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Community police reform forum for St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office is Weds.

Posted 10/16/20

CANTON -- Sheriff Bigwarfe and St. Lawrence County Legislator Board Chair Joseph Lightfoot will hold a public forum on police reform on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. Anyone wishing to provide input is …

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Community police reform forum for St. Lawrence County Sheriff's Office is Weds.

Posted

CANTON -- Sheriff Bigwarfe and St. Lawrence County Legislator Board Chair Joseph Lightfoot will hold a public forum on police reform on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m.

Anyone wishing to provide input is invited to attend in person at the County Legislature Chambers, 48 Court St., or virtually via zoom by contacting the Sheriff’s Office at 315-379-2365 to receive the meeting link. They will need your name and email address to send you the link. If you are unable to attend this meeting, you can visit the St. Lawrence County website Sheriff’s webpage at https://www.stlawco.org/Departments/Sheriff to view the Sheriff’s PowerPoint presentation and then offer input via email to Undersheriff Sean P. O’Brien at sobrien@stlawco.org.

The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office is in the process of complying with New York State Executive Order 203. This is a requirement for any local municipality that provides law enforcement services.

For more information regarding the New York State Executive Order 203, visit https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-announces-new-guidance-police-reform-collaborative-reinvent-and-modernize.

Bigwarfe and Lightfoot Lightfoot held the first community stakeholders meeting on Oct. 13 "with a diverse cross section of members from our community," the sheriff's office said.

"The county must perform a comprehensive review of current Sheriff’s Office deployments, strategies, policies, procedures and practices and develop a plan for any needed improvements.

The following items are being assessed: evidence-based policing strategies, use of force policies, implicit bias awareness training, as well as de-escalation training and practices.

Model policies and guidelines promulgated by the Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) as well as the Law Enforcement Agency Accreditation Council are used in planning the Sheriff’s office policies.

The Sheriff’s Office achieved accreditation on September 3, 2020, the sheriff's office said.