Columbia County
       Police Reform Panel

Mission
"To strengthen the police-community relationship through collaboration of the police agencies and
entire community through positive interaction, partnerships, and problem solving" 


Vision
"We will work to foster trust, fairness, and legitimacy within our community and address
any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color."  

The Columbia County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the  Final Draft of the  Columbia County Police Reform Collaborative Plan on March 10, 2021 at their full board meeting.  The  final plan  can be found  here: CC Police Reform Plan_FINAL 3.10.21

Implementation Committee Meeting Information

Next Police Reform Implementation Committee meeting scheduled for February is postponed until March 7, 2023. Check back for more information.

If you have any questions or comments in advance of the meeting, please email them to shari.franks@columbiacountyny.com or you may type them into the chat feature during the YouTube live video and the committee will address them at the end of the meeting.

For criminal statistical data by county please click here:  DCJS 

 A message from the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors:  Welcome!  The Columbia County Police Reform Panel was formed in October of 2020 to conform to New York State Executive Order No. 203, New York State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative. Among other things, the order mandates that local governments must perform a comprehensive review of current police force deployment strategies, policies, procedures and practices, develop an improvement plan to address the particular needs of the communities served, and promote community engagement to foster trust, fairness and legitimacy and to address any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color.  This website will include a schedule of meetings, links to our online meetings, archives of previous meetings and a Q & A page with our email for the public to submit questions and comments.  

Our Sheriff's Office initially achieved Law Enforcement Accreditation (through standards promulgated by the NYS Law Enforcement Accreditation Program) in 2007 and has maintained that certification since that date. They were reassessed in 2017 and found to exceed the standards set forth in the Accreditation program. In addition to the Law Enforcement Division, the Corrections, Civil and Security Services Divisions are also accredited by outside entities. Working jointly with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, we have been collecting data and information about policies and programs adopted already by the Sheriff's Office.  You will find this information on the Sheriff's Office page on this site.  With this, I would also like to welcome the Towns of Greenport and Stockport and the Village of Philmont police agencies and thank them for joining us in this collaborative. 

In closing, I believe that with this collaborative effort of our local law enforcement agencies, this panel and the residents of our county, we will strengthen our police-community relationships and foster trust and fairness among our county government, our law enforcement agencies and our residents. 

Thank you,

Matt Murell, Chairman
Columbia County Board of Supervisors

NYS Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative 

Resources & Guide for Public Officials and Citizens

Columbia County Sheriff's Office 

Disclaimer: This website is an informational tool pursuant to NYS Governor's Executive Order 203. Opinions presented herein have not been reviewed or adopted by the Columbia County Board Of Supervisors unless otherwise noted.