SCHENECTADY COUNTY New sheriff hasn’t been hesitant to take action BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter
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Dominic Dagostino has hit the ground running since taking office Jan. 1 as Schenectady County sheriff. In his first 100 days, he has followed through on most of the 14 proposals he outlined in his “action plan for making Schenectady County safer” and started some initiatives not contained in the plan.
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WORK DETAILS Another initiative Dagostino has put in place is a county jail inmate work release program. A recent change in state law now allows counties to offer inmate work details to nonprofits. The first job they did was to help the city clear snow off of Iroquois Lake for skating; the second was Thursday to help clear Woestina Park of underbrush. The sheriff’s office ran a similar program years ago but discontinued it. “This allows them to do something for the community,” Dagostino said. Inmates in the program are volunteers who are ready to be released from county jail. They can only participate if they did not commit a felony or violent crime. During the work details, they are under constant supervision by armed sheriff’s deputies.
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TRAINING EFFORT As sheriff, Dagostino started sending correctional officers to classes that teach them interviewing and interrogation techniques. “This facility is the largest source of criminal intelligence in the county,” he said. “If you can develop and disseminate it, we will be much more successful in dealing with crime in the community.” Sheriff’s office staff are also attending classes on executing search warrants and on robberies and receiving active shooter response training. The latter class trains road patrol officers on how to respond to a person firing a weapon. With the training, they will be able to assist other law enforcement agencies in these matters. Rotterdam Deputy Police Chief Bill Manikas said working cooperatively with other law enforcement agencies — a Dagostino action plan initiative — is always a good thing. “Any time you can cooperate with any agency is it beneficial to everyone involved,” he said.
Schenectady County Sheriff's employee arrested SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- A Schenectady County Sheriff's Office employee has surrendered to police on charges that he harassed and unlawfully imprisoned a female this past weekend.
Niskayuna police say Ross Lackey, 27, strangled and hit the female victim during a series of arguments. The victim says Lackey also took her cell phone, not allowing her to call for help.
The victim says she didn't suffer any physical injuries in the dispute.
Lackey was released and due back in court later this week.
We'll see how he handles this issue!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
Keys to a new post Jail accreditation, patrol substation on agenda for Schenectady County sheriff
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer First published in print: Monday, June 21, 2010
SCHENECTADY -- In a matter of a month, Dominic "Dom" Dagostino went from supervising nine detectives with the Rotterdam Police Department to overseeing a staff of about 203 employees as Schenectady County sheriff.
While he is relishing the job, Dagostino acknowledged during a recent interview that simply getting to know everybody who works for him has been a challenge. Meanwhile, the veteran lawman has begun laying the groundwork to get the jail accredited, received support from area police leaders for a county-wide teen driver safety program, and revived an inmate work program.
Besides running the jail, the sheriff's office also operates a 10-member road patrol that acts in a support role to the police departments in the county and seven employees in the civil division, which handles everything from evictions to orders of protection to judgments.
While open to new initiatives for the department, Dagostino objected to suggestions from Mayor Brian U. Stratton to have the county respond to emergency calls in Schenectady.
"I think it would behoove all parties to keep it outside of the sheriff's office, simply because you are putting an elected official in charge your entire law enforcement, and I think at that point you're not as effective," he said. "I don't even know that's an issue at the forefront, and I don't see that as something coming down the road."
Dagostino, 43, also argued that it's unfair to compare his correction officers, who primarily deal with inmates, to street cops, who interact daily with the public.
He also noted that the contract the correction officers currently work under is not as restrictive as the police contract.
"We're able to discipline, probably a lot easier," Dagostino said. "I think it makes our job somewhat easier in handling situations where we might not necessarily be able to handle them if we had some other rules."
Undersheriff Gordon Pollard, who sat in with Dagostino for an interview, said the department can discipline a deputy or correction officer if they do something that is not in the department's best interest and the officer can then appeal their punishment through arbitration.................>>>>..............>>>>..................Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/AspS.....Page=1#ixzz0rU0q1JOC
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