Orange County Forms Police Reform Panel

GOSHEN – Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus provides information about the Orange County Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Advisory Panel, established per Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order 203 to review the policies and practices of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

The Order requires that each local government entity which has a police agency operating with police officers as defined under 1.20 of the Criminal Procedure Law to convene a group of stakeholders from both the government and the community to evaluate policy strategies.
Other important areas that must be addressed include procedure and training, policing functions, standards, and strategies; fostering community-oriented leadership, culture, and accountability; and recruiting and supporting excellent and diverse personnel.

This Advisory Panel will gather input from the public and the Sheriff’s Office, and based upon their findings they will put forth recommendations to the County Legislature to adopt a plan, which must be signed by the County Executive and sent to the State no later than April 1, 2021.

The Advisory Panel is tasked with developing a plan to improve the deployments, strategies, policies, procedures, and practices of the Sheriff’s Office, while addressing the particular needs of Orange County. The plan will also focus on promoting community engagement to foster trust, fairness, and legitimacy, and to address any racial bias and disproportionate policing of communities of color.

The Advisory Panel represents County government, social services agencies, community service leaders, clergy and education leaders, and not for profit agencies.

The members of Orange County’s panel are:

Nadia Allen, Executive Director of Mental Health Association in Orange County, Inc

Gary Abramson Orange County Legal Aid Society

Brendan Casey, Orange County Commissioner of Emergency Services

Craig Cherry, Orange County Deputy Commissioner Emergency Services

Julia Doellinger, Community Member

Karen Edelman-Reyes, County Attorney’s office

Inaudy Esposito, Executive Director Orange County Human rights Commission

Colin Jarvis, Executive Director, Newburgh Ministries

Kenneth Jones, Undersheriff, Orange County Sheriff’s Office

Kellyann Kostyal-Larrier, Executive Director, Fearless

Kevin Hines, Orange County Legislator, Chairman Public Safety Committee

Darcie Miller, Commissioner of Mental Health/Social Services

Christopher Molinelli, Executive Director HONOR

Ray Rodriguez, President, MyFOURmula, Inc.

Stewart Rosenwasser, District Attorney’s office

Dr. Kristine Young, President, SUNY Orange

All panel meetings will be held virtually. The first meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 10th. Detailed information including links to attend meetings, email comments, and to complete a survey can be found at www.orangecountygov.com.