August 2, 2021
It’s a beautiful day in Steuben County. The fields currently are some of the greenest in memory for August, and the Jail Inmate Garden is overflowing with produce. Many thanks to First Sergeant Jason Smith for the outstanding supervision and instruction he provides to that program.
July was another busy month in the Sheriff’s Office. Fourth of July weekend proved challenging for our patrol division to keep up with the sheer volume of calls. The month of July also proved challenging for our partners in mental health treatment as we investigated four suicides in two weeks in the county, ranging from the ages of 14 to 59. Several assaults and a traffic fatality also were investigated by your deputies in July. Court continued to return to more in-person processes and your Correction Officers provided security for an average of 150 inmates per day.
On July 5th, we celebrated the promotion of Deputy Brooke Payne to Criminal Investigator Brooke Payne. Investigator Payne is a ten year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office and she was joined by her family to help celebrate this promotion. Four new Correction Officers joined the Sheriff’s Office team, Officers Vivian Carter, Jacob Eighmey, Eva Gerstung and Calista Herbert are currently in field training. We wish them well in their new career. Sheriff Allard attended the NYS Sheriff’s Association Sheriff’s Conference for a three day administrative and leadership training session. He received training on legislative updates, employee resiliency and received briefings from both the Superintendent of the New York State Police and the Law Enforcement Division of the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Sheriff Allard attended coffee with the Chief and Sheriff in Canisteo and North Hornell, as well as coffee with the Sergeant and the Sheriff in Hammondsport. He also teamed up with Sergeant Dininny to kayak with the Sergeant and the Sheriff. All of these events are meant to provide an informal means for community members to interact with their local law enforcement, pass on comments and concerns and create a stronger partnership in the communities we serve. Many people turned out for the coffee sessions and excellent conversation ensued. The kayak event provided fun water safety instruction on one of our most beautiful natural resources, to about 30 youth. Sheriff Allard owes a big thank you to Keuka Watersports for providing the kayaks, paddles and personal floatation devices that made this event possible.
Keuka Lake saw an injury to a boater who approached a motor while it was running and in gear, as well as a rescue of a person tubing without a personal floatation device, who fell off the tube shortly before the boat became disabled.
In our Civil Office, the federal moratorium on evictions expired in July, however the New York State moratorium was continued until August 31st. We continue to receive updates regarding the status of our property owner’s and tenant’s rights.
As part of the 225th anniversary of the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office, we will be celebrating a recent literary release, “The Boys of Bath” by Christine Friesel, which chronicles the Civil War journal of Charles Brother, a former Steuben County Deputy and son of a former two term Steuben County Sheriff, Henry Brother, elected in 1837 and 1846. Ms. Friesel will be in Bath August 19 – 21 and will be at the Sheriff’s Office on August 21st from 9am – 12pm. Please feel free to come out and visit with us!
Have a safe and happy August everyone,
Steuben County Sheriff Jim Allard
