Greetings: As Chief of Police, one of my responsibilities is to establish annual goals and objectives for the Department. One of the goals for 2025 is to enhance community relations with our residents. One way to accomplish this task is by improving communications with the community. The Town of Mt. Pleasant’s updated website is a great forum to disseminate information. I will endeavor to post relevant information to keep the community informed. Many of the police officers have multiple duties which ultimately translates to providing the best public safety service while being fiscally responsible. Your Police Department is staffed by well trained professional officers with great equipment and we thank our community for their unwavering support.
JCCA Pleasantville Campus
One of the long- time challenges that the Department has encountered is with the JCCA Campus located in our area of responsibility in Pleasantville. The facility has been at their current location for over 100 years and offers residential services to youths that are placed there by New York State. The facility generates a large amount of calls for service on a yearly basis that uses resources from the Police Department, Volunteer Ambulance Corps., and Volunteer Fire Department. Over the last 10 years, the Town Supervisor Fulgenzi, Councilwoman Zaino and I have had many meetings with the administration of the facility, State Legislators, and the NYS Office of Children of Family Services or OCFS. The Office of Children and Family services is the oversight agency for the facility. Frequently, the Police Department responds to calls to respond to campus for disturbances, assaults, property crimes, mental health and medical crises. All of these requiring responses of resources and often requiring extensive follow- up and additional investigation. The Town has always been responsive to the needs and understands the challenges that this type of work generates. The long-standing New York State model for this type of facility requires an open campus. This means that the youth residents may leave campus on their own and at any hour. Often when a youth is in crisis and decides to go out of program, they just walk off the campus before staff has the opportunity to intervene and attempt to de-escalate the situation. The residents’ range in age from 12 to 20. If the staff is aware of a resident in crisis leaving the campus, they will often follow the resident in a vehicle in an attempt to convince them to return to campus. There are occasions when these youth become involved in criminal incidents while off-campus. These vulnerable youth, once off campus and unsupervised are exposed to additional safety risks. Two years ago, I suggested that the State change the model in some fashion to allow the facility to be secured with a controlled access gate. This will allow for supervision of who enters the campus and who can leave. If a child is in crisis, a gate will allow for discretionary time to enable staff to encounter a resident in a controlled environment and de-escalate. Supervisor Fulgenzi agreed. The latest meeting with OCFS was on March 20, 2025. OCFS representatives reported that the JCCA Pleasantville Campus administration was working with architects to reconfigure the front entrance of the facility for a more secure campus. Supervisor Fulgenzi offered assistance from the Town’s Engineering Department if needed. Additional follow up is needed.
DCJS 2024 Cop Tech Grant
In 2024, Sergeant Jason Patane applied for a grant from the New York State Division of Criminal Justices Services to enhance police services through technology. Through his efforts, the Department was able to secure $545,000 in grant funding. This has been a tremendous help in securing additional equipment that make the Department more efficient. The grant funding has been used to purchase mobile car computers, traffic cameras, portable radios, and other equipment. We are awaiting delivery of two drones that will be used to help locate persons and enhance officer safety.
BWC Update
For the past few years, the Department had been exploring the purchasing of Body Worn Cameras. In 2023, the Department received a grant of $110,000 from DCJS for this purchase. After researching different options, the Town signed a contract with AXON to supply Body Worn Cameras, unlimited storage, and the newest version of Electronic Control Weapon, the Taser 10. The cameras were tested last April and implemented fully in 2024. The program and policy implemented by Lt. John Boccardi. It has been a tremendous success and all of the patrol force has been working for that goal. I truly appreciate their cooperation in this endeavor.
Blue Envelope Program
The Town of Mt. Pleasant Police is proud to announce that we will be adopting the Blue Envelope Program. It is a new initiative that is an important safety program for drivers, vehicle occupants, including children, with autism. There are many families in Town that are living with autism. These residents drive our roads and as law enforcement, we have a responsibility to serve them in the best manner. Traffic stops can be dangerous. A driver’s physical movement and verbal responses, which would be interpreted as normal, may be beyond an autistic driver’s control. With proper training and awareness, we can limit interactions that can be misinterpreted as a potential threat. We want to keep everyone safe. To address this problem, law enforcement agencies throughout the country have begun adopting the Blue Envelope Program. These agencies are encouraging drivers with autism to obtain a Blue Envelope to store all the relevant documents that an officer would request during a traffic stop- such as their license, registration, and insurance card. In this way, when an officer sees the Blue Envelope, they are alerted to the driver’s autism and can adjust their own actions or reactions to fit that situation. We are expecting to receive a supply of the Blue Envelopes in the next few weeks. If you would like to obtain one, please email me at poliva@mtpleasantny.gov.
Thanks again for your support and I always appreciate your feedback. Chief Oliva