Courtesy Warren County (2021)
The latest draft of Warren County’s report to “reform and reinvent policing” has been posted to the county website. Public comment will be accepted on this draft until March 8, the website says, and the County Board of Supervisors will discuss and vote on a final version at their March 19 meeting. It is due to the state by April 1.
This is not a “final” draft, however, Sheriff Jim LaFarr said in an interview.
LaFarr called his department’s report, a “living document"
"It’s an outline of our needs as we sit here today,” LaFarr said. "I'm confident that our plan is not going to sit idle."
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive order last summer, during the Black Lives Matter protests that rocked many cities, mandated that police departments statewide look at their procedures and practices especially along the lines of police use of force and transparency. Localities have taken some leeway in the style of report created.
The Warren County report took their staff manual and went over it with an eye toward the requirements of the executive order, LaFarr said.
"The front part of our plan is kind of an overview of our practices,” LaFarr said, but the back pages, starting at about page 39 of the 58-page report highlights more than a dozen areas the sheriff’s department or other county agencies will address once the report is accepted by the county board.
Rachel Seeber, the chair of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, said that she is looking forward to seeing the final draft--a version revised to incorporate public comment--at the board meeting in March. She said the process and report have gotten a great response, especially in the ways that county staff and others are looking to teamwork, knowing that budget is tight and demand high.
“These can’t just be words on a piece of paper, we have to deliver,” she said.
The Warren County Sheriff’s Office consists of two divisions, the report says, Public Safety and Corrections (incarceration). The plan to “Reform and Reinvent Policing” addresses "the practices, procedures, strategies, policies, and operations of the Public Safety Division."
Among the recommendations that the report highlighted are:
- Incorporating “Restorative Justice” in the police process.
- Exploring opportunities to create a multidisciplinary Crisis Intervention Team and a Law Enforcement Mental Health Referral System.
- Finding opportunities for more training in a number of different fields and recruiting and hiring more minorities.
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To read the report, click here.
Public comment should be sent to: Reinvention@WarrenCountySheriffNY.us or by U.S. mail to: Warren County Sheriff’s Office, Attn: Police Reform & Reinvention, 1400 State Route 9, Lake George NY, 12845.
The sheriff’s office asks you to include a telephone number with your correspondence if you wish to speak in person.