Complete, County Sends

Police Review To Albany

By JIM KEVLIN • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

COOPERSTOWN – As expected, the county Board of Representatives this morning unanimously passed its review of policies and procedures in the county Sheriff’s Department, per Governor Cuomo’s June 11, 2020, order following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.

The deadline for submitting completed plans to Albany is April 1, and the county will meet that.

The vote was 12-0, with county Reps. Danny Lapin, D-Oneonta, and Dan Wilber, R-Burlington, absent from the Zoom meeting.

Board Chairman David Bliss, R-Cooperstown/Town of Middlefield, briefly reviewed the process, leading up to the eight-day public comment review following initial approval of the recommendations at the county board’s monthly meeting March 3.

“We received one comment,” said Bliss.

County Rep. Clark Oliver made the motion, and Rep. Adrienne Martini seconded it.  Both are Oneonta Democrats.

All 320 local governments in New York State with police agencies were required to do the review.  In Otsego County, that included the Village of Cooperstown, which completed the process in February, and the City of Oneonta, which is aiming for completion by April 20.

The county board oversees the county Sheriff’s Department, and Sheriff Richard J. Devlin served on the committee.