The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
UNDER ONE ROOF
Renovations for Madison County department complete
A former fire hall is now a hub of police activity following the completion of renovation at the former Wampsville Firemen’s Building.
For years, as long as Sheriff Allen Riley can remember, the Madison County Sheriff’s Of- fice criminal division investigators and patrol units have been housed at different locations. The setup made communication difficult and, at times, created a disconnect between patrol and investigative units.
To address the communication difficulties, the Madison County Board of Supervisors agreed to acquire the old, open-bay Wampsville Fire Park building that rests near the corner of South Court Street and West Elm Street in 2014 with a $310,000 purchase of the access road and park building adjacent to the county complex..
Nearly three years later, the renovation is complete and the sheriff’s office is already noting the benefits.
“We finally have everybody
under one roof,” Riley said. “There is more communication between road patrol guys and investigators working their cases. There was a disconnect, simple communication we didn’t have.”
During the renovation, sheriff’s investigators took up rented space in the former Oneida Ltd. administrative offices in Kenwood. To coordinate plans or arrests, investigators had to make the 10 minute drive to Wampsville in order meet up with members of the patrol division.
“It didn’t make things easy,” sheriff’s investigator Steve Sellin said, detailing how the sheriff’s office had received a complaint regarding a town of Hamilton resident who had contacted the Madison County Sheriff’s Office and reported that someone broke into and stole 10 firearms and a large ammunition box from his residence. The burglary took place and was reported on Jan. 31. The very next day on Feb. 1, also the day the newly renovated patrol and investigations headquarters opened, Sellin met with a member of the road patrol, and came up with a gameplan for bringing the suspect in. In less than 24 hours, the sheriff’s investigator had Alex Rifenburg, of Earlville, in custody for the stolen weapons.
“Cases don’t fall together that quickly very often,” Sellin said. “It’s definitely a benefit to all be under one roof.”
The new building includes two interview rooms, investigators’ offices, the office of undersheriff John Ball, a holding tank, a storage and armory room, a break room, bathrooms, locker rooms, and the sheriff’s records office.
The new digs also come with upgraded technology as investigators have a closed circuit television in their office that allows them to watch questioning taking place in the interview rooms.
The processing room is equipped with a Breathalyzer, camera, and fingerprinting machines, replete with one-way glass that allows the deputies in the squad room to monitor detained persons.
The new facility also houses criminal records, which were relocated from the jail in a move to address safety at both buildings. Previously, people seeking those records had to be buzzed in at the jail and then wait for one of the sheriff’s office staffers to provide assistance. However, sometimes people would make their ways to the back of the jail and administrative offices without guidance.
“My biggest concern was when people found a way into the back of the building,” Riley said, adding the scenarios never resulted in tragedy but that doesn’t mean they could not have. “We’re not exempt. Things do happen in Madison County.”
Keeping with the theme of safety, the new building also has a blue box telephone unit that immediately connects civilians with county 911 dispatchers in the case of emergency.
With the investigation and patrol squad building complete, attention turns toward the jail and administrative offices where Riley wants to change the layout, leaving the civil division and pistol permit office more easily accessible while beefing up security by making a deputy, not a pistol permit clerk, the first person to greet visitors to the jail.
With 95 percent of the building that once was owned by the Wampsville Volunteer Fire Department (and was purchased by the county) being completed by county workers, the completed renovations represent a cost savings of about $350,000 versus if the project had been bid out to a contractor.
“It’s a good use of space,” said Madison County Administrator Mark Scimone, who credited project leader Lyle Malbouf for overseeing work crews. “It save us hundreds of thousands of dollars using an in house work crew.”
The work is was completed by a county inmate work crew, public works and maintenance workers to the tune of about $100,000, Malbouf previously estimated.
“I want to thank the board of supervisors, Chairman John Becker, and Administrator Scimone,” Riley said. “It was a commitment. Their support has really moved this office forward. It makes a big difference.”