SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — At last week’s legislative session, Steven D’Agata, Village of Liberty Police Chief said, “I want to make sure the legislature understands that I fully support Commissioner Liddle’s plan to utilize grant funding to build a 20-bed shelter for single individuals. This initiative is a critical step in addressing our emergency housing crisis that will not fully replace the current, deeply flawed system.”

Previously, on April 24, the county legislature failed to reach a super majority and approve a long-term lease for what would have been the first step in establishing the county’s only homeless shelter in the Town of Thompson. There was pushback from numerous residents who live on the road near the proposed shelter location on county property. Read the full article at https://www.riverreporter.com/stories/proposed-shelter-shot-downagain,196478.

Before he announced his support, D’Agata said, “First, being unhoused does not make someone a criminal. I’ve recently heard troubling and unfounded public comments made to this legislature suggesting that individuals in need of emergency shelter are inherently more prone to criminal behavior. This implication is harmful, irresponsible and inaccurate. Crime is a multi-faceted issue rooted in a wide range of social, economic, psychological and environmental factors, reducing individuals to a single circumstance, such as lacking housing, ignores this complexity and promotes harmful stereotypes that do nothing to advance public safety or community well-being. Rather, I submit that we thoughtfully approach this subject with objective rationality based on data and not fear and bias.”

In a county of about 80,000, hundreds are without a home. Sullivan County has a housing crisis. The county currently provides emergency shelter by renting blocks of rooms in various county motels. This makeshift shelter model currently houses around 300 people, up from around 50 during COVID-19 when evictions were paused, according to Sullivan County Health and Human Services (HHS) Commissioner John Liddle.

One of the main motels used by the county is the Knights Inn in Liberty, which falls within the jurisdiction of the Liberty police department and is frequently the site of arrests and reported crime.

D’Agata said, “The current practice of simply placing individuals in a motel without the necessary infrastructure and oversight has resulted in an escalating public safety crisis. The Knights Inn has been the site of a disproportionate amount of crime and disorder, and the situation continues to deteriorate, violent assaults, drug overdoses, including fatalities, child abuse, animal cruelty, robberies, burglaries and countless physical altercations have occurred at this location with alarming frequency. Exactly two years ago, tomorrow May 2, Akasha Luvert, an innocent 16-month-old child was tragically lost from a fatal exposure to fentanyl as a result of the criminal action of her parents at this very establishment.”

“The violence and disorder has reached a point where it poses a serious and unacceptable risk to occupants of the motel and to the surrounding community unless decisive action is taken immediately,” he told the legislature.

This notion is not new; a grand jury, convened following the death of Akasha Luvert, came to the same conclusion about the motel housing structure. Prior to the grand jury report, a New York state inspector graded motels used as shelters in the county as “poor” and “very poor” in a 2016 report. Past health and human service commissioner Joe Todora warned against the model in 2015, when shelter development proposals in Liberty and Forestburgh were faced with stifling criticism. 

D’Agata said that in the first three months of 2025, the department responded to 64 total unique criminal incidents at the Knights Inn, which resulted in nearly 165 hours of police time. He said 24 arrests were made at the motel or involving individuals at the motel, which accounted for 17% of all the arrests made by the department during the entire quarter.

“While it’s true that the motel also houses short and long-term guests not placed there by DSS, our review of the data indicates that during this period, approximately 82% of the incidents requiring a police response involved DSS-placed individuals or their guests,” he said. 

D’Agata was clear in his demands from the legislature. First, he said, move forward with creating a shelter. Second, there needs to be immediate action taken, while longer-term solutions are being pursued, like 24/7 onsite security at the Knights Inn and ensuring the facility has minimum safety equipment such as lights and security cameras. Last, he asked for the legislature to act quickly.

Read more on the topic of the shelter in the article series here  and here “No Roof, No Rights: Housing and Human Rights,” which examines the connection between housing and human rights in Sullivan County, with reporting on how both the county government and its residents are navigating these critical issues.