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Loss of Deputies Will Have Spiraling Effect on Community
Dear Editor:
Our Putnam County Deputy Sheriffs are working without a contract since January, 2003 and have been forced to find other, better paying police jobs. This no-contract scenario has lasted nearly five years, and has to end. It is ludicrous to think that we move to Philipstown to provide a safe and secure home for our families and now have to worry that the Deputies that maintain this bucolic way of life are moving on to better paying jobs.
I know of three specific cases in which highly trained and experienced Deputies transferred to Westchester County Departments so that they may continue to put food on their families' tables. Even the Sheriff admits that his Department is in bad condition due to the lack of a contract. Smith has been quoted as saying, "Letting the contract disputes drag on carries a heavy cost as employees are leaving the Department for jobs in Carmel and Westchester County towns. Currently, more shifts have to be filled by overtime, and we're losing quality, trained employees to better-paying municipalities. " Once the moral of our local law enforcement is lost, what follows is the decline in quality of life for all residents.
As a resident of the Town of Philipstown, I am concerned about the spiraling effect that this will have on our community. Two examples of communities where the law enforcement has low morale are the Cities of Newburgh and Mount Vernon. Take a Sunday ride through these communities and see what results in an unhappy police department. If we don't settle this issue soon and retain our current patrol and investigative personnel, we will continue to lose our assets to other communities.
It takes years for a law enforcement officer to gain the experience and knowledge to become a great investigator, crime fighter, life saver, and decision-maker in crucial, split seconds. We cannot become a "training" facility, like other low paying departments, just to have these essential people leave, after reaching this point of wisdom. Our loss will be the other communities' gain.
Chief Executive Bondi must settle this issue before all others he has on his schedule. The Deputies have waited long enough for resolution and this predicament will negatively snowball if not stopped immediately. The urgency has arisen due to the exodus of our law enforcement, which will ultimately reflect on the quality of life, to which we all have become accustomed.
CE Bondi, wake up or step down. Have you no insight into the effect the lack of a contract for the Putnam County Sheriffs will have on our County?
John Peters North Highlands
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