Village of Bath residents,
I am retiring after 4 years as your Chief of Police and 22.5 years in police work. My retirement will take effect Dec. 31 and I wish whoever replaces me the best of luck in the future. It’s safe to say, I know why police have a 20 year retirement. Some accomplishments we have achieved in the last 4 years are as follows:
A new state of the art police department that was long overdue, an Employee assistance program that we never had and a peer specialist within the agency to lean on during rough times, a K9 dog purchased solely through a fundraiser, a fully committed and very motivated police department was formed during the hardest years of policing in NY’s history- post bail reform. I promoted 4 sergeants and an investigator and ensured they were fully trained and mentored to be highly efficient officers, we rolled out body cameras for the first time and established our first comprehensive in-service training program covering high liability areas such as up to date defensive tactics, serving people with mental health problems, principled policing, high liability policy annual review, etc. We gave all officers training on Narcan and put it in every vehicle for our safety as well.
We upgraded all firearms, put less lethal shotguns in the cars and for the first time all vehicles have tire deflation devices. I upgraded the security to our Municipal building with cameras to cover all angles inside and out and had panic buttons installed in all offices. The downtown camera security package was very limited and we finished this upgrade to include all desired areas in the park, bus stop, and all high crime areas. I ensured our vehicle maintenance program was put back on track and vehicles were made reliable again in a cost effective way. Our training records for the first time were complete and organized to include training records of who attended in service training and course curriculum. All officers were sent to 4 days of training for ALERRT 1 and 2 for active shooter events and casualty triage and gun shot wound mitigation.
We pushed out the first full Bath PD policy and procedure manual about 2 years ago and at last count we were around 600 pages to guide us in our success.
Our personnel complaints were streamlined to an official form made under penalty of perjury and fully investigated and appropriate discipline was taken in all cases. Accountability of the officers was brought into full compliance and expectations defined and standards upheld. Mentoring, the non-stop development of junior leaders into full fledged decision makers was a constant and never ending endeavor that provided me the most reward.
We added 2 new full-time police officer positions during my tenure. These positions replace the inconsistency of part-time officers and provide overlap during the busiest 10 hours of our work days. This provides us with more proactive versus reactive policing capabilities and allows for adequate supervision and staffing to ensure the public is adequately served and the new discovery timelines can be met. We created our first supervisor of the road patrol position. First Sergeant Recktenwald reviews all work the sergeant’s produce and ensures accountability.
I could go on about what the Bath PD did together but in short I feel I left it the best police department it’s ever been. I encourage my replacement to build on the skyscraper we have built for them. Many challenges lie in wait for Bath to include the future 49 units near the Village epicenter. It will take a lot of planning and dedication for Bath to succeed in the future.
Changing the norm will always create the haters but it was worth the struggle. The courage to be disliked if need be is a seldom trait anymore. Being Chief was never a popularity contest for me it was a business that involved protecting the public responsibly and efficiently while balancing the needs and protections of my officers and one I took very seriously to heart.
The team I have assembled will continue to serve you all in the utmost professional and accomplished manner. It’s been an honor serving the Bath community.
Colin Taft
