LIVINGSTON COUNTY – The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office brought a surprise treat to Wegmans on Sunday as they met community members on the first day of New York State’s Sheriff’s Week.
The two Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones, acquired just this past June, were originally to be left out of the Deputy meet and greet and equipment demonstrations that complemented Wegmans’ refreshments sales to benefit the ‘Fill the Bus’ Foodlink campaign. However, due to popular demand, the Sheriff’s Office just had to bring the drones out for a flight or two to show how they strengthen the Sheriff’s Office.
“The Office of Sheriff strives to provide the best police and law enforcement services possible in response to requests for service from the public by providing on-going in-service training for personnel and by budgeting and securing grant funding to obtain and maintain the technologies and equipment required of modern law enforcement providers,” said Sheriff Thomas Dougherty.
Sheriff’s Week will be celebrated in New York State during the week of Sept. 18th through Sept. 24, 2016. This celebration is in honor of the significant, traditional, and contemporary contributions made by the Office of the Sheriff in county government and in the statewide criminal justice system.
The Livingston County Board of Supervisors declared the same by proclamation at their board meeting Sept. 14.
The Office of Sheriff, tracing its origin to England, was brought to the 13 British Colonies by early British settlers. Sheriffs’ in New York State, as the State’s senior law enforcement officials, are elected by the people and derive their powers and responsibilities from the New York State Constitution and New York State Executive Law.
Since Gordon J. Jenkins from Leicester served as the first Sheriff of Livingston County in 1821, there have been 50 Livingston County Sheriffs. Sheriff Dougherty is currently serving as Sheriff since 2014.
The Livingston County Sheriff Office is a full-service law enforcement agency made up of over 200 members. The Sheriff’s Office is comprised of three main sections; Police Services, Correctional Services and Communications. Police Services includes the Road Patrol Division and Criminal Investigations Division. Correctional Services consists of the Jail Division and Court Security Division. Additionally, the Sheriff oversees and operates the Livingston County Emergency Communications Center (E-911) as part of Communications, dispatching all police, emergency and fires services in the 17 towns and 9 villages that make up Livingston County.
In 2015, Communications received 154,006 phone calls into the center. The Sheriff’s Office has specialized units that includes a SWAT team, Forensic Identification Unit, STOP-DWI Unit, Underwater Search and Recovery Team, Marine Patrol, Mounted Unit, Four K-9 teams, Corrections Emergency Response Team (CERT), Fire Brigade Unit, Community Policing Unit, Four School Resource Officers in Schools (Livonia, Dansville, Keshequa, York), Honor Guard and Training Unit.
The Livingston County Sheriff’s Office was the first Sheriff’s Office in New York State to have every division accredited by a recognized accreditation authority. Police Services and Correctional Services were accredited in 1997, Civil in 1998, the 911 Center in 2003 and Court Security in 2005. Every five succeeding years, a re-accreditation assessment ensures the integrity of the process has been maintained.
(Photo/Conrad Baker)