and determination that defines our city," Brown said.