- By Dan Veaner
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Lansing Star: What makes you the best candidate for Sheriff?
Peter Meskill: For me it's a combination of public safety, business experience, actual experience in the job, administering a large budget and a large labor force. There are about 88 people that I work with in the Sheriff's office, and the budget is almost $7 million. So it's real business, and those are the types of things that a sheriff does. A sheriff must administer the budget, supervise the entire operation, put together a core team of administrators and supervisors, and really show active leadership in all the different segments and areas of the sheriff's office.
So for me it's public safety. It's knowing politics and knowing how to work within politics. Some people say politics is a bad word, or a bad thing. I think it's just the opposite. You use the position as an elected official in a positive way, and you can make a positive change, and you can make a better life for people. That's what I've always tried to do in my 17 years in elected offices.
LS: It is an elected office, so politics are involved whether you like it or not.
PM: Like it or not. We certainly don't use politics when I pick people to do their work. My under sheriff and my captain are both Republicans. So we're not picking them like the State because of what party they're in or with the federal government. I pick them because they're great qualified people with all the right stuff. They really have great qualities, and we meld as a team really well.
LS: In researching for this interview I realized there are no 'hot button' issues, the kind that make the headlines every day. What would you say is the top issue in law enforcement in Tompkins County right now?
PM: It's the broad issue of making sure we serve and protect the residents of Tompkins County. It's just that simple.
Eight years ago when I came to the office there were budget overruns of up to a million dollars. We've never had a budget overrun since. We manage the resources that the County Board allocates to us, and we use those judiciously to provide public safety and service to the residents of the county. As far as programs within that, we host a variety of things. We implemented a child safety seat program.
LS: That's new since you got there?
PM: That's new since I got there. We instituted a satellite station at the Newfield Town Hall. We provide a community policing officer who works both in the township and the school district that we received a federal grant for. I've received numerous grants and dollars from the State of New York. We implemented a snowmobile patrol and rescue, and funded the vast majority of that through state grants. We purchased a new patrol boat and funded 75% of that through state grant funding, so that we have the right resources to serve the public and make our services efficient and effective.
We have filled the jail to capacity. Eight years ago, when I was first running for office, there were large issues. There were constant budget overruns, the issue of not using our jail to capacity before boarding out. That's not been an issue. In fact, two weeks into my service in January of '99 we stopped boarding people out. And until the county had the variances removed we basically boarded out no one.
Even with the situation now, where we have more inmates than space necessary, and the Commission of Corrections removed the variances after the county decided not to move forward with building a jail, we have managed that population and have kept our facility full, safe, sound, and secure for the inmates, the staff, and the other service providers.
So initially when you talk about this there are no hot button issues. People want to be Sheriff because they want to be Sheriff. You'd honestly have to ask them why they want to be Sheriff. I think we've provided through a managed team effort, great leadership, great supervision, good accountability, both in budget matters as well as public safety matters. That's why I think people should support my reelection.
LS: If there is one thing that you want to accomplish in the next four year term, what would it be? Or would it be building on what you have already accomplished?
PM: I really think it's building, because it's a multi-faceted approach. There isn't one single thing that outranks the other. We're in the process of an accreditation now for both the law enforcement side and the corrections side. Accreditation basically gives you state wide standards that you need to meet or exceed. And you actually have to have proofs. We're working through the process. We're hoping to have that completed by the end of the calendar year.
My sense is that it could be in one division, it definitely won't be in the other. Even if it's completed they send down a team of assessors to run through and check your proofs, your policies, interview your people to make sure what you say on paper is what you are carrying out in your day to day operation. Which is important with accreditation. Everybody has policy books and manuals in one size, shape or form. But the reality is that an accreditation process makes sure that what you have on paper is being practiced by your people. It makes sense and meets a standard set by the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services.
So I think that's important. It's a positive benefit for the employees. They know clearly what the operation is, because we're communicating it. And at the same time it's a real benefit to the residents, because it increases the professionalism and level of service they can expect from anybody in the Sheriff's Office.
We've done that. Over eight years we've increased the amount of training opportunities. We created the new Web site. I think last year we implemented that at the end of the year, the beginning of this year, to make sure people in the county knew, especially vulnerable populations knew about sex offenders. We put out our media releases there. Our 2005 Annual Report is now out there, and every subsequent year's report will be published that way as well. So people have easy access to what we're doing, to understand what we're doing, and we continue to improve that.
I think in every single thing we're doing we try to strive for excellence, and continue to improve what we're doing, and are open to new ideas. As resources are allocated to us by the County Board, we are hoping to increase our staffing some, to try to cover some more areas and cover them in a better, more efficient and timely fashion.
But that will be up to the Board, ultimately, to decide how much money they allocate. And we work with that.
A couple of years ago the jail was a huge issue. The County has clearly decided not to build the jail, and I'm working right now with OAR, which is Offender Aid and Restoration, DSS, Department of Social Services, and Probation. The four of us are working to glean data from inmates that come in. See what type of things they need. See what services we could possibly provide in the jail that we're not already providing, and work with DSS and OAR to start a reentry program so that when people come in the jail we're soon working with them about how we can help them adjust outside in the real world.
Because they're going to come back into our community. So if we can make them better... give them opportunities to make themselves better, then it's a better thing all the way around.
LS: Some examples would be things like educational opportunities?
PM: We do educational opportunities, and workforce development opportunities now. How to write a resume. We're looking at some more along the lines of alcohol and drug counselling that are limited now, based on funding from other outside providers such as the Alcoholism Council. We're hoping that working with this group and working with the CJATI group that we'll be able to formulate a cohesive strategy and plan, and start to implement in small steps things we can do to make it better for somebody, so that we have fewer people coming through the jail. And, most important, fewer people returning to the jail.
The recidivism rate is really high. If we can reduce that recidivism rate then we may be able to reduce our dependency on boarding out. If we can do that we'll save the taxpayers several hundred thousand dollars a year. Even more important than that we'll provide a better and safer community.
And that's what it's all about. Doing that within the bounds of the safety of the community. You can't discount that. It's the priority.
LS: That brings up a hot button issue: ATI. What you just described sounds like a mini-ATI.
PM: It's part of it. It's part of the bigger picture. ATI stands for Alternatives to Incarceration...
LS: Right, so they're not being incarcerated at all.
PM: Right. And the County has broadened that terminology over the last four to six years. So what we're trying to do is be a positive player in that and work with these other organizations in the county to do what we can to help people rehabilitate themselves and give them opportunities for starting out new when they go out. Education and workforce development are things we give them inside right now.
If they go back in the same environment, it's very difficult, like any other habit. (They need to) break that habit and break that cycle. We're tying within reason and within budgetary constraints to implement things like that. Because if we can stave off building a jail for a long period of time we're going to save the taxpayers millions of dollars annually. And in addition to that, if we can reduce the number of boarders, and above and beyond all, keep the community safe, then we're going to reduce the need for taxpayer money for that purpose, make our world better, and the money can be allocated where its needed elsewhere, or not spent at all.
LS: The jail is full right now, and we are doing some boarding, right?
PM: That's correct. In fact the count today was 72 people in house, and I think there were 17 out this morning. The count changes daily, and it changes within the day several times. It's an ongoing process of bringing people in and moving people through the system.
LS: Do you think ATI works?
PM: I think some ATI programs work, and work very well. There are some great examples of them, where they never even get to us. For example, the program in probation where instead of being sentenced to jail they do community service with work supervisors, during the week or on the weekends. They provide community service at non-profits and government agencies. That serves a purpose for people that have a need. It serves a purpose for them to work off their debt to society, if you will. And it gives them something meaningful. They even learn some additional secrets of the trade to help them in their personal life, or possibly even develop in a different career.
LS: (Reading of the top crimes in Tompkins County from the 2005 Sheriff's annual report...) Sheriff departments are dealing with a large area involving several towns and the City of Ithaca, which has its own police department. So your role in Ithaca is different than it is in Lansing. What do you see as the main issues that you deal with in a town like Lansing.
PM: Well, in all the towns, actually, we're dealing with a host of issues that show up as far as the crime indicators from '05 -- the number of calls, and the cases we went on. It's that same variety. That's where most of our statistics are derived from.
There are two villages that run part time police departments. Those departments don't run full time. So we in concert with the State Police work on a 'closest car' concept to answer those calls. In both the Village and the Town of Lansing the Sheriff and the State Police are the police force, and we share those calls as they come in based on how busy each agency is, and based on how many deputies you have assigned at any given time.
LS: Right, Lansing has a constable, but on limited contracts.
PM: Right, and most of that was derived for working with the park and marine system, and for providing security while the court is in session, versus patrolling.
LS: Which brings me to staffing and road patrol. I thought I had heard there were positions open. Is that true?
PM: There aren't any positions open at the moment, based on the budget we have funded. We have 27 deputies at the Sheriff's Office. Six sergeants and one senior investigator, three investigators and a captain. All those positions are filled, and have been. We were allocated an additional deputy slot in the 2006 budget, and through a very intensive interview and background process we selected a deputy. We were allocated the same thing the year before and went through the same procedure.
In years gone by we had funding reduced for road patrol, but we were still able to hang onto our staff at that time, because we went without other things and managed the money.
I think that's what's so important in this election, and so important on a daily basis. We're there constantly managing those resources to insure that we don't lose any ground in providing safety and service to the people. We try to gain ground where it's necessary.
There was a DCJS study that was published three years ago. It said that at the time we needed eight more deputies to adequately deal with the programs and responses that we had three years ago. And our calls have gradually gone up. That's calls for service, they're not necessarily arrests. There are crime categories that go down, and maybe crime categories that go up.
LS: Is that what went up about 3%?
PM: Yes, approximately. It's a fairly steady small incremental increase. And that's not unexpected. In dealing with that some calls may take ten or fifteen minutes. Other calls can take days. If you have a large investigation on an issue... we just completed an investigation on the Westerling case, where there was a kidnapping and a rape. In fact we found them in Lansing behind the airport that evening. Subsequently, what the public doesn't see, is hours and hours of work behind that to put together all the odds and ends that present a complete picture. To make sure we have the right person, and then take that through the system with the District Attorney for prosecution.
LS: It sounds as if you could use more staffing.
PM: We can always use more staffing. It's a balance of resources available. As you know the County is running through a tough budget year. Last year was tough and I envision next year will be even tougher. That comes from other people in County government, not just myself. But that's how I see the picture. And while we will ask for resources my sense is that we probably won't get them and we'll be fortunate if we're able to get essentially the same amount of money to keep going where we're going now.
I have asked for additional deputies over the years, and I will continue to do so. But I won't have a high expectation that we're always going to get what we ask for, or get what we want versus what the Board thinks we need. It's kind of a balance, and it probably works well for the public even if there are times when I may not like the allocation. The reality is that it's a balance of government. The Board says this is how much we're going to give you for your budget. You spend it. You provide the best possible service you can. And don't overspend it. And that's what we've done for eight years.
LS: Is the Sheriff's Department adequately funded?
PM: It's adequate, but I don't think it's optimal. And I don't think it's what it ought to be based on what our calls for service are, and what the needs of the residents are. But I think you'd find most county department heads, elected or non-elected -- and most aren't -- would tell you a similar thing in their departments, especially right now with the budget situation.
So it's a balance. You've got to take a look at what you need to provide to the residents, what you can do with what you've got, and do your best.
LS: I didn't realize that the jail was a definite no-go.
PM: At the end of '04 the Board made a decision, in a close vote, not to go any farther with any building plans, designs or ideas, and that we were going to work with the building we have in place and live with the consequences. And the Board and I were both fully aware that once the Board made that decision that the Commission of Corrections would remove our variances, because the Commission says that the variances are temporary in nature.
I helped get one of those variances when I was the Chair of Public Safety on the County Board in '96. I went after the other variance in the Spring of '99 when I was first Sheriff. And those helped the County over the course of time. They probably saved the County easily eight to ten million dollars, because we weren't boarding out and we were keeping those people in-house.
LS: So the variances allowed you to have more people incarcerated in the same space.
PM: Based on what the Commission deemed our maximum facility capacity standard was. We work with that as long as we can. It looks like there will be a change in government structure in Albany next year, and if that structure looks favorable to us then I may consider applying to the State government next year again, to ask for some additional relief so we can house additional people within our current facility.
I don't think it's necessary to build a new jail now. It might be nice, but I don't think it's necessary. And in the fiscal climate this county is in, to spend twenty-five plus million dollars for that is unnecessary. I think that would be a wasteful use of county tax dollars.
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