The Ulster County Police Chiefs Association recently held their Awards Dinner after a three year hiatus due to the pandemic.

Chief Scott W. Schaffrick, President of the Association, said that 2023 not only marks the 50th Anniversary of the Association but, “more importantly to honor those award recipients that have a truly positive effect on those that we serve. It is those men and women who, through their actions and interactions, continue to raise the bar of professionalism and selflessness in Ulster County Law Enforcement.”

Locally, the Association honored several officials with Meritorious Police Service awards for saving lives
A Meritorious Police Service Award was given to a team/multi agency for lifesaving. The team consisted of the New Paltz Police, the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office, the NYS Police – Highland and the Ulster County Office of Emergency Management.

On March 31, 2022 the New Paltz Police Department received a call for a suicidal subject, who indicated they intentionally overdosed on drugs and walked out to the rail trail to kill themselves, saying they were sitting against a tree in a wooded area. The individual said they did not know exactly where they were on the trail and was not able to explain how they got there.

Officers, members of the Sheriff’s office, the NYS Police and a K-9 team quickly began combing the rail trail looking for the individual, who could no longer communicate, while dispatchers began to ping cell towers for a location, eventually believing the individual was in the area of Dressel Farms.

Members from the Ulster County Office of Emergency Management arrived with two drones equipped with infrared cameras and managed to locate the individual between the Plains Road boat launch and Cedar Lane. A member of the Sheriff’s Office found the individual and had them transported to a command post for immediate medical attention and to the hospital for treatment.

The Association noted that, “if not for the actions of all involved, this person would have undoubtedly died in the woods. They not only saved a life but prevented a parent’s worst nightmare of witnessing their child’s death.”

On March 29, 2022, Sgt. Anthony Kalimeras, Officer Dan Labodin and NYS Trooper Brittany Schurko-Giuliano responded to a 911 call for help from a home on Bordi Lane in the Town of Lloyd. Upon arrival they began knocking on the home’s locked door, which the 911 dispatcher could hear due to the open phone line, but there was no response.

They were able to see through a side window a trail of blood on the floor and by forced entry they found a 64 year old Highland woman sitting in a chair who appeared to have a severe self-inflicted laceration to her left wrist. She was unconscious, with shallow breathing and a pale appearance. Officer Labodin and Trooper Schurko applied a tactical tourniquet that stopped the bleeding. Mobile Life Support Services transported the woman to the hospital where she was treated and has recovered from her injury. The Association noted that the quick lifesaving actions, “by these three law enforcement officers that evening showed a high level of professionalism, dedication and teamwork.”

In another case, Officer Dan Labodin and Sgt. Chris Miller were honored for Meritorious Police Service for saving a life.

On September 15, 2022 the officers responded to a residence on Thomas Lane in the Town of Lloyd where they found a 75 year old female unconscious, unresponsive and without a pulse. After the officers initiated CPR the victim regained a pulse. They supplied two doses of Narcan and she was turned over to members of the Mobile Life Support Service upon their arrival. The elderly woman was transported to the Mid- Hudson Regional Hospital where she was placed in ICU. A recent follow up found that the woman made a full recovery.

Lloyd Police Chief James Janso said after three years of not having the dinner, “it was nice to award the officers and troopers for the job they do during the year. It was a special night to be back with everybody, and especially gratifying to have three of my officers recognized with life saving awards and Lloyd Officer Cole Nicolis for receiving the Stop DWI Award for the most DWIs in the county for 2022. I was extremely proud of our guys like I always am, but it’s nice to get a night out so they and other officers can be recognized for the actions they do. I think people forget what they do every day or don’t see it and this was a night for them,” he said.

Janso said some situations force officers to make instantaneous decisions on what to do based on facts they are presented with at the moment.

“They have to deal with that situation and whatever comes with it,” he said. “There is really no room for error in our job anymore but we are human and sometimes we make decisions that probably are not the best or could be better, but there’s not one cop who doesn’t go out on the street every day saying I’m gonna do the best job I can for my community, and they do.”

Chief Janso said police practices, “continue to evolve in a better way and these awards help that process because the officers now realize that when I do my job, people recognize what I do, so it’s a great thing.”