fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Submit Your Event
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Send Letter to the Editor
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s UP
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Subscribe to the What’s UP newsletter
  • Opinion
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Log Out
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Are Saugerties police giving village short shrift?

by Robert Ford
April 13, 2016
in Crime, Politics & Government
3

Trustee Don Hackett says the police department isn’t covering the village the way it promised to before the dissolution of the village department last year, and he said as much to Deputy Police Chief Joseph Sinagra at a recent village board meeting.

“My concern is coverage,” Hackett told Sinagra. “Originally we were told that we would have officers here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and I don’t see it.”

“Whenever possible we keep two cars in the village,” Sinagra said. The exception is when an officer in another part of town needs assistance.

Sinagra added that the police department is down two officers, who will soon be replaced, “so right now it’s tough.”

Mayor William Murphy said the merger is still undergoing growing pains, but he sees good police coverage.

Under the terms of the contract signed by both the town and village for the merger, the village was promised two officers around the clock for the first two years. For this, the village is paying $408,000 over that time, above and beyond what village taxpayers contribute through the newly expanded “town outside village” portion of their taxes.

That requirement was meant to assuage the very concern Hackett expressed last week: that the new department wouldn’t pay sufficient attention to the village, and that the level of service would decrease. When it sunsets next year, Sinagra said, the level of service will be the same despite the lack of extra payments from the village.

“The village is the center of Saugerties and this coverage will continue,” he said.

Police Lt. Steve Filak, previously of the village department, said part of the problem might be that the village’s cars with black and white are easy to spot, while the town cars “have a lower profile.”

Sinagra added that he wants to see more community policing in the village as well. Officers walking the beat on Main and Partition streets will be reaching out to the merchants, “as will I,” Sinagra said.

“We want to work with the merchants to help reduce crime,” Sinagra said. Police are planning a series of monthly meetings with the merchants to discuss their concerns. During the summer, in addition to the bicycle patrols, the police will also have plain-clothes cops working the streets, Sinagra said.

“We want to solve the problems before they happen,” he said.

Murphy welcomed the initiatives being set up by Sinagra and said they should go a long way toward keeping the village a safe place to live, work and do business.

Sinagra, a former deputy chief in the town of Ulster, was hired by Saugerties in December and is being groomed to take over from Police Chief Lou Barbaria when he retires later this year.

 

Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher

Robert Ford

Related Posts

Former Saugerties wrestling coach charged with raping two students repeatedly
Crime

Former Saugerties wrestling coach charged with raping two students repeatedly

July 24, 2025
Woodstock police chief wasn’t told about town hiring of Level 3 sex offender
Politics & Government

Woodstock police chief wasn’t told about town hiring of Level 3 sex offender

July 24, 2025
Queens man in Saugerties catches 4 felony drug charges, 3 misdemeanors
Crime

Knife-wielding Ellenville man botches home invasion, police say

July 23, 2025
Saugerties police officer arrested for alleged felony sex crimes
Crime

Update: Saugerties policeman accused of several felony sex offenses  

July 23, 2025
Stormy Woodstock meeting questions the town supervisor’s original appointment
Politics & Government

Stormy Woodstock meeting questions the town supervisor’s original appointment

July 22, 2025
Over 1.5 pounds of cocaine found by drug-sniffing dog in Saugerties, police say
Crime

Over 1.5 pounds of cocaine found by drug-sniffing dog in Saugerties, police say

July 22, 2025
Next Post

Kids Almanac: Owl hike, Young Writers’ Guild & making maple syrup

Please login to join discussion

Weather

Kingston, NY
84°
Sunny
5:40 am8:24 pm EDT
Feels like: 90°F
Wind: 7mph S
Humidity: 61%
Pressure: 29.98"Hg
UV index: 0
FriSatSun
91°F / 66°F
88°F / 66°F
79°F / 68°F
powered by Weather Atlas

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Our Newsletters
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Art
    • Books
    • Kids
    • Lifestyle & Wellness
    • Food & Drink
    • Music
    • Nature
    • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Subscribe to Our Newsletters
    • Hey Kingston
    • New Paltz Times
    • Woodstock Times
    • Week in Review

© 2022 Ulster Publishing