Braim well-qualified for public safety post
I have known Don Braim for over 40 years, in both a personal and a professional capacity, and because of this long association feel I am in a unique position to provide insight into him as an individual, and to attest to his qualifications for the position under consideration. Please know that Don did not solicit a recommendation from me but when I learned of his interest in the Department of Public Safety position, I felt a sincere wish to relay what I know about him as an individual of exceptional character and expertise.
As a native Saratogian, I share with Don a profound interest and commitment to the well-being of the city of Saratoga. Don has devoted his professional life to pursuits in Saratoga aimed at the betterment of the community. He served for over 20 years as a criminal investigator within the Saratoga Police Department, more recently as Director of Security at Saratoga Raceway and Senior Vice-President of Racing Operations at the Saratoga Casino and Raceway. It is the context of his law enforcement experience that I came to know of the strength of his professional abilities.
My own law enforcement career has taught me well of what is important in this critical arena. I am a former member of the New York State Police, where I served for 20 years first a uniform trooper and then as investigator with the Bureau of Criminal Investigation; the later within a team that was responsible for the resolution of numerous homicides and other felony investigations. I then served for nearly 30 years as Wilton town justice, and during this time worked with many investigators from the NYSP, the Saratoga PD, as well as the sheriff’s departments of Washington, Warren, and Saratoga counties. Over these many years I worked alongside countless law enforcement colleagues and have had the opportunity to observe even more. It is not lightly that I say Don Braim stands among the finest I have known.
As a town justice interacting with Don during his investigator years, I found him to be conscientious, thorough and carefully considerate of everything he does. I know him to have an integrity that is fundamental to the success of anyone whose goal it is to be effective and respected. I was proud then to list him as a colleague, and proud now to list him as a friend he has become in the years since my retirement. I believe him to be the right person in whose hands to put the safety of the people of Saratoga Springs. I recommend him highly without qualification or reservation. John J. Wood Wilton