WELLSVILLE – With police departments around the country getting blackeyes for their officer’s deportment, Wellsville ‘s department gets a thank you.
At Monday night’s Village Board meeting Mayor Randy Shayler
informed the board, “We received a letter from a woman who wanted to say thank
you to the police department for all they do and to one specific officer.”
He went on to say that the name of the letter writer would
be anonymous because he did not have her permission to reveal it.
The letter thanked the officer who took time on Jan. 14th to
help her nearly 80-year-old mother chip ice in her driveway and for everything
the police do in the community to help residents.
“There are police departments all across this country that
are being criticized for their performance. We get letters that thank our
police department for what they do. I think this letter typifies Wellsville,”
Shayler said.
The officer who took time to help the elderly woman is P.J.
Sherman who serves not only in Wellsville, but also in Whitesville. Sherman has
been lauded by the state for his police work and he also holds the local Top
Cop record for the number of automobile driver arrests made in a given year in
the county pertaining to drunk driving or driving while impaired.
This is what we are in Wellsville. It is a difficult time,
but we will get through it when we work together,” he said.
Later in the meeting, Police Chief Tim O’Grady asked to set
a time for a public comment time for the department’s Police Reform and
Reinvention Collaborative Plan. The development plan is in response to an order
from Governor Andrew Cuomo directing chief executive of municipalities that
employ police officers to develop a locally approved plan for the strategies,
policies, and procedures of local police agencies. The plan must be completed
by April 1.
“This is a very important plan to complete,” Shayler said,
“because failure to do so could result in a loss of state funding. They’re
holding our feet to the fire to do this thing, but it is not a bad thing for us
to do. We get letters of appreciation from the community, so there will not be
a lot of changes in the way we do things.”
The 16-page Wellsville Police Reform and Reinvention
Collaborative draft plan is available for preview and comment on the police
department website. It was a collaborative process between the current police
department and Shayler, Chad Green vice-president of the police officers labor
union; Dawn Ketchner, former Deputy Mayor; Mike Raptis, local business owner;
Lindy White, mental health professional and Chief of Police Tim O’Grady.
The plan deals with many subjects including – the function
of 911 centers, police presence in schools, enforcement of minor offences, use
of no-knock warrants, de-escalation strategies, attention to marginalized
communities, use of force, police misconduct, off-duty conduct, accreditation,
body cameras, and use of military grade equipment and much more.
The Village of Wellsville Police Reform and Reinvention
Collaborative Public comment session will take place February 22nd at 23 North
Main Street at 5:45pm. Prior to the regular monthly board meeting. Public
comments may be emailed to mayorshayler@wellsvilleny.com Any comments left on
the website will be read at the public meeting.
It was also noted at the meeting by Public Works Director
Bill Whitfield that Main Street will be cleared of snow on Wednesday regardless
of new snow fall.
