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Locking it up: Hanover approves police protection contract

By Braden Carmen 6 min read

HANOVER -- After months of debate, the Town Board convened for a special meeting to address an enhanced police protection contract. After more than 30 minutes of discussion and clearly evident frustration, the Board unanimously approved an agreement between the Town, the Village of Silver Creek, and the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office for enhanced police protection through Dec. 31, 2024.

The Town of Hanover and the Village of Silver Creek will continue to share a deputy and patrol vehicle 24-7 throughout the upcoming year, in addition to the base level coverage every municipality in the county receives. The terms of the agreement call for quarterly payments in the amount of $78,314.13 from both the Town of Hanover and the Village of Silver Creek, for a total contract price of $626,513.

The contract represents a notable raise from the previous year of approximately $60,000, but it was not just the increase that frustrated the members of the Board.

As part of the agreement, the Town and the Village are paying an average of Step 4 of the Sheriff's Office compensation scale, which was established as a midpoint between inexperienced and highly experienced deputies, to average the pay for whichever police officer is patrolling the area. However, the Town feels it is consistently being assigned much less experienced officers, but still being asked to foot the bill.

Town Clerk Tim Crino has been tracking the officers who have been assigned to the Town, and has compared those hours and salaries against the figures in the contract that was proposed. Crino attempted to receive more information regarding the Sheriff's Office expenses to track where the money the Town is paying actually goes, line by line, but his Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request was denied by the county.

"Year after year, we get budgets, but we have never, ever got an expense report afterwards to show what their actual expenses are. So, I submitted a FOIL request in the fall to get all of the actual expenses, and they turned it down," Crino said.

The reasoning Crino was given for its rejection was because of the format of the submission.

"There's things that we're paying for that I don't think we should pay for," said Councilman Wayne Ashley, a retired police officer. "It's hard to understand where the cost increase comes in that high."

Councilman Bernie Feldmann, Jr., and Supervisor-elect Lou Pelletter have led the way on behalf of the Town in negotiations with the Sheriff's Office. After the meeting, Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone told the OBSERVER, "I appreciate the efforts of Councilmen Pelletter and Feldmann to make the effort to work with the Sheriff's Office to continue the partnership between the Town and Sheriff's Office."

Throughout the special meeting, it was made clear that the Board's frustration was not aimed at Quattrone, but rather the county's legal department and its lack of response to the asks of the Town regarding the department's expenses.

"They didn't answer the questions we were looking for. I don't know how we can get more direct answers, not just from the Sheriff, but more so from the financial people that are doing this. I don't think (Quattrone) is the one, I think it's the financial people that are doing this," said Town Councilman Ed Schintzius. "I think it's important to sit down with them and go, dollars and cents down to the penny, why – and I think that should be done as soon as possible."

Feldmann said he is hopeful the Town can "come to an understanding" with the Sheriff's Office regarding future contracts to limit the escalation in the coming years.

"Obviously they are escalating, at a rate of about $60,000 a year. That's certainly not something the Town is going to be able to absorb, in partnership with the Village," Feldmann said. "We've got to do something."

Feldmann explained the town evaluated a reduction in services with the Sheriff's Office, dropping to two shifts rather than three, while relying on the State Police and the Sheriff's designated Zone 4 police car to cover the overnight shift. That avenue, which Feldmann said would have been a "significant reduction in the contract numbers," was unavailable to the Town because of limited part-time deputies the Sheriff's Office has available.

After every member of the Board gave their opinion on the matter, the Town of Hanover approved the agreement. The Village of Silver Creek will now be required to do the same at its next meeting, this coming Monday, for the contract to be in place. Silver Creek Mayor Jeff Hornburg attended the Hanover special meeting to offer his opinion on the contract.

"I'm not against paying our fair share," Hornburg said. "... I think we're paying too much for what we get."

Hornburg also said he knew an increase in the contract was coming, and added, "I think that we need police protection. ... The Village stands ready to work with you anyway we can."

The Town Board's special meeting was called for shortly after a meeting in which Johnson, Hanover's outgoing Supervisor, was critical of the lack of an enhanced police protection contract. Johnson expanded on the criticism he has received from the Sheriff's Office in response since his comments were made.

"I don't know where everything has gotten misconstrued to where I have something against the Sheriff's Department, which I don't. I always thought that we had a great working relationship with the Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Quattrone," Johnson said. "At the end of the day, I want to have police protection for our residents for the Town of Hanover, and also for the Village of Silver Creek. ... I want to feel warm and safe at my residence, knowing that we do have patrols out there, and they are doing their job, and they are going to protect all of our citizens and residents in the Town of Hanover and the Village of Silver Creek."

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