Baend Buus, an assistant district attorney in Albany County, also entered the conversation as someone who could come into the office as an outsider with a firm grasp on the practical considerations of running a law enforcement agency. There was a problem saving your notification. Sign up below to find out about upcoming programs first. I would like to bring about absolute full transparency, and Id like to see full involvement with law enforcement agencies.. The Albany County Sheriff's Correctional Facility is one of the largest County Correctional Facilities in the State of New York. In that race, incumbent Sheriff Tim Mueller had challenges from Michael Spasaro and Keith Leopard. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. His re-election bid comes after an aborted run for state Senate. Walkers endorsements include San Leandro Vice Mayor Victor Aguilar Jr., former Fremont Councilmember Vinnie Bacon, Oakland Councilmember Dan Kalb, Fremont Councilmember Jenny Kassan, and the Wellstone Democratic Club. Senior worked in the Laramie Police Department for 19 years prior to taking his post at the Livestock Board. Please subscribe to keep reading. Its been a ton of work, but its all been for good, he said. The three candidates are running to lead an office that has far-reaching and wide-ranging responsibilities, a $550 million budget, and 1,000 sworn deputies and professional staff. David DeBolt reported on City Hall and policing for The Oaklandside. "Like I said, law enforcement has to remain neutral.". The county sheriff also is the county's coroner, the official who oversees medical examinations of all suspicious deaths and homicides, and manages Santa Rita Jail . Though Appelhans had the support of progressives and moderates within the party, the selection process itself and a seeming lack of commitment to that reform prompted some members of the party, like attorney and renowned debate coach Matt Stannard (Ludwigs husband), to leave their positions in the party in the days following Appelhans appointment. An example would be somebody at the county parks who gets injured and were in there, Yon said of times when extra documentation may be necessary. County Republican Chairman Randy Bashwinger says the party has made no formal announcements naming candidates. His most valuable experience comes from real life situations, he said. The detention center is a temporary holding facility. Many Wyoming political leaders question the need for policy changes -- at least on the statewide level. To protect the county from different liabilities its just those documentation things that will save the county some time, interest and money, which in turn saves the taxpayer.. A deputy writes a traffic citation, if its a handwritten one then later they have to go back in and plug it into the computer, he said. All people are equal before the law. As to why Raymonds never been promoted to leadership positions in his 22 years on the job, Raymond said thats always how he liked it. The current sheriff, she said, has too much influence over the disciplinary process. They are, in alphabetical order: Appelhans is the current Albany County sheriff, appointed to the office in 2020. He graduated from the State University of New York at Brockport in 2015. A department outsider, Appelhans was seen as a candidate unbeholden to the status quo of the Albany County Sheriffs Office while still able to navigate the culture of law enforcement and begin the road to the reforms pushed for by all sides of the community. The public is invited to observe . He made it a point to recruit from traditionally underrepresented groups and has personally approved every new hire. The Nov. 8, 2022 election will be the first contested race for the position in more than 25 years. But the three in-custody deaths were only made known to the public recently, during a League of Women Voters forum, as Senior highlighted in his rebuttal: "The problem I have a hard time with is he used the word transparency in his response," Senior said. I see myself being engaged and active in the community for a long time, and I thought this was a good way to share my thoughts with the community and get involved, Gladney said. He said one of the favorite parts of his job is building collaborations between the Sheriffs Office and the community and helping others. PublishedJanuary 10, 2023 at 3:44 PM EST. If any candidate receives a majority of the vote, they automatically move, uncontested, to the November ballot. He also said this is an example of the ways in which the sheriff has to consider things beyond just the direct law enforcement practicalities. We can achieve great things together.. Nick Reynolds covers state politics and policy. (I want to) bring issues to light so we as a community can discuss them, debate them and figure out possible avenues to approach, Gladney said. Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. We do not make any money on contracts, we lose money because the jail budget is funding the people who are not reporting to work, Sanchez told us. I will make sure that it's accounted for. Something went wrong. For more information about this candidate and a full video of his announcement, visit his website here: UWs Laegreid to Present on Women in Old West March 9 in Black Hills |, City of Laramie Searching for Five Urban Renewal Agency Members |, Laramie Rivers Conservation District Open House |, Orr Hall on UW Campus Fire Contained with No Injuries |, Ivinson Creates Support for Clinical Education in New Program |, UWs Laegreid to Present on Women in Old West March 9 in Black Hills, City of Laramie Searching for Five Urban Renewal Agency Members, Laramie Rivers Conservation District Open House, Orr Hall on UW Campus Fire Contained with No Injuries, Ivinson Creates Support for Clinical Education in New Program. Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. It requires the change agent to have a different vision, Walker said at a League of Women Voters forum last month. WAMC Northeast Public Radio | Those are the troops that we need to hold. Its not a hospital, detox facility, substance abuse clinic or mental health clinic.. He spent 12 years working for daily newspapers in the Bay Area, including on the Peninsula and Solano County. In Alameda County, she has volunteered as a suicide prevention crisis counselor in Alameda County and works as an adjunct professor in the kinesiology department at Cal State East Bay. She was the first to enter the race in early 2020. He says his department has been tackling gun violence throughout the county in addition to patrolling the streets in the city of Albany. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). The Oaklandside reached out multiple times to Walkers campaign for an interview. We had a lot of interest during the discussions over an anti-discrimination ordinance with one side in favor and another not, and we occasionally see interest in other issues that come up occasionally. Since 2014, at least 58 people have died at Santa Rita Jail, which is located in Dublin, and the facility is now subject to external oversight and a series of mandatory reforms following the settlement of a class-action lawsuit that alleged the sheriff wasnt providing adequate mental health services. It was actually the Albany County Commission. Candidates must meet the following requirements on or before the last date for filing: The nomination process for a new sheriff has also attracted a significant amount of scrutiny by demonstrators. Wyoming teachers are leaving. Appelhans also has 10 years experience working with the University of Wyoming Police Department. We amplify community voices, share the power of real information, and investigate systems, not just symptoms. Sign up for The Oaklandsides free daily newsletter. In a letter dated Sept. 16, Terri Jones, the chair of the Albany County Board of Commissioners, informed the Albany County Democrats central committee that they had 15 days from that date in which to submit names, even though OMalley is still in the position. I am making it official; the voters will get to decide their next Sheriff, Raymond said in his campaign announcement. After weeks of debate, interviews and conversations within the Laramie community, the Albany County Board of Commissioners appointed Aaron Appelhans, a black man, to be its new sheriff several weeks ago. It doesn't appear likely. His challenger, Republican candidate Joel Senior, received 6,023. Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in. Sheriff (R) Delgadio, Rafael Q. "It's my job to enforce all the laws equally.". This practice has added pressure on jail deputies and caused problems in the personal lives of some, she said. I just kept thinking somebodys going to come along and fix this. A donation to The Oaklandside goes beyond the newsroom. A movement that lasted mere days in communities like Cheyenne and Casper extended throughout the summer in Laramie, leadingto the brief occupation of City Hallby protestors and escalating calls for radical reform. The Albany County Sheriff's Office has gotten no shortage of attention the past few years - from federal civil rights lawsuits to local movements for police accountability to a new sheriff with a feature in theNew York Times. I did have a lot of faith, especially because of a lot of changes in the local government. During that time, he worked as a patrol officer, field training officer, school resource officer and detective. "I will continue to work together with Mr. McCoy, and Sheriff Apple, especially during this election," Rizzo said. Editor's Note:This story has been updated to reflect that both Michelle Duncan and Jon Raymond have filed for candidacy for sheriff. You can cancel at any time. Yesenia Sanchez and JoAnn Walker are challenging incumbent Gregory Ahern to oversee the countys largest law enforcement agency. County Sheriff Craig Apple, County Comptroller Susan Rizzo, and County Executive Dan McCoy formally launched re . We won't share it with anyone else. I love Albany County, I love our citizens. The most qualified candidate for Albany County Sheriff with 30 years of experience in Patrol, Investigations, and Community Policing, including 8 years in Jail Operations. SALARY: $40,254 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT: None to sit for the exam. A previous version of this story misidentified the Laramie-based organization that flipped to Democratic control in the 2020 election. "They reached out to me when I was first appointed, and I flat out told them 'No, I'm not going to be part of that group,'" the sheriff said. Deciding on his replacement would prove to be a challenge. I do think its fairly rare because if youve got a sitting sheriff whos doing a good job you get that community support and then you dont have people challenging that position, he said. As much as weve accomplished, I dont think Im finished, Appelhans said during an interview with the Boomerang. Her current role is overseeing and managing Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. The Albany County Board of Commissioners appointed Appelhans on Dec. 11. Appelhans also said he wants to work toward increasing education and enforcement about traffic violations, especially those involving intoxication something that has been on the rise in Albany County. Appelhans, as it turned out, represented a bridging of those interests, and a safe pick for a political party in the afterglow of unprecedented achievement. "I believe if you do that, appropriately and fairly, you're going to have a very representative department of your community," he said. But there were just as many people in the public asking for someone who is not a current or former law enforcement officers as there were asking for someone who was.. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Pursuant to NYS Civil Service Law Sec. I think it is time for a new person to come in.. Joel Senior announced his candidacy for Sheriff of Albany County, in front of a large crowd of supporters at the Albany County Fairgrounds on Saturday 15th January 2022. "Traditionally, law enforcement isn't very welcoming for those people. In 1996 I began working for Albany-Lebanon Sanitation, in the welding . This year, at least, voters will have a choice something Raymond says has been missing from the election landscape for too long. Delgadillo said he encourages direct conversation between law enforcement and residents. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. But Appelhans said it's up to the courts to decide what's legal and what's not. Prior to the LPD, Moore worked for the Blacksburg Police Department in Virginia. VACANCIES: List will be used to fill future vacancies as they occur in the Albany County Sheriff's Department. Her list of endorsements includes Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, local, regional, and state Democratic party organizations, labor unions, Oakland councilmembers Noel Gallo, Dan Kalb, Treva Reid, and Loren Taylor, and the majority of the Berkeley and Hayward city councils. Aaron Appelhans was appointed Albany County sheriff earlier this month. He said he's is running for sheriff with hopes of continuing his career in public service and mentoring young law enforcement professionals. Starter Bakery opens in Oakland | County eviction moratorium expiring in April | Get tickets to Culture Makers, {{#label}}{{label}}: {{/label}}{{message}}. The county sheriff also is the countys coroner, the official who oversees medical examinations of all suspicious deaths and homicides, and manages Santa Rita Jail, one of the largest jails in the nation. Moore is a self-proclaimed proponent of physical and mental wellbeing. Walker is running as a progressive alternative to Sheriff Ahern and promises to address the high number of in-custody death at the county jail, increase transparency around the sheriffs budget, and cut the backlog of untested rape kits. During his time in investigations he was awarded with The VFW Post 14 District 6 Lawman of the year and Department of Criminal Investigations Internet Crimes against Children commendation for the protection of children. Assignments and promotions will be free of cronyism and favoritism. At the moment, however, she has not yet filed to run and says her primary focus is on getting the renewal of the four-year law enforcement levy passed, which is on the Nov. 7 ballot. "Everything we've done is to turn that around and really start to focus on de-escalation training, mental health crisis response, substance abuse programs in the jail so that when people get out of jail, they could stay out of jail, and then trying to reduce traffic fatalities.". Ultimately, the demonstrators got their wish: Mere weeks after a federal lawsuit was filed by Ramirezs mother for her sons death at the hands of police, OMalley announced his retirement, setting off a flurry of activity to designate a replacement. Jeff is a part-time reporter for Wyoming Public Media, as well as the owner and editor of the Laramie Reporter, a free online news source providing in-depth and investigative coverage of local events and trends. There was a problem saving your notification. He eventually rose to the position of assistant sheriff, working several assignments at the jail, on patrol, and overseeing the Eden Township substation. Either the top officer retires early, as Bruce Riley did in 2018 when Yon took over, or they finish out their term and then decide not to run. I have no personal agenda, and no intention of promising anything I cannot deliver. A debate between the two county clerk candidates took place before the sheriff's debate. Ive seen this community question law enforcement, Gladney said. (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). If a deputy working one of those assignments goes out on injury or another type of leave, deputies from the jail are used to backfill those positions. The Star-Tribune regrets the error. I want to be the example for Alameda County, the region, and the state on how we are addressing crime, the driving factors of crime, and what our solutions are so we can be the example for reform.. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The fact that investigations are influenced by top leadership is not the right way to do things and that is something I will change, Sanchez said. But Appelhans said his office doesn't have quotas and doesn't turn away qualified applicants. There was this desire for us not to get too radical, Stannard said. "And when you have good leadership, things like that don't happen and that's why we're here today because the leadership of all three of our people that we that we put in office and we'd like to continue to see them in office.". The appointment process was complicated and fraught, but when it was over, Wyoming had its first Black sheriff. Senior said that wasn't a good excuse. As the summer began, and the police reform advocate found herself a member of the committee to find a replacement for OMalley, that universal mandate had slipped away, seemingly hijacked by the national dialogue over policing.Pressure within the Democratic Party to add additional representatives from law enforcement became apparent, ultimately leading to the controversial decision to nominate former law enforcement officer Gary Wilken at the eleventh hour in an effort to break a deadlock among members of the central committee. The Facility has a maximum of 1043 beds, providing custody for local, state and federal prisoners. As sheriff, Walker said she would have an open-door policy. Enhance the Reputation of the Sheriffs Office. Officers shall treat others with respect, safeguarding their Constitutional rights. As far as the cash is concerned, I invest the cash, we maximize on investments, we have an investment plan. Theres always room to reevaluate what youre doing and why youre doing those things.". He felt inspired to search for a place to live that better reflects his values, and he settled on Laramie, where hes been for eight years. You have permission to edit this article. "When I took over in 2012, we were borrowing $15 million a year to make payroll, we only had 20 million in reserves," said McCoy. The summer of 2020 marked a turning point in the conversation, with marches in response to the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd serving as a catalyst for Laramies movement. He believes that instilling values of collaboration and community involvement in deputies would result in a better department overall. He says that he sees inefficiencies in the department, particularly in how many hours he sees patrol deputies spending in the office filling out paperwork. Elections Albany County Aaron Appelhans Sheriff Rafael Delgadillo Sheriff Joel Senior Sheriff Curtis Lee Moore Sheriff Zeb Gladney Sheriff Sheriff Rafael Delgadillo Aaron Appelhans. He was part of the East Bay Times staff honored with the Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News for coverage of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire. As the mid-term election season starts to ramp up, locals may start noticing political advertisements popping up around town, and one of the most closely watched Albany County races will be for sheriff. Will protests in Wyoming result in statewide law enforcement reform? But it also highlights the pressures imposed on political parties in the modern conversation around police reform, and the challenge in balancing the established expectations from both law enforcement and those that police officers are paid to serve. As the culture of the Albany County Sheriffs Office came under scrutiny, calls for change grew to include the ousting of SheriffDavid OMalley, an institution in local law enforcement who came to national renown for his role in investigating the murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in 1998. Linn County Sheriff Deputy Jon Raymond announced his candidacy to run for Linn County Sheriff in front of the Larwood Covered Bridge. Public knowledge of the committee members, their specific election process, and their votes will uphold what the community has been fighting for the past three months and to a further extent the past two years, the letter read. Somebody else is going to do it, he said. In 2010, a similar situation happened after William Courier was removed from the ballot before the May election. 16 Eagle Street, Albany NY 12207-1077 Driving Directions Phone: (518) 487-5100 Fax: (518) 487-5099 Email:
[email protected] While we are not presently able to accept recordings, filings, or requests by e-mail, your comments and questions are always welcome! There was still some reluctance among members of the party to push out OMalley prior to his departure, he said, while others feared that squandering the selection could potentially hurt the partys momentum after unprecedented success in this autumns elections. Wyoming teachers are leaving. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Shortly after taking office, Appelhans fired a sergeant accused of racist harassment, who, according to an ongoing civil rights lawsuit, allegedly pushed the office's only Black deputy to quit in 2017. Aherns endorsements include former Gov. If elected, he would start a strong recruiting and vetting process for new hires and provide ongoing training to all deputies. Democrats want more time to nominate candidate for Albany County sheriff. 307 Politics: Is social media accelerating change in Wyoming politics? So if the federal government decided to confiscate firearms or restrict movement as a precaution against COVID-19, Senior said he would support citizens who decide to flout those specific laws. There are certainly a lot of people appropriately calling for some radical changes in that office, and that desire is by no means unfounded, said Tess Kilwein, a local psychologist and a member of the Democrats selection committee.