ITHACA, N.Y. — The Tompkins County Probation Department is set to begin the required and lengthy certification process to allow probation officers to carry firearms on duty. County legislators approved a resolution 10 to 3 in a vote on Sept. 17 that allows the Director of Probation Dan Cornell to move forward in developing policy to share with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) for their approval. This is the first step of many in the process of arming select probation officers while they conduct home searches to retrieve illegally owned firearms — a task that became more frequent after the county accepted grant funding from the state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative in July 2023. The resolution includes amended language specifying the public’s participation in crafting the policy along with establishing new department rules around firearms. Legislator Rich John introduced the amendments after more than a dozen community members said they felt left out of the initial process during the public comment section of the meeting. Director of Probation Dan Cornell told legislators that while he’d have preferred the resolution passed as written, he’s “happy to take community input,” and understands the issue is a difficult one that “weighs heavily” on members of the Black and Brown community. The certification process at the DCJS is extensive and takes, at minimum, 10 to 12 months before probation officers would be given firearms, Cornell said. “This is step one of a process,” Cornell explained. Following approval from the DCJS, Cornell will begin enrolling officers in the mandated psychological testing and two-week Municipal Police Training Council program officers complete before being armed. While it was important to be proactive in advocating for the safety of his officers, Cornell told legislators he didn’t see the harm in taking time to ensure the public understands his reasoning for requesting to arm select officers. “I believe the voices of the community need to be heard,” Cornell said. “If it helps to gain clarity, to extend communications and helps us try to resolve problems, I can live with that.” Members of the community repeatedly praised Cornell and the department of probation as a whole during public comment for creating and maintaining meaningful and positive relationships with those on probation. But overwhelmingly, speakers were generally against arming probation officers, mainly to protect that hard-earned trust. Rather, speakers talked through possible alternatives to arming officers during the home searches to retrieve firearms from people on probation. Currently, armed law enforcement officers from the Ithaca Police Department accompany probation officers on these searches. But state law requires the probation officers themselves to take the lead in these searches by entering homes first and initiating contact with the people present. When Cornell first requested the legislature consider arming the seven select probation officers involved with the GIVE initiative in August, he explained how his officers felt unsafe and unprotected while completing these searches and removing illegal firearms from private residences. Legislator Travis Brooks, while generally against arming probation officers, acknowledged the legislature’s responsibility to protect county employees and make sure they feel safe while at work. “This is a policy issue,” Brooks said, pointing to what he called a flawed requirement that makes probation officers take the lead to retrieve illegal firearms from homes. As part of the amended resolution, the legislature and the community may propose other policies to protect probation officers by alternate methods. Through community meetings and engagement Cornell is required to take part of, per the approved resolution, Brooks and others hope they can come up with other ways besides introducing additional firearms into the community to ensure the probation officers feel safe doing their jobs. In November, when the legislature will be briefed on the process Cornell and community members have made in developing policy and perhaps alternative routes to arming probation officers, legislators could still vote down the resolution and nix the idea altogether. “Basically, this is telling me there’s a chance it might happen,” Cornell said.The post County starts process to arm probation officers for first time appeared first on The Ithaca Voice.First published by The Ithaca Voice.