Marketing and recruitment, possible School Resource Officers for Jefferson Central and Gilboa-Conesville Central Schools, and a South Station in combination with County EMS are all in the mix as the Sheriff’s Office begins working toward 24/7 coverage.
Supervisors agreed in January to fund the around-the-clock road patrols after a year-long look that began with the possibility of merging the Sheriff’s Office with the Cobleskill Police Department.
Friday, Carlisle Supervisor John Leavitt, who chaired that Select Law Enforcement Committee, ran through a three-phase plan put together by the Sheriff’s Office to get there, reading from a report put together by Sheriff Ron Stevens:
The first priority in the process will be creative marketing, an effort to publicize the Sheriff’s Office and grow interest from new hires, using social and print media and through attendance at job fairs.
Phase 1 will also include using donations to “procure” a K-9 and equipment and sending a deputy and dog to certification school as well as possible SROs for JCS and G-CCS—talks already in discussion.
Most significantly, Phase 1 also includes beginning discussions and research of building options and a location for a South Station “to be combined with County EMS and staffed 24/7 upon full expansion.”
Also in Phase 1 are efforts to staff the additional positions through Civil Service tests and lateral transfers.
Phase 2 will continue efforts to fill those positions and the possible creation of a fulltime “training coordinator” position.
Also: the Sheriff’s Office would seek accreditation with the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, and begin work on a grant application and building or rehabbing a place for the South Station.
By Phase 3, the South Station will be fully operational and staffed.
Also in Phase 3, the Sheriff’s Office will re-evaluate its command structure—and whether the South Station will require a station commander to handle day-to-day operations.
Phase 3 will also mean evaluating the status of the Cobleskill Police Department.
If they cease to exist, the Sheriff’s Office would add three patrols and a third investigator to get to 35 total positions.
There’s also the possibility that the need to increase staffing could accelerate based on the status of the CPD.
Supervisors will be updated on the plan and progress on a monthly basis “to maintain a transparent and responsible approach” the report concludes.