As May turned to June, Matt Sutton officially took up the job of police chief in New Paltz, with Carmine Fuoco stepping into the lieutenant’s role. It’s the beginning of what should be a very active time in New Paltz’s police department. The retirement of Robert Lucchesi set into motion a series of promotions and there’s also a number of officers who are coming up to speed to become training officers and instructors in what’s being described as a relatively young department.
While three-quarters of New Paltz officers have three or fewer years under their belts, Fuoco and Sutton have both worked their way through the ranks: Sutton is a 17-year veteran, and Fuoco has nearly 15 years of service. The two also carry the marks of having worked closely together for much of that time: they share an understanding of the kind of policing that is welcome and desired in New Paltz, and their chemistry is palpable.
Sutton was the kid who wanted to grow up to be a police officer, and has the evidence to prove it. Just like Lucchesi and Fuoco, the new chief grew up in New Paltz, and Sutton’s first-grade teacher recently turned up a crayon self-portrait in police hat and uniform. That’s due to be framed and hung on the wall of the chief’s office, an office Sutton actually was working from for a few weeks before formally taking on the title of “chief.” Lucchesi opted for a gradual transition, and it became clear that the outgoing chief’s confidence in the incoming chief’s management skills and leadership style warranted a hands-off approach.
“We hold a high standard, and the public’s used to that,” said Sutton. “We will be continuing that professional standard.”
Fuoco agrees, saying, “We do hold ourselves to a high standard, and we are well respected. We always try to stay on top.”
At the moment, staying on top looks like getting the best training and acculturation possible into a number of relatively young officers. It’s in the first five to seven years that officers learn most of what is needed on the job. After police academy training, new officers are coached and mentored by certified training officers, but the education doesn’t end when they are judged ready to go out in the field without that direct supervision. There’s additional training in areas such as defensive tactics and the use of firearms, for example, and for that reason training is happening nearly constantly. Not only are officers receiving essential training, trainers themselves are being certified to replace longtime instructors who have moved on.
Training the trainers creates deeper levels of knowledge and skill, too. As Sutton noted, “[Sergeant] Joe Judge talks about repetitions,” specifically how many more repetitions in a given skill one gets while showing others how to master it.
Even without newer officers being trained, there’s always something new to learn in law enforcement. The laws to be enforced are changed regularly, as are the best practices for enforcing laws professionally and fairly. In response, there’s frequently changes in the technology, too. Rob Lucchesi, the former chief, used typewritten forms to file reports in the ’90s and adapted to increasingly sophisticated computers. Chief Sutton’s early tasks include distributing the newest generation of body-worn cameras. New Paltz officers were relatively quick to adopt that technology, but the newest ones are better integrated with the servers where all that data is stored. The software will also make complying with New York’s discovery laws — the rules laying out what evidence must be shared with defense attorneys, and when — a smoother process that doesn’t involve nearly as many hours of review by an officer. Sutton was the detective who was tasked with that review process — which was reformed in 2020 — and is grateful it won’t be as time-intensive going forward.
There will also be an electric car in the police fleet soon. It’s just for administrative purposes — the vehicle computers which have replaced typewriters and briefcases full of carbon forms draw more power than modern electric engines can generate — but as the technology improves, it may be possible to be pulled over by an officer in a fully operational electric police cruiser.
Sutton and Fuoco are taking over a department that is fully staffed up — mostly. While this was true at the time of this interview, one officer has submitted a resignation in favor of a position in Poughkeepsie; the chief is hopeful that a replacement will be hired by the end of June. That’s no small feat, because there are powerful economic pressures at work. Trained officers who choose to work in Dutchess or Westchester counties can often earn a fair amount more than what New Paltz taxpayers are able to afford. On the other hand, hometown pride can play at least a deciding factor. For example, the department’s newest sergeant, Tyler Pece, is a former town officer who got a higher-paying job down in Westchester. Enticing Pece back required agreeing to factoring in all of the officer’s service in other departments when it comes to longevity bonuses in the police contract, on top of the promotion to sergeant, in order to keep Pece at a salary not too far off what was being paid downstate. In the end, the chief believes that Pece was swayed by the culture of this police department and the opportunity to again serve in this community.
Among the strategies that are being used to recruit and retain officers in this context, part-timers are no longer being hired at all. Those who have been hired on a part-time basis would work hours in two or more departments, the leaders of which would be competing for their time. When a full-time position opens up and is taken, it leaves a hole in another department as a result. Hiring only full-time officers is now seen as a way to continue the stable culture of community-based policing in this department.
The way Sutton and Fuoco understand the term “community policing” is that it involves an ongoing conversation with the residents of New Paltz. “It’s checking in on people. It’s when an officer gets out of the car to stop and watch a baseball game for awhile.” In essence, the goal is not to have the only encounter with police being that of a suspect, or victim, of a crime. “We often interact with people on the worst day of their life.” The two new leaders are batting around ideas to expand on this concept, starting with possibly re-imaging the “coffee with a cop” or “conversations with police” events that have been held periodically from some years. There might be a barbecue outside of police headquarters, for example, taking advantage of the wide lawn and the playground right outside the doors.
Presence in the community also matters. Before the pandemic, there was a sincere attempt to get emergency workers playing softball. If university police could be convinced to participate along with the paramedics and firefighters, that’s almost a league right there.
Fuoco pointed out that having an interest in the community is something that is part of the hiring process, and has been for a long time. The ideal is to hire “people who are familiar to us” and are vested in some way in New Paltz. Notably, that preference hasn’t stopped the department from becoming one that’s more diverse in terms of ethnicity, race and gender than perhaps ever before. Diversifying the department has been an intentional process under several successive chiefs, and it’s been possible without disrupting the local focus. “A lot of us grew up here,” said Sutton: all four sergeants graduated from New Paltz High School, as did the chief, lieutenant, one of the detectives and many of the officers.
More important even than those ties to community, though, are personal values. “We want people that police like we want to,” said Sutton.
New Paltz is a college town, and that might seem like this would make for particular policing challenges, but the new leaders don’t see it that way. Maybe it’s a reflection of those values. “It’s just more people to deal with,” said Fuoco, adding that college students “are not just criminals; those are kids.”
Having a veteran like Lucchesi retire is “bittersweet,” according to Sutton, but counterintuitively it can actually help morale because of all the opportunities for training and new certifications that are opened up as various officers are reshuffled in the ranks.
“We don’t have divisions,” said Fuoco; in a department of this size, all officers may get a chance to try their hand at every aspect of law enforcement.
Most of the leadership job takes place behind the scenes, but look for Chief Sutton and Lieutenant Fuoco directing traffic during parades, serving hamburgers if they organize that barbecue, and possibly even taking up a bat against a rescue squad pitcher with a killer spitball. The rest of the time, New Paltz’s newest police leaders will be quietly working to make their community a better place by their presence.
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