Funding for the Community Conversation is made available by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Rescue Plan Act stabilization grant fund.

The plans are the result of a mandate issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo last summer in the wake of the George Floyd death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, and which resulted in national protests against law enforcement. Under the governor’s directive, every police agency in New York state is required to access its operations and prepare a reform plan, based, in part, on input from the public. As part of his mandate, Gov. Cuomo said that any police agency that doesn’t present a reform plan could risk losing state aid.

Locally, Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone announced last week his office’s draft plan was completed. That plan is now being reviewed in a series of public input sessions taking place this week and next week. A deadline for written input is March 10.

Meanwhile, the Jamestown Police Department has also completed its draft plan. During a conversation this with Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist, the mayor said that plan will be released to the public in the coming days, while also explaining the process for collecting input for the plan.

“The police reform committee, which is comprised of the public safety committee, as well as our police department and some other components of the city, worked diligently to draft a reinvention program and looked at different portions of what we currently do in the city and where we should be going, in conjunction with the multiple stakeholder group meetings they held through the city and with the survey information we got from folks across the city who supplied that survey information,” Sundquist explained.

Video of the input sessions can be found at the city of Jamestown website.

Sundquist also said now that a draft plan is in place, it will now be put before the public for a final round of input before being passed along to state officials.

“We’ve taken all that information and put into a draft, and that will be released to the public for comment. Then the City Council’s Public Safety Committee will host an information session and an additional public input session later this month. The plan will then be finalized and voted by the City Council for approval by the end of this month, and then submitted to the state,” Sundquist said.

No date has been selected yet for when the public safety committee will review and discuss the plan, but the next two scheduled meetings are for March 8 and March 22.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff’s office held its first streaming input session for its plan on Tuesday, with the next one scheduled for Thursday at 6:30 p.m.  All meetings are being streamed at Facebook.com/ChautCoSheriff.

James Quattrone

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone announced this week that his office’s draft Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative Plan will be available on the web for public comment, and that he will be hosting streaming sessions on the plan over the next month. Comments should be directed to the Sheriff’s Office by March 10, 2021.

“Many of the elements in the plan were already underway, or existing policies, of the Sheriff’s Office, but the process has given us an opportunity for introspection and review and helped connect to concerned community members who bring important voices to the table,” said Sheriff Quattrone. “Over the past several months, we distributed written surveys and reached out to many diverse stakeholders to develop the draft plan, including law enforcement and human services agencies, and held two county-wide community meetings and numerous one-on-one discussions with community leaders.”

Given the limitations on in-person meetings during the COVID 19 pandemic, Sheriff Quattrone is making the draft plan available on the office’s website, Sheriff.us, and will be providing copies to local libraries on CD’s. Additionally, the live internet sessions where he will present the draft plan and take public comment, will also be recorded and available for later viewing.

“There will be five different opportunities to join us on Facebook Live sessions so we can reach the maximum number of county residents who have an interest. Individuals interested in learning more about the plan and make comments can log on to Facebook.com/chautcosheriff on the following dates and times: March 2 at 1 pm; March 4 at 6:30 pm; March 9 am; March 12 at 6:30 pm; and March 13 at 1:30 pm,” Quattrone added.

Written comments can be submitted by email to quattrone@sheriff.us, or mailed or hand-delivered to the Office of the Sheriff at 15 East Chautauqua Street, Mayville, NY 14757.

Executive Order 203 of Governor Andrew Cuomo, titled “State Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative” required each policing agency across the state to undertake a review and involve community stakeholders in creating a plan to address specific criteria of police services. Each plan must be approved by the local legislative body and then a certification submitted to the State. The County Legislature will review the plan at its March committee and full legislature meetings, and the public can also submit comments at that time.

BEMUS POINT – State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt and Chautauqua County Sheriff James B. Quattrone today announced the arrest of Jennifer Jaeger, former Bemus Point village clerk, for the alleged theft of more than $60,000 in village funds.

Jaeger, 38, of Bemus Point, allegedly wrote village checks to herself using forged signatures of officials and had village officials sign blank checks which she then cashed. Additionally, Jaeger used the village bank account to pay for herself and her family’s personal cell phones and car payments, and to purchase Christmas gifts. Jaeger also used a village gasoline credit card to pay for fuel for her personal vehicle. She was employed by the village between 2015 and November of 2020.

“Jaeger allegedly treated the village funds as her personal bank account, writing checks to herself for personal expenses,” DiNapoli said. “Thanks to our partnership with Chautauqua County District Attorney Schmidt and Sheriff Quattrone, her actions have been exposed and she is now being held accountable for her violation of the public trust.”

“This is not a victimless crime,” Schmidt said. “The village of Bemus Point, like many of our local municipalities here in Chautauqua County, is engaged in an every-day battle to service its residents with precious little money. Every dollar stolen is a dollar not spent on the community. No one should use their public office for personal gain.”

Jaeger was charged with grand larceny in the second degree, forgery in the second degree, falsifying business records in the first degree, and official misconduct. Jaeger will be arraigned today in Chautauqua County Court in front of Judge David W. Foley.

The arrest was a result of a joint investigation between the State Comptroller’s Office, the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office and the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office.

The charges against the defendant are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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Since taking office in 2007, DiNapoli has committed to fighting public corruption and encourages the public to help fight fraud and abuse. New Yorkers can report allegations of fraud involving taxpayer money by calling the toll-free Fraud Hotline at 1-888-672-4555, by filing a complaint online at, investigations@osc.ny.gov, or by mailing a complaint to: Office of the State Comptroller, Division of Investigations, 8th Floor, 110 State St., Albany, NY 12236.

James Quattrone

MAYVILLE – As national health officials from the Centers for Disease Control urge the public to avoid gatherings with people not from their own household during the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday due to COVID-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this week also called on law enforcement to help enforce his executive order of 10 or fewer people at private gatherings.

On Wednesday, Cuomo said law enforcement officers who are declaring they will not enforce a 10-person limit on gatherings are violating their constitutional oath to uphold the law. One of those individuals is Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone, who said during virtual Town Hall Meeting this week with other county officials that he and other sheriff’s across the state feel the executive order is unconstitutional.

“One of the things we will continue to say is that we will not enforce anything that violates constitutional rights, but we will continue to encourage people to [practice safety] and remind people that we all have rights, we will respect those rights, but with every right we have a responsibility also. That responsibility is to now keep our neighbors, our friends, and our family safe. This is not the time to get lax when it comes to precautions,” Quatrone said.

Assemblyman Andrew Goodell– who voted to cede emergency powers to the Governor earlier this year due to COVID-19 – also pointed out the unconstitutionality of his limit on private gatherings.

Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone (left) listens as city resident Derrick Coleman shares his thoughts on the current relationship between law enforcement and people of color within the community.

JAMESTOWN – An estimated 50 people were at the Robert H. Jackson Center Thursday night to attend a free screening of a documentary focusing on building relationships between police and the black community and to also participate in a discussion afterward.

The screening of “Walking While Black: L.O.V.E is the Answer” was made possible through a collaboration between the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office and the County District Attorney’s Office. In addition to being screened on location, the film – along with a subsequent community conversation – was also live streamed over the Internet.

The documentary is an award winning film offering a message of reconciliation. The film focuses on improving relations between police and people of color by reshaping the narrative from conflict to L.O.V.E. – which is an acronym for Learning, Opening, Volunteering and Empowering. According to the documentary producer, who also wrote a book on the subject, the “Learning” part focuses on learning about each other. The “Opening” is to focus on opening our hearts to each other. “Volunteering” means to actively and willingly being part of a solution in each other’s lives. And the “Empowering” focuses on encouraging others to do the same.

Chautauqua County Sheriff Jim Quattrone, who facilitated the community discussion afterward, said he hoped the film would encourage both local police departments and members of the black community to work toward building trust and understanding with one another.

“What I’d like to think about is the LOVE principle and how we can put that to use in our own community. Not just law enforcement but also how can the community put it to use. How can we sustain that. And what will you do, individually, to sustain that and keep it moving. Because it’s really going to take all of us to continue to move in that direction,” Quattrone explained.

The sheriff also said that he also had a recent meeting with over 35 other police administrators across New York State and showed the film, and it was well received by that group as well.

During the discussion afterward, several community members spoke out about the current relationship between police and the black community and called for better education efforts to not only remind police about how to interact and deescalate situations, but to also better inform young people of the rights so they know what police can and can not do during an interaction.

Justin Hubbard from the Jamestown Justice Coalition also requested that more rank and file officers in the community be required to watch the documentary as a learning tool. However, Quattrone said there are likely contractual issues that prevent police departments from requiring officers to do that. However, he did say that it would be added to the curriculum at the local police academy so that incoming officers will likely have seen the film and at least being exposed to the concept of LOVE, prior to joining the police force.

After the screening, Quattrone said he was pleased with the turnout and hopeful the conversation will continue moving forward.

“I think it’s important that we recognize how people are feeling in the community and address that. If they’re feeling that way, it’s real for them. sometimes it’s hard for us to understand. But we have to recognize it and keep on moving forward. I think the biggest thing we hear is that we need to see change and to build that trust,” Quattrone told WRFA afterward. “We talk about this building of police-community relations. I’d like to get to the point where we are able to say that this is a community, not a separation between police and community, but that this is a community.”

Among those who attended the event were representatives of local law enforcement, including those in the Jamestown Police Department.

Several members of the black community were also on hand, as well as the members of the Jamestown Justice Coalition and several local elected officials, including District Attorney Patrick Swanson, County Executive PJ Wendel, Jamestown City Council woman Tamu Graham–Reinhardt, and Assemblyman Andy Goodell.

While the first viewing of this film was last night, Quattrone said he will be able to show the film in various other areas throughout the county and will be working with other areas to locate venues to show the film and have community discussions.

Should you be interested in hosting the film please contact Sheriff Jim Quattrone at 753-4900 or email at quattrone @ sheriff.us.

• AUDIO ALSO AVAILABLE AT SOUNDCLOUD

Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone joins us to talk about a variety of issues, including COVID-19’s impact on the sheriff’s office and jail, how bail and discovery reform have impacted the department, and his thoughts on the governor’s executive order calling for reforms in law enforcement.

James Quattrone

James Quattrone

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone has released a letter to the community, outlining his concerns with Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s recent executive order calling for a thorough review and subsequent adjustments to local police departments across the state. The executive order also states that failure to comply would result in local police departments not receiving state aid in the 2021-22 state budget.

Sheriff Quattrone states that the evidence provided by the governor to justify his executive order is flimsy and doesn’t prove that systemic racism exists in law enforcement. However, he said the sheriff’s office will still go through the process in order to not jeopardize the county’s finances, adding that the Governor doesn’t need to order the sheriff’s office to examine its operations and make improvements because that is already being done on a regular basis.

The full letter is provided below.

To the Citizens of Chautauqua County:

Many of you are aware that the Governor has recently issued his 203rd Executive Order, this time directing all counties to reform their police agency — the Sheriff’s Office — or lose all state funding for all county programs. The Governor’s Order implies that all police agencies and all police officers are racist and abusive of the public. Speaking for the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office, I can state unequivocally that the Governor is wrong in that suggestion. And the Governor is wrong to threaten our county with financial ruin to get us to make improvements in police operations, which is something we work on every day, without his misinformed bullying. I would like to point out a few things about the Governor’s order that you should consider.

• We have a Constitutional form of government, where laws are passed by the Legislature and carried out by the Executive. We do not have a one-man dictatorship. Under our Constitution, State funds are allocated to the counties by the Legislature, not by the Governor. The Governor had no authority to issue this Executive Order threatening our county with loss of State aid. He had the Legislature present in Albany and at his beck and call the same week that he issued this order and, if he thought it was necessary to threaten the counties, he could have asked the Legislature to consider it, where perhaps there could have been some public input, discussion and due deliberation.
• It is wrong the way the Governor continues to implement sweeping, impactful changes in law enforcement policy without any opportunity for input from the law enforcement professionals who have to carry out those changes, or from the members of the public who have to suffer the results of those ill-considered changes. His unilateral action in issuing this executive order, and his refusal to slow down the stampede of ill-considered legislation passed the same week, is discouraging to police professionals and detrimental to public safety.
• Executive Order 203 is titled a “Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative”, but the Governor is anything but a collaborator. Instead of calling together the leaders of the police community in New York — maybe even, for once, being in the same room with them – to discuss ideas, and maybe learn what is actually going on in policing in New York, he issues an ill-informed edict from on high, and expects everyone to conform to his misguided wishes. Unfortunately, it is an opportunity lost for the people of New York because the Sheriffs, and other police leaders in the state, could have been collaborative partners with the Governor and the Legislature in thoughtful, measured, well-founded improvements in policing.  We are now being forced to react when we should have been invited to participate.
• What happened to George Floyd was indefensible, and people across the nation are right to feel angry, and are entitled to question their leaders about the state of policing in America.  But it is the job of responsible leaders to respond to people’s understandable emotions with facts and reason. The currently oft-repeated notion that the police are systemically racist simply is not supported by the facts and responsible leaders should say so. It is true that there are some – a very few – police officers who do not deserve to wear the uniform. But that acknowledged fact does not justify painting all police with a broad brush, ignoring the sacrifice the overwhelming percentage of good police officers give for the public every day. We have 95,000 police officers serving in New York. In any group of 95,000, there are bound to be some bad apples, but I wager there are far fewer bad people among New York’s police officers, than among any other group of that size. We should do a better job of identifying the bad ones and getting them out of the profession before they have the opportunity to do harm. We need changes in the law in order to do that, which is something that Sheriffs have strongly supported for years.
• To support the Governor’s claim of systemic racism in policing, which he is ordering the counties to correct, the Governor names eight minority men killed by police over the past 25 years. What he fails to point out is that all eight police shootings took place in New York City. What that might indicate is a racism problem to be addressed in New York City, but it indicates nothing about our county. And even as to New York City it does not indicate much, because what the Governor fails to acknowledge is that, of those eight cases over 25 years, 3 resulted in refusal by the Grand Jury to indict, 3 resulted in acquittal by a jury, and only 2 resulted in a conviction of the officers. Every death at the hands of law enforcement is regrettable, but 2 guilty cops over a 25-year period, during which there were multi-millions of contacts between police and black citizens, hardly equates to systemic racism in policing.
• If racism in New York policing is as evident, pervasive and long-standing as the Governor says, then we have to ask him, “Where were you for your first 9 years as Governor, or during your 4 years as Attorney General? We didn’t hear a peep out of you about this supposed terrible state of affairs in New York policing until the current bandwagon came along, and you jumped on”. The very premise of Executive Order 203 is that local policing in this state is systemically racist… a notion that has been debunked by serious scholars and by the facts. We expect community activists, and the anarchists who take advantage of them, to stir up a following by appealing to emotions. We expect our government leaders to stand up to the angry crowds and recite the facts. The Governor is always pontificating about following the facts and the science… how about following that rule now? The facts are on the side of law enforcement in New York. The Governor obviously is not.
• No one disputes that blacks and other minorities in this country are subjected to too much violence, but little of that is at the hands of the police. In 2018 there were 7,407 black homicide victims. Only the few that were police-involved shootings got any notice. In Chicago on Memorial Day weekend 10 African-Americans were killed in drive-by shootings. There were no politicians bewailing that fact. On a following weekend 80 people were shot in Chicago and 21 of them, mostly black, died. None of our government leaders, including Governor Cuomo, seemed to notice. It is good that they are now speaking out about the tragic, unnecessary death of George Floyd, but the politicians’ failure to say anything about the senseless deaths every year of thousands of blacks that don’t involve national news coverage, makes one wonder about their sincerity. These alarming statistics of violence in minority communities do not indicate a failure on the part of the police; they indicate a failure of the politicians who talk about racial justice when it is getting news coverage, but who do nothing to improve job opportunities for minorities or to promote strong family units, the very foundation of a stable, just society… family units with a father in the home, who can help raise a family in dignity, with a good job instead of a government check. Not only do they do nothing to strengthen the family, and thus society, but most of their programs tend instead to destroy the family unit and create dependency which the politicians can then exploit to their political advantage.
• Our Sheriff’s Office will go through the process mandated by the Governor, in order to not jeopardize the county’s finances, but the Governor doesn’t need to order us to examine our operations and make improvements. That is what Sheriffs do routinely as professional police managers. Collaborating with community groups and leaders to improve the performance of my Office will be not be a novel experience.  I do that every day. Our Sheriff’s Office has long ago implemented virtually all of the policies and practices contemplated by the Governor’s order. If the Governor had any kind of relationship with the police agencies in this State, he would have been aware of that.
• Our Sheriff’s Office works regularly with our state partners like the Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Municipal Police Training Council, and with the New York State Sheriffs’ Association, to identify and implement best practices in policing.  As a responsible manager of tax dollars and resources, I already encourage and participate in diversion programs, restorative justice programs, community outreach, conflict resolution programs; focused deterrence; and violence reduction and prevention initiatives. We have adopted relevant Model Policies recommended by the Municipal Police Training Council.  Our Deputies are trained in de-escalation practices, the use of force continuum, recognition of implicit bias, and community and citizen relations.
• If the Governor were at all engaged with the law enforcement community in New York he would know that our Sheriff’s Office in Chautauqua County, and about two-thirds of the other Sheriffs’ Offices in the state, are accredited by his own New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, with many more in the process of gaining accreditation. Accreditation means that our Office has adopted and adheres to the best practices in policing as prescribed by the State’s Law Enforcement Agency Accreditation Council. New York Sheriffs have been and continue to be leaders in the police accreditation movement. The first state-level law enforcement accreditation program was started by the New York State Sheriffs’ Association in 1984 and proved so successful that it was eventually taken over by the State of New York and is now offered to all police agencies in the state.
• A glaring omission in the Governor’s claim of racism in policing and his order to the counties (and cities, towns and villages) to do correct it, is his failure to mention any of his own state-level police organizations. We are supposed to believe that they are all perfect, because he is in charge of them. He does not include them in his order because to imply that they are racist, like he implies our local police agencies are all racist, would mean that he, as their leader for the past 9 and a half years must condone their racism. The fact is that there are many fine officers in the State Police, the SUNY Police, En Con Police, the Forest Rangers, etc., and I am not accusing them of anything. My Deputies work side-by-side with them every day. What I am doing is accusing the Governor of hypocrisy for pointing a finger at us and exempting himself from the same scrutiny — because he thinks he is above scrutiny, and must be obeyed.

In issuing his diktat the governor cites his duties under the Constitution. Perhaps he should have read a little further along in the Constitution, where he would have discovered that Sheriffs, too, are Constitutional officers. We do not answer to the Governor. We answer to the People. On behalf of the People we have been working at improving policing in New York for a long time. The Governor is arriving late to the table. I will continue to work to improve policing for all my citizens, without respect to race, and will do so despite, not because of, the Governor’s attempt to bully our county. I hope that someday in the near future the Governor will take the time to find out about all the good things that are actually going on in Sheriffs’ Offices, and other local police agencies around the State, and perhaps then we can work together on these important goals, in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Very truly yours,

James Quattrone
Sheriff of Chautauqua County

According to a Facebook post, the letter was received by the Town of Busti clerk this week. It erroneously stated that Sheriff Jim Quattrone had declared Martial Law and would be requiring county residents to surrender any AR-15-style guns by Dec. 31.

Sheriff Quattrone said the letter was not true and was a “bad and potentially dangerous prank.”

He said that if anyone else receives a similar letter from the sheriff, they should leave it unopened and contact the office.

Screening Protocols for Visitors to County Facilities Will Take Effect Thursday

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel extended Chautauqua County’s State of Emergency for up to 30 additional days as of 5p.m. on Tuesday, April 14, 2020 due to the continuing novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

COVID-19 is an infection associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, and if spread in the population, could have significant public health consequences.

“The threat of this virus is still very severe for Chautauqua County,” said Wendel.  “It is necessary that Chautauqua County remain proactive and fully prepared to deal with its effects, and I ask all County citizens and visitors to venture out only for essential business. I also ask that we all ‘DO THE FIVE’ to help stop the spread of the coronavirus:  (1) HANDS – wash them often; (2) ELBOW – cough into it; (3) FACE – don’t touch it; (4) FEET – stay more than six feet apart; and (5) FEEL SICK? – stay home.”

“The County’s COVID-19 Response Team, which consists of public health and emergency services officials and staff, continues to meet and issue updates to the public daily,” said Wendel. “In addition, effective Thursday morning, April 16, 2020, I have issued a directive that members of the public visiting County facilities will be screened as to whether they have the symptoms of COVID-19, and all County employees who have direct contact with visitors to County facilities will wear a cloth face covering or face shield.” 

The County’s protocols are in compliance with Governor Cuomo’s executive order issued on Sunday that requires employees of all entities who transact business with the public in person to wear a face covering.  Screeners will ask any visitor entering a County building or workspace if they have any of the symptoms below, and individuals will not be allowed to enter to conduct business if they have any one of the symptoms:

• Fever – Either of the following:
  • >100 °F at entry site or reported at home
  • Subjective fever/chills
• Cough
• Difficulty Breathing
• Body Aches
• Headache
• Sore throat
• Runny Nose
• Nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea

“We must remain vigilant in all of our efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Chautauqua County Commissioner of Health and Human Services Christine Schuyler.  “As stated by Dr. Anthony Fauci of the White House task force, we have to keep our foot on the accelerator when it comes to mitigation and keeping the physical separation.  If we fail to do so, all of our hard won progress will be lost.”

Schuyler continued, “As employers work to supply their essential nonhealthcare personnel interacting with the public in person to wear face coverings, we ask that cloth/homemade face masks or face shields be used so that surgical masks can be preserved for healthcare workers.”

“I want to begin by reminding everyone to please be kind to one another,” said Chautauqua County Sheriff James Quattrone. “Only buy what you need, there are currently no disruptions in the grocery store supply chain. Also, do not call 911 for general Coronavirus concerns or information, to ensure the emergency lines are open and available for emergencies. The State Health Department COVID-19 hotline is 1-888-364-3065. We are also taking precautions in the jail to ensure our staff and inmates are protected, including ceasing face-to-face visitations while allowing additional phone time.”

Chautauqua County Director of Emergency Services John Griffith concluded by stating, “I would like to thank the First Responders in Chautauqua County for all they do. Volunteer and Career Fire and EMS providers will continue to respond in this time of concern. The Office of Emergency Services is working with NYS Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services to ensure that resources are moved into Chautauqua County as needed.”