Word earlier this year that the state Department of Environmental Conservation planned a new training academy in 2022 to replenish the ranks of forest rangers and environmental conservation officers was welcomed by outdoor enthusiasts, environmental organizations, and as well as the rangers themselves.

“Forest rangers are our frontline guardians of wild public lands,” David Gibson, of the Adirondack Wild, said when the announcement was made, noting like others that rangers are busier with tasks such as search-andrescue operations amid a boom in hiking and mountain climbing.
But it remains unclear when the next training academy will be scheduled for new State Park Police officers. There are about 200 Park Police officers, compared to 265 a few years ago. Their last academy was in 2019.
The uncertainty is compounded by the fact that the Park Police force’s future remains cloudy, even though the agency has been under the command of the much larger State Police force since 2019.
Back then, the state planned to eventually merge the Park Police into the larger State Police. The merger would increase the pay and benefits for the Park Police officers. But a merger has yet to occur and remains mired in questions about benefits and seniority status of the Park Police officers who would be absorbed into the larger force.
The New York State Police Benevolent Association, the union representing Park Police, has since 2019 said it has questions about the merger, specifically whether the physical fitness and other requirements for State Police would be waived for older veteran Park Police officers.
Additionally, the Park Police have specific skills and focus, said PBA Secretary Troy Caupin.
“There is simply no agency that can fully replicate the capabilities of the New York State Park Police, nor the willingness to carry out certain patrols such as the waters of Niagara Falls. There are ways to assimilate some of these capabilities into another agency, but one must ask the question whether the dedication to the mission will remain the same,” Caupin said.
The State Police have absorbed other police agencies, including the Long Island Parkway Police in 1980 and the Capitol Police in 1997.
When those mergers occurred, the Parkway and Capitol police kept their longevity pay and other seniority benefits, Caupin said.
Under the existing plan, a Park Police and State Police merger, though, might strip the park officers of their seniority and treat them as new troopers fresh out of the academy for purposes of pay, the PBA said.
Park Police officers may also have to complete the State Police academy despite having already met training requirements at the academy for Park Police.
There also is an age barrier and a waiver that fell off the table in budget talks last year.

 The NFC Chicken BBQ will be held Wednesday July 7th at 5 pm

 Cold Case Tuesday: Troop A continues to investigate the 1991 discovery of skeletal remains in Niagara County
New York State Police in Niagara continue to investigate the discovery of skeletal remains of an unknown man nearly 30 years ago.

On Saturday June 22, 1991 at 5:04 pm, skeletal remains of an unknown male were found by two teens picking berries in a wooded area off Black Nose Spring Road. Black Nose Spring Road is located on the Tuscarora Indian Reservation in the town of Lewiston, Niagara County, New York.  The body was found about 30 feet from the road’s edge in an 11-foot ravine.
The victim was bound with cord and his mouth had been gagged with a washcloth. The manner of death is unknown.
The victim is believed to be an African American male, 30 to 45 years old, between 5’7 to 5’10 tall. At one point, the victim sustained broken ribs and facial fractures which healed prior to his death. The injuries may have been the result of the sport of boxing.
The victim was wearing a white-short sleeve V-Neck undershirt (Fruit of the Loom size 42-44) and long light-colored underwear (Haines medium).
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact the New York State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigation at 585-344-6200. 

Please refer to SJS # 1197767.

We would like to get all of the Batavia Members up on the Members page but it is voluntary.  You can send your picture and info to Mike at [email protected].  We would like to know the years that you worked and the stations/units where you worked.

- President Doney will attend the Division Memorial service on May 5th
-The IRS has approved our tax exempt status. We are now classified as 503C7. This classification allows us to support political candidates.
-On advice of the division lawyers, the division no longer sends out a monthly list of new retirees. There will now be a letter informing the new retiree of our organization in his retirement package.
-A motion was made to make the PBA rep a permanent part of the board. The motion will be voted on at the June meeting.
-The PBA rep advises they are in the beginning stages of getting a small increase in the COLA. There is much to be worked on yet.
 -We will no longer be forwarding the hard copy of the Grey Rider. It will now be sent from the printer. If this becomes a problem for anyone let us know and we will fix it.
-The NJ State Police are celebrating their 100 year Anniversary on Sept 9th.  The celebration will be held at the seaport pier in Wildwood NJ.
-The Capital district is hosting its annual 911 memorial bike ride. It runs from Boston to NYC. Proceeds go to families of officers killed on 911.
-Our annual HR 218 shoot will be held on Wednesday July 21st starting at 10 am
until all are qualified. We need a head count so if attending let us know if you haven’t already done so.    
-Mt Sanai hospital in NYC now has a clinic in Westchester county. This is good news for those of us who travel down once a year for the check up. We no longer have to go into Manhattan.                                                                           

 PLATTSBURGH — This month marks 100 years of Troop B — one of 11 law enforcement troops that protect and serve New York state.
For former Troop Commander John Tibbitts, Troop B is one-of-a-kind.
Starting from its roots of catching booze smugglers violating the Volstead Act in 1921, to capturing national attention during the 2015 Dannemora prison break, Tibbitts said the officers who have suited up for Troop B — which covers Clinton, Franklin, Essex, St. Lawrence and Hamilton counties — have always embodied the original purpose of New York State Police.
Tibbitts, who served as a zone commander for Troop B in 2005 until he became troop commander in 2016, said he dove into the history behind the troop when State Police had its own 100-year anniversary in 2017.
“We found how deeply embedded Troop B was in the community up here. If you look across the state, Troop B is unusual,” Tibbitts said. “The troopers are, in a lot of instances, the only police agencies that you have locally here.”
Tibbitts said that isn’t the case for a lot of New York.
“You can have multiple police agencies there. Local, state, huge county sheriff’s departments,” he said. “But up here, it’s kind of remained similar to what we got originally.”
“There is very little backup. The troopers have to depend on themselves up here,” Tibbitts continued. “We used to have a saying up here: one riot, one trooper.”
Connection
What also sets Troop B apart, Tibbitts said, is how connected troopers are to their community.
“Not only were they troopers, they were baseball coaches; they were hockey coaches They did volunteer search and rescue. They were members of the fire departments,” Tibbitts said.
Tibbitts also said a lot of other troops have troopers, supervisors and executive staff who aren’t local and don’t stay in one spot for very long.
Tibbitts was a transplant to his troop, too, coming from Latham, but he said leadership at Troop B does a good job of promoting community within its officers that often gets them to stay.
“They were able to imbue that into troopers, even for the people that didn’t have ownership in the community,” Tibbitts said. “There’s a certain level of pride you take in doing a job like that, especially when serving your friends, your neighbors, your family. It’s special.”
Having that sense of community, Tibbitts said, builds trust between troopers and those they serve.
“It’s a lot easier to approach people and talk to them,” he said. “It’s very unusual for there to be an incident where you don’t know some of the people involved in it, somebody you can go up to and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Did you hear what happened?'”
“There’s that personal connection you don’t get in higher-populated areas.”
Troopers saw that same connection in 2015 when inmates Richard Matt and David Sweat broke out of Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, starting a 23-day manhunt that resulted in Matt’s death and Sweat’s capture.
Tibbitts said a lot of troopers were working 24-hour days at checkpoints, being on the lookout for the two escaped inmates.
At checkpoints in Cadyville, residents started giving troopers food until they couldn’t accept any more.
“Then we started getting a lot of donations of soap, deodorant, socks. We were blown away at what the people wanted to do for us,” Tibbitts said.
In order to locate the inmates, Tibbitts said, law enforcement had to evolve their techniques on the fly and try things that were new to Troop B like using newer aircraft, personal location devices, DNA and touch DNA, which were used by the State Police forensics lab.
“We were able to basically track Sweat and Matt from garbage they left behind because the lab worked so efficiently,” Tibbitts said. “I was amazed at how great a job they did.”
Coming up on six years since the escape, Tibbitts said he believes the North Country is still feeling the effects from that event.
“I think the North Country, from an emotional point of view, is still recovering from it a little bit,” he said.
“I mean, it was an armed encampment for just about a month. You couldn’t go anywhere without seeing an armed state trooper, an armed federal agent, sheriff’s department, DEC rangers. It became a way of life.”
Tibbitts said troopers saw a renewed appreciation more broadly from the community after the escape.
“It was great to see the people come out and say they get it, that they’re here for you and what can we do to help,” he said. “That’s incredible to hear because you never heard it that much.”
Maj. Charles Guess was the Troop B commander at the time of the escape, commanding more than 1,600 law enforcement personnel.
He wrote a book about the experience entitled, “Relentless Pursuit.”
The escape also became the focus of several television movies and shows, and several other books.
Tibbitts became Troop B’s commander a year after the escape. After learning about the troop’s history, he came across the first captain, Charles Broadfield, whose worn and “cruddy” shoes that were mounted on a board were held in the troop’s museum.
Tibbitts said Broadfield was captain for about 15 years and had a lot of ownership for the position. After he died, Tibbitts said, incoming troopers who filled Broadfield’s spot were told they had large shoes to fill, which is why his shoes were kept and on display.
Tibbitts remounted Broadfield’s shoes on a different board and kept it in the troop commander’s office because he felt the ownership and staying power Broadfield had embodied what the other 26 commanders who came after had.
“There’s a bunch of us troop commanders who are still living, and if you talk to any of them, they’ll tell you that the best time of their life was when they had command of Troop B,” Tibbitts said.

 Lionel “Mike” Gagnon, 91, of Malone died Sunday, May 30, 2021 at The Alice Center, Malone.
Born on Nov. 18, 1929 in Manchester, NH, he was the son of Archibald and Edith (Gilmin) Gagnon. They predeceased him.
He was married to Theresa McGowan at St. Joseph’s Church by Rev. George Tobin. She predeceased him on Jan. 8, 2018.
Mike moved to the Malone area in 1940 and was raised in Westville. He graduated from Franklin Academy. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1947 and served in Germany. He was honorably discharged in 1950 and joined the U.S. Army Reserves serving until 1951. In 1951, Mike enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp serving as staff sergeant until he was discharged in 1954. He was employed with the NYS Troopers from Jan. 1955 to July 1987, retiring as investigator after 32 ½ years of service.
Mike was a communicant of St. Joseph’s Church, Malone serving as lector, Eucharistic Minister and adult altar server. He was a member of the Association of Former NYS Troopers, Marine Corps League, American Legion, Amvets, PBA, CSEA, VFW and Malone Lodge of Elks. He also volunteered for the American Cancer Society and Malone Adult Center.
He is survived by his first cousins of his late aunt, Esther Gilmin Plante, of Constable.

https://www.chateaugayfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Lionel-Gagnon-3/#!/Obituary

 It is with deep regret that Captain Paul M. DeQuarto, Detail Commander, SIU announces the passing of retired Senior Investigator Richard H. Eggleston, age 73.  Sr. Inv. Eggleston passed away after a long battle with cancer.

Senior Investigator Eggleston entered Division service on 9/6/73 and was last assigned to SIU - Electronics Surveillance Unit, retiring on 3/27/01.    

https://www.bakerfuneralhome.com/obituary/richard-eggleston