Montour Falls pursues new public safety division

Montour Falls pursues new public safety division

MONTOUR FALLS-Mayor Jim Ryan is in the process of working to form a new public safety division in the village of Montour Falls. While the unit has already been approved through the budgetary process and Ryan has been authorized by the board of trustees to proceed, the process is currently waiting for additional approval.
"We haven't rolled it out yet, we are still waiting for civil service approval from the county... we are still waiting on clarification from them and we can't hire anyone until they say so," said Ryan.
If approved, the new public safety division would consist of unarmed individuals formed through a combination of paid employees and trained volunteers who, along with providing other services, patrol the village in a vehicle provided by the village to observe and report anything from crime to code violations.
"They see an accumulation of garbage...and they would provide it to the code officer," Ryan said. He also explained the new division would be able to focus on things traditional law enforcement may not have a lot of time to perform. However, law enforcement would still take care of crimes and law violations and if the public safety patrol saw something of concern they would call law enforcement to check it out, Ryan said.
Other services the division could handle would be offering the service of checking in on residents' homes while they are on vacation to ensure everything is in order.
"It could be weekly or nightly if you wanted that service," Ryan stated. "They won't just be driving around the village though, they will have other functions as well. Community service and observe and report."
For example aiding during storms, traffic control, or assisting the fire department in support roles.
"Not taking their place, just helping," Ryan said.
Despite the local approval, the fate of the proposed division currently rests in the hands of the county.
"The county is the civil service authority and we are working through that process right now," Ryan said.
Other considerations are that anyone hired or volunteering for a safety division position would require a security guard license according to New York state law. Unarmed security guards in New York have to have eight hours of pre-assignment training and 16 hours of on-the-job training. They are then registered with the department of state.
As to how long approval will take Ryan said it is undetermined.
"I would have loved to have seen it before July Fourth but that didn't happen so we will work through the process and work through the system and if it gets approved we will let the community know that this is happening," Ryan said.
These are part of efforts that Ryan says are geared towards providing residents of Montour Falls a safe community to live in and enjoy.