From Sheriff David Bartlett:

Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203, which was issued June 12, 2020 requires the chief executive of each local government to convene the head of the local police agency and stakeholders in the community to develop a reform plan.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office has been an “Accredited Agency” in New York State since 2007 and the men and women in my Office work extremely hard to maintain the highest level of professionalism, and provide the best law enforcement services possible to the residents and visitors of our County.

We look forward to working with the Board of Supervisors, Police Reform Committee, Stakeholders, and the Community to have open and honest discussions on how to make our agency even better, and we strive to be a model of what modern day policing is, and what it could become.

1. Resident Deputies: The Resident Deputy Sheriff's Program in our county was initiated in 2002. There are currently four Deputy Sheriffs who serve in this program. In addition to Deputy Sheriffs who are assigned patrol zones and begin patrol from the Public Safety Facility, Resident Deputy Sheriffs are assigned a patrol vehicle to patrol the town they live in, and surrounding towns. They start and end patrols from their residence. The primary duties of Resident Deputy Sheriff include Community Relations and Interaction, Police Patrol and Investigation, Traffic Safety Education and Enforcement, Underage Drinking and DWI Education and Enforcement, Handicapped Parking Education and Enforcement and all other standard duties of a law enforcement officer. Resident Deputy Sheriffs routinely attend community days, community/public events and schools in their assigned areas. They will conduct informational lectures on Bicycle Safety, Handicapped Parking or other law enforcement areas of interest, or arrange for an expert in a specific field to conduct a lecture.

2. School Resource Deputies: School Resource Deputies (SRD's) were implemented in 2014 starting with the Ichabod Crane and Taconic Hills Central School Districts. Since that time SRD's were installed in Hudson, Germantown, Chatham, and New Lebanon Central School Districts. Additionally a Community Deputy was added to the Columbia-Greene Community Campus. SRD's are not only a Law Enforcement presence in the school but SRD's also provide topic lectures and discussions on driver safety, substance abuse, good touch bad touch and several other topics requested from their respective school officials. SRD's have implemented various school programs such as "Dine with a Deputy", "Sohotra Squad" and various mentorship programs. While SRD's are in our schools to keep our children safe, they are also there to foster a positive relationship between police and today's youth. Most recently SRD's have also sat in on school meetings in dealing with COVID and social distancing safety measures and practices.

3. DARE Deputy: DARE is a way for police officers to interact in a positive manner to provide young people with resources to help them make good decisions when confronted with drug and alcohol use. The program also educates students on why and when they should call police, how to deal with bullying, cyber bullying and how to model positive peer interactions. DARE is fully funded by the Sheriff's Office at no cost to the Columbia County School districts we serve.

4. Senior Safety Checks/Senior Safety Net: Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities who reside alone in Columbia County and do not have contact with other people on a daily basis may be eligible for the SENIOR SAFETY NET Program. Working together to give these individuals a form of daily contract to help ensure that they are not left unattended, the Sheriff's Office and Office for the Aging have developed the SENIOR SAFETY NET Program. Those individuals registered with the program will be called electronically the same time every day to verify their welfare.

5. CRASE Training: Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events training has been offered to the Community on over 100 occasions to inform civilians how to best respond and react to an active shooter incident. Training is offered to county businesses, religious groups, government agencies, and social groups and clubs.

6. Stop the Bleed: The Sheriff's Office has several Stop the Bleed trainers who provide classes on how to stop a serious bleeding scenario. A bleeding injury can happen anywhere. Training provides attendees with the basic skills to save a life in the event of an uncontrolled bleed. A person can die from blood loss in 2 to 5 minutes, making immediate care all the more important as first responders may not arrive on scene in that timeframe. Instead of being a witness, you can become an immediate responder because you know how to STOP THE BLEED. Sheriff Bartlett has purchased several Stop The Bleed kits with Drug Asset Forfeiture monies and provided them to Columbia County Schools.

7. Drug Court: Drug court is an alternative to incarceration for individuals that have an addiction problem, whether it be to drugs, alcohol or both. A County Court Judge presides over it and the weekly staff meetings, made up of a conglomerate of professionals with interests vested in recovery and a maintained sobriety of the participants. These professions include but are not limited to Columbia County Mental Health, DSS, drug counselors, a member of the DAs office, the public defender's office, Probation and the Sheriff's Office. Eventually persons in the program reaches "milestones" in the process including noted lengths of sobriety and moving from a rehab to supervised living to eventually being on their own. Their weekly requirement of attending drug court to speak before the group decreases in frequency as well to every other week and eventually monthly, as allowed by the judge. If all goes well the person is allowed to graduate from the program and hopefully maintain lifelong sobriety. The Sheriff's Office involvement consists of actively participating in the weekly meetings and providing assistance where needed. Corrections is continually asked about what happens in jail and what an individual can or can't do while incarcerated. The Law Enforcement Division (LED) provides information about arrests and the arrest process if it comes up in group discussion. Corrections and LED also provide intel on what is "going on in the streets". The group meetings are intended to be confidential and are not open to the public.

8. Child ID: Child ID is a DCJS sponsored program which collects personal data from a child and their parents so as to aid in locating that child should they become separated from a caregiver. New York State maintains a database of this information in the event the police would need to broadcast a missing persons (AMBER) alert for a missing/ vulnerable child. The caregiver is given an ID card with the child's physical descriptors, photo and image of their index finger print. The child ID program is often offered at community and school events, and is offered at no expense to the persons getting ID's.

9. Senior ID: Senior ID is a program developed by Sheriff Bartlett and NYS Senator Kathleen Marchione which allows for seniors to have a form of photo ID for those who don't have a drivers license or other official government ID. The Senior ID program is often offered at community and social events, and is offered at no expense to the persons getting ID's.

10. Project Lifesaver: Project Lifesaver is a rapid response program that aids victims (and their families) who wander as a result of Alzheimer's, Autism, Down Syndrome or Dementia. It uses state of the art technology and specifically trained Deputy Sheriffs to locate those individuals who have wandered and may be lost and otherwise in peril. To date the program has a 100% success rate in locating and returning subjects who are registered with the program.

11. Community Events: Deputy Sheriff's routinely attend community events. Here are just a few events attended throughout the year: Blue Friday Event, C-GCC Bike-A-Thon event, Various Fire Company Inspection and Installation events, Sean's Run Prevention Expo and the Battle of the Belts seatbelt safety competition, Columbia County Volunteer Firefighters Convention, First Responder Events, Various Community Days, Winter Walks, Light Parades around the Holiday Season, Marching in Parades on Memorial Day, Flag Day and Independence Day, 5K road races, Community BBQs, Various School Sporting events, Career Days at Community Events, 911 Memorial Events, Old Time Power Old Time Days, Various Summer Youth Camps, Nursing Home Community Days, Big Truck Day Participation, Various Car Shows, County Fair, Golden Gathering, Austerlitz Tree Lighting Ceremony, Northern Columbia Little League Opening Day Ceremonies, DARE Graduate and Family Picnics. Just to name a few.

12. Columbia County Fair Booth: For over 35 years the Columbia County Sheriff's Office has maintained a booth at the County Fair. For years this has been an attraction for young and old to view equipment used by the Sheriff's Office, from ATV's, Personal Water Crafts, Weaponry, and images of Deputies in action. These booths have also served as reference points for families to meet up or for places for lost children to come when they have been separated from their families. The fair booth also serves as a place to register for programs provided by the Sheriff's Office. A child's ID may also be obtained at the booth. The Sheriff's fair booth has always been a place to promote the men and women of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office and the fine work they do.

13. Golden Gathering: Deputy Sheriffs regularly attend the Annual Golden Gathering normally held at the Columbia Greene Community College. The Sheriff's Office normally sponsors an information table where they offer Senior ID's, Information on programs offered by the Sheriff's Office such as the yellow DOT program, project lifesaver. Our office also distributes CCSO merchandise such as hunter safety booklets, internet safety materials, and "crime prevention tips for seniors." The Golden Gathering event is a highly attended and anticipated event by senior community.

14. Flu Shot Clinic/ COVID Test Sites: The Sheriff's Office has provided the mobile command unit as a work station for a check in point. The mobile command unit affords the ability to connect to the internet and county network. Members of the Sheriff's Office have also provided traffic control, security, and serve as a water distribution site as needed.

15. Child Safety Seat Check Events: Columbia County Sheriff David P. Bartlett hosts several Child Passenger Safety Seat Check events in various public spaces. Parents and caregivers will receive one-to-one installation guidance and safety education from nationally certified child passenger safety technicians at no charge. Child seats are often provided (while supplies last) to low-income families who have a need for a child safety seat(s) and meet guidelines set by the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. Also hosted, are monthly fitting stations for low- income families with one-on-one instruction at the CCSO. These child safety events allows members of the Sheriff's office to interact with the community in a manner that does not involve a crisis and offers a public service to our most precious commodity, our children.

16. Enhanced Childcare Visits: Under the direction Sheriff David P. Bartlett, Columbia County Jail became the first county jail in New York State to offer Enhanced Childcare Visits. These visits help to continue the bonding between parent and child. The visits began in 2016 and since that time, the Columbia County Jail has provided over 660 visits between parent and child. In 2019, the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office was awarded a grant from the US Department of Justice addressing the needs of children of incarcerated parents. Only seven agencies throughout the United States were awarded the grant and the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office was the only agency in New York State to receive it.

17. Inmate Work Crews: These crews are comprised of inmates who have demonstrated good behavior, having done various jobs throughout Columbia County. Over the years, the work crew has mowed cemeteries, painted and fixed up many of the baseball parks, and have been responsible for shoveling out fire hydrants so they can be accessible in case of an emergency. The Inmate Work Crews have been instrumental in maintenance and upkeep of the STRIDE Camp, as well as painting and maintenance of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society. The work crew has also worked at the Copake Rec Park with painting and maintenance.

18. New Leash on Life: This program places homeless dogs specially selected by the participating agencies into the Columbia County Jail where they will live with and be trained by specially selected volunteer inmates. The inmates that are chosen to be handlers must first be eligible based on their classification and their disciplinary history while incarcerated. They are then interviewed individually by Sheriff’s Office Staff. Once chosen, the inmate will receive two hours of classroom training before they begin six weeks of round-the-clock care of their assigned dog. Once a week, a formal training class is held by a volunteer professional trainer and Chairperson of the Board of the Columbia-Greene Humane Society. Depending on each individual dogs needs, the inmate will work with the dog on basic home skills and socialization. Once the dogs complete the six week program, they will possess obedience skills such as how to heel, sit, recall and stay. The dogs will also be house trained, leash trained and responsive to voice and hand commands, making the dog more adoptable and the end result being their adoption to a loving permanent home. Upon completion, the dogs will be available for adoption through the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA and the Everlasting Hope Animal Rescue.

19. Inmate Services Coordinator: To better help the needs and to help transition the incarcerated individual back into society upon release, Sheriff David P. Bartlett created the position of the Inmate Services Coordinator. The coordinator is responsible for a variety of functions that benefit the inmate while he or she is incarcerated and upon his or her release from jail. Upon entry into the facility, a newly incarcerated individual will meet with the Inmate Services Coordinator and immediate needs will be defined and addressed as required. These needs may include notification to family, notification to employer, assistance with pet care, housing concerns, etc. Issues which led to incarceration will also be reviewed and an assessment will be completed to determine what services are needed. These services may include drug/alcohol treatment, mental health services, family/child services, etc. Necessary referrals will be made to appropriate services providers and resources available within the facility. When an inmate is getting ready to be released, the Inmate Service Coordinator will make an assessment of needs in the community and a plan will be developed prior to discharge, including housing, referrals to service providers within the community, application assistance for Medicaid, food stamps, employment, etc. Starting from the first day of incarceration, the Inmate Services Coordinator will work with the incarcerated individual so that he or she will be able to better acclimate back into society upon release.