The Village of Cobleskill has a new police chief, a 25-year veteran of the State Police who’s also worked as director of Safety and Security at Mohonasen and most recently, as a Financial Crimes investigator for the Schenectady County District Attorney.
Chief James McCrum’s first day here was Tuesday; he’ll be paid $117,500/year.
Mayor Becky Stanton-Terk and trustees voted unanimously to hire Chief McCrum at a quick, emergency meeting Tuesday morning.
Thursday, they’d hired George Bird, another retired State Police investigator, as a part-time Lieutenant-Investigator for the village following a two-hour meeting, held in closed, executive session, with both men.
Lieutenant-Investigator Bird’s first day was Monday; he’ll be paid $35/hour.
Chief McCrum, 56, is originally from Schenectady .
He joined the State Police as a Trooper in 1992, before working his way up the ranks, and said now, he’s looking forward to helping the Cobleskill Police Department rebuild.
“I worked in Cobleskill [as a Trooper] and always enjoyed it,” Chief McCrum said. “It’s one of the prettiest counties along I-88.
“In some ways, this is a very unusual situation and I look forward to helping get it all back up and running again. I’m at a point in my life where I like a challenge.”
He’ll have it: all but two members of the Police Department, Sergeant Joe Rorick and Officer Travis Slater, have resigned over charges of micro-managing and a ban on overtime.
That ban—OT needed to fill a shift—was also lifted Thursday.
Chief McCrum promised the village will be “getting more than 40 hours” from him and said he’s already looking for an apartment in Cobleskill.
As a Trooper working the Taconic Parkway for Troop K, Chief McCrum helped deliver a baby in the back of his Troop car.
He became a State Police Investigator in 2000 and has worked in Major Crimes—missing persons, homicide, and cold cases—is trained in crisis negotiations through the FBI, and ran the mobile team for the New York State Intelligence Center.
He retired from the State Police in 2016.
Why did Cobleskill offer Chief McCrum the job?
“He came highly recommended,” said Mayor Stanton-Terk.
If will be his responsibility, she said, to determine how large of a PD is sustainable and to fill the positions.
At its height, the CPD had a dozen officers—a number Mayor Stanton-Terk said is not sustainable.
Lieutenant-Investigator Bird retired from the State Police in 2018 after 32 years in the field.
He’s most recently been working as a Table Games Dealer for Rivers Casino and Resort in Schenectady.