How would just one department look?
At the June 29 Town Board meeting, Supervisor Bob Livsey said he is “not afraid” of taking over the policing of Highland Falls.
His comments come after about a month of public comment on the possible dissolution of the Highland Falls Police Department, brought to the forefront of local discussions after a petition was presented to the Village Board asking for a public vote on getting rid of the HFPD. There have been several comments made by community members that it would be hard to vote for such a thing unless they knew what the town’s plan — by law, the town would have to take over the policing of Highland Falls if the HFPD were dissolved — was.
Last week, Livsey alluded to that plan — saying the THPD would need to add seven more part-time officers to cover Highland Falls. He also said the THPD’s part-time clerk position would become a full-time position, and Chief Pierri noted that a department covering the full town would need a third supervisor.
“I’m not afraid of it, nor are the chief or deputy chief,” Livsey said, noting that Pierri and Deputy Chief Frank Basile have about 75 years of police service between them. “We will handle it with no problem whatsoever.”
While that was the end of the very brief comments by Livsey, he did make two other comments regarding policing. First, he said that the town would not be “jumping right into” filling out paperwork sent to the town by village officials about their employees, salaries, vehicles, etc. The request was made as the village begins work with a contractor to explore police consolidation. Livsey said the information requested would take about a full week’s worth of work by a town employee and it would seem to him that the consultant who the village is paying should do the work.
The supervisor also said that County Legislator Laurie Tautel is arranging for Emergency Services Director Brendan Casey to come to an upcoming Town Board meeting to talk about the county’s E911 services.
In a final matter regarding police from the meeting, Pierri told the board that five of its current 22 officers have undergone Crisis Intervention training, as part of the THPD’s police reform plan.
“We want to do more for community residents who are in crisis than just put them in an ambulance and send them off,” Pierri said. The new program involves working with mental health agencies to get people who need it ongoing help.
