The Sullivan County Police Benevolent Association (PBA), the union that represents the Sullivan County Sheriff’s (SCS’s) road patrol, responds to Village of Monticello Mayor George Nikolados’ idea about creating a police district that would include the Village of Monticello and extend into portions of the Town of Thompson. 

While the PBA applauds Nikolados’ and the village board’s attempts to raise revenue for the village and its police department, it seems a bit disingenuous to create more government and the increased taxes that come with it, especially when most governments—including the State of New York—are seeking to consolidate services and government. 

Mayor Nikolados states that a quarter of Monticello police calls are outside of the village limits, but this number is misleading. 

The Monticello Police Department (MPD) does not handle calls for service outside of village limits, nor are they required to. In fact, in many cases MPD is statutorily prohibited from handling calls for service outside of the village. 

While it is true that MPD does leave village limits to back up the SCS or the New York State Police (NYSP), this is for officer safety and professional responsibility reasons, not to handle calls for service. 

To be clear, all investigations or arrests stemming from an incident occurring outside of the Village of Monticello and in the Town of Thompson are investigated by either the SCS or NYSP, not the MPD. If MPD officers are leaving the village to handle calls, it is because they choose to do so, not because they are required to. 

The PBA would like to add that MPD has recently lost several of its police officers to surrounding police departments and is now operating with minimal personnel. This loss has resulted in MPD having to discontinue its School Resource Officer program, and caused a substantial increase for calls for service within the Village of Monticello that are now being handled by the SCS and NYSP. 

In addition, a school resource officer is now being provided to the Monticello Central School District by the SCS. I ask, how can MPD cover a newly created and larger police district if they cannot handle what they currently have? 

The bottom line is that the SCS and NYSP already provide police services in and around the Village of Monticello. Mayor Nikolados’ plan is just an attempt to acquire more funding for the village, at the expense of the taxpayers who live, work and shop in Sullivan County. There are far better ways to fund the Monticello Police Department than what Mayor Nikolados is proposing. 

The Sullivan County PBA would be more than happy to assist the mayor with some suggestions. 

Jack Harb is the president of the Police Benevolent Association in Sullivan County. He states that he is affiliated with Tuttle Law Firm.