Sheriff's Office

Deputy Frank Bordonaro, who died in July at age 44, in his 19th year of service to the Sheriff's Office, was honored today during a luncheon as Officer of the Year.

Accepting his award where his wife Robin and sons Bryce and Chase.

It was a solemn moment during an event otherwise often punctuated by laughter and hearty handshakes.

The Officer of the Year is nominated by Sheriff's Office staff members. The selection committee is comprised of members of the command staff and union representatives. 

Several members of the department, Sheriff Gary Maha said, nominated Bordonaro. A nomination letter written by Deputy Kevin McCarthy was read by Deputy Matthew Butler.

McCarthy recalled how Bordonaro encouraged him as a rookie deputy, gave him space to ask questions, to learn, to grow. He also said Bordonaro led by example, recalling an incident in Le Roy during one midnight shift when, as watch commander, Bordonaro could have ordered the younger deputies into an apartment where there was a possibly armed suspect holed up, but Bordonaro took the lead position himself.

As Butler read the letter, throughout the room, heads were bowed and a few tears were shed (two pictures below).

Senior Emergency Services Dispatcher Robert H. Tripp received the Distinguished Service Award.

Longevity Awards went to:

• Correction Officer Vincent S. Maurer, 10
• Deputy Joseph M. Graff, 10
• Dispatcher Stephen R. Smelski ,10
• Deputy John P. Weis, 15
• Deputy Brad D. Mazur, 15
• Investigator R. Pete Welker, 20
• Deputy Nathan W. Balduf, 20
• Deputy Eric J. Koziarski, 25
• Investigator Roger M. Stone, 40

Commendations were awarded to:

Meritorious Service Awards went to:

• Dispatcher Lynn B. Riccobono
• Community Victim/Services Counselor, Correction
• Officer Vincent S. Maurer
• Deputy John R. Duyssen

More on the awards from the Sheriff's press release:

Officer of the Year: Deputy Frank Bordonaro
Deputy Frank G. Bordonaro distinguished himself as a professional, dedicated, hard-working officer who quietly and consistently provided a high level of service to the citizens of Genesee County and the Genesee County Sheriff's Office. Deputy Bordonaro was a Field Training Officer (FTO), a Child Safety Seat Technician and mentored several new officers during his tenure with the Genesee County Sheriff's Office. He served as Officer-in-Charge on several occasions and was highly respected as a leader. Deputy Bordonaro set an example for others to strive for and was always concerned for his fellow officers. Deputy Frank G. Bordonaro is being awarded this recognition posthumously and has brought great credit upon himself and the Genesee County Sheriff's Office and is most deserving to be named Officer of the Year.

Distinguished Service Award: Senior Emergency Services Dispatcher Robert H. Tripp
Senior Emergency Services Dispatcher Robert H. Tripp has distinguished himself as a member of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office. Senior Dispatcher Tripp has been instrumental with the implementation of the new Harris Radio System along with the collection, cataloging and packaging of county-owned radio equipment to be returned to Sprint/Nextel as part of a multi-million dollar capital project. Senior Dispatcher Tripp has been a Communications Training Officer for several years and assisted with the training of five new, part-time dispatchers during 2014. He has also provided critical insight and assistance with upgrades, maintenance, and operational configurations of the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center computer-aided dispatch program and phone and radio consoles. Senior Emergency Services Dispatcher Robert H. Tripp reflects great credit upon himself and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office.

International Association of Chiefs of Police Tribute:
During the Awards Luncheon, Sheriff Maha and Undersheriff Sheron presented Robin Bordonaro, widow of deceased Deputy Frank Bordonaro, with a recognition award from the International Association of Chiefs of Police who pay tribute to active duty officers who die feloniously or accidentally during the course of performing their police functions while on or off duty. Deputy Bordonaro unexpectedly passed away after suffering a heart attack at his home shortly after completing his midnight shift on July 8, 2014.

The Genesee County Sheriff's Office also paid tribute to Deputy Bordonaro by placing a plaque in the patrol briefing room in memory of Deputy Bordonaro's service.

Dispatcher Tripp receiving his Distinguished Service Award from Sheriff Maha, right, and Undersheriff William Sheron.

Investigator Roger Stone being congratulated by Maha on 40 years of service to the department.

Dispatcher Nate Fix, with his son, receiving his award from Director of Emergency Communications Steven Sharp.

Group photo with Deputy Frank Bordonaro's family.

To purchase prints, click here.

There is now a prescription drug drop box at the Sheriff's Office, 165 Park Road, Batavia. Residents are encouraged to drop off unwanted pharmaceuticals anytime, 24/7. Drop-offs are anonymous. Sharps, such as syringes, as well as thermometers, aerosol sprays, inhalers and hydrogen peroxide are not accepted.  The Sheriff's Office will properly dispose of the pharmaceuticals. 

Photo and information submitted by the Sheriff's Office.

In his homily during the funeral service for Deputy Frank Bordonaro, Father Michael Donovan addressed Frank's sons directly.

The one thing he wanted them to remember, what should be part of the stories they tell of their dad someday, Donovan said, was the outpouring of respect, love and support of the friends, family and colleagues gathered in St. Peter's today.

Bordonaro, 44, a 19-year veteran of the Genesee County Sheriff's Office died July 8 of an apparent heart attack.

He leaves behind a wife, Robin, and two young sons, Bryce and Chase.

In a memorial letter read by funeral director Vern Falcone, Robin thanked Frank for raising his sons right and setting them on a good path.

Nearly every member of the Genesee County Sheriff's Office (all but those required to be on duty) was at the funeral. Several members of the Batavia Police Department, the Le Roy Police Department and the State Police were part of the honor guard that lined up in front of the church before and after the service.

Bordonaro's casket was carried to and from the church in his pickup truck.

The service centered around Matthew 25:34-40.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ "

Father Donovan noted that most people think of a police officer as just somebody who arrests people, but an officer of the law does so much more than that for his community. Deputy Frank Bordonaro, he said, was that kind of professional.

Deputy Bordonaro provided help to those he found hungry, or thirsty, or lonely and in need, or homeless, or sick. He provided help to those who needed it, and thereby lived the life Christ bade his disciples to follow.

That is the memory, Father Donovan said, that Bryce and Chase should hold of their father.

After the service, after the casket of Deputy Frank Bordonaro was driven away in his truck, the radios on the hips of emergency responders among those gathered on Lake Street, could be heard with the final dispatch for Deputy Frank Bordonaro. It was the only sound on the street until a Mercy Flight helicopter paid Deputy Bordonaro one last tribute with a pass over the church.

Listen (mp3).

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Below: The funeral procession passes under a flag on Route 19 that was lifted by ladder trucks from Le Roy and Bergen fire departments. Photo submitted by George Henry.

Funeral services for Deputy Frank Bordonaro will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, at Our Lady of Mercy Parish, St. Joseph's Oratory, 27 Lake St., Le Roy.

Bordonaro, a 19-year veteran of the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, died unexpectedly at home some time Tuesday afternoon.

The 44-year-old Bordonaro is survived by his wife, Robin Radwich Bordonaro, his sons, Bryce and Chase, his parents, Lawrence and Arlene, of Batavia.

Family and friends may call on Friday from noon to 3 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. at the Falcone Family Funeral & Cremation Service, Inc., 8700 Lake Road, Le Roy.

From his obituary:

He will be remembered as a very caring and compassionate man, who put his family and community first. He was very involved with all aspects of his sons’ participation in school and community sports programs.

On calls, he was known as GS-29, but there was no mistaking Deputy Frank Bordonaro's slow-rolling baritone.

GS-29 answered his final call some time this morning. 

Bordonaro's shift ended at 7 a.m. He went home, went to bed and was later found unresponsive.

Sheriff Gary Maha said Bordonaro may have had a heart attack.

Bordonaro was 44. He was with the Sheriff's Office for 19 years. He is survived by his wife, Robin, and two sons, Bryce, 14, and Chase, 12.

No further information is available at this time.

Not wearing a seat belt while in a moving vehicle is always perilous to your health, but for the remainder of the month it will represent a little extra danger to your pocketbook.

The Sheriff's Office is participating in a nationwide effort over the next couple of weeks to more diligently enforce seat belt and child restraint laws.

Deputies routinely enforce these laws, Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble noted in a press release, but during this mobilization, there will be extra patrols on the streets and roadways specifically looking for seat belt violators.

The national program is called "Click It or Ticket."

The extra patrols will continue until June 1.

According to stats included in the press release, among motorists who were involved in a crash, those who were unrestrained were almost eight times more likely to require hospitalization. Unrestrained motorists are five times more likely to suffer traumatic brain injury. 

In 2011, 47 motorists in Genesee County who did not wear a seat belt were treated at a hospital for injuries. Those treatments resulted in $309,000 in emergency room charges.

Press release:

The Genesee County Sheriff Office recently hired Joseph D. Loftus to fill the position of Deputy Sheriff; a position that was left vacant by a Deputy Sheriff who was promoted to Sergeant earlier in the year.

Deputy Loftus is a 1997 graduate from Le Roy High School. Following high school, Deputy Loftus earned a bachelor of science degree in Criminal Justice, graduating cum laude, from Brockport State College.

Deputy Loftus was previously employed by Le Roy Police Department and McNeil/AECOM Security. Deputy Loftus recently graduated from the Rural Police Training Academy at Genesee Community College in March and and was Captain of his class.

Sheriff Maha stated, Deputy Loftus has been participating in our 14-week field-training program and is performing exceptionally well. He will be a great addition to our road patrol.

It's been a busy first quarter in the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center.

There've been 6,476 calls to 9-1-1 and another 24,242 nonemergency phone calls, all while the Sheriff's Office grapples with the installation of a new communications system and new phone system. Dispatchers also now handle calls for the State Police in the county.

These points were covered during a departmental review by Sheriff Gary Maha and staff members during today's Public Service Committee meeting.

There have certainly been bugs in the new radio communication system being installed by Harris RF out of Rochester. Dropped signals, calls not being received, distorted transmissions, but all of these issues are being worked out, the Sheriff and staff members said.

A consultant from Colorado was in town last week and said when the system is working, it will be state-of-the-art, one of the best in the nation with nearly complete coverage of the county. But in the meantime -- largely because the county is under a tight deadline to get it up and running -- watching the process is "like watching sausage get made," Maha said.

"Normally these bugs are worked out ahead of time," said Steve Sharpe, director of emergency communication.

"He made me feel better," Maha added. "He said we'll get through this and it will work the way it should."

Dropped transmissions are down from 8 percent a month ago to less than 1 percent today, Sharpe said.

The system won't be fully functional until three new towers in the county are completed. Meanwhile, there will be constant tweaking.

Each new upgrade means transmitters must be re-tuned because with simulcasts, transmissions must be handled within a millisecond. If the timing is just that much off, it causes interference.

A firmware update by Harris meant all 1,700 of the county's radios (covering police and fire and highway departments) had to be re-programed. It takes from eight to 10 minutes to program each radio.

The Sheriff's Office has also had a busy quarter with prisoner transports. Because our county jail can't house female prisoners and the neighboring counties have run out of available female cells, deputies must transport prisoners to and from Wayne and Allegheny counties.

So far this year, there have been 465 transports consuming 750 man hours.

A transport now typically ties up a deputy for his entire eight-hour shift.

With the jail nearly fully staffed and an average of five fewer male inmates per day, the jail has spent $26,000 less on overtime so far this year compared to last year.

At Genesee Justice, grant funding is down, but the case load remains steady. There are 188 conditional discharge DWI cases, 119 victims receiving assistance, 183 violators on community service and 103 DWI convicts on interlock systems.

Destro will do just about anything to get permission for a minute or two of play time while on the job -- sit and stay, chase a bad guy, search for a human scent, bark at a cornered criminal, find some dope.

If he were in the wild, it would be like any dog catching a rabbit and having a bit of fun with it before it became a snack. That's what dogs do, Deputy Chris Erion explained to a group of seventh- and eighth-grade students during a seminar on law enforcement at the 26th annual Genesee County Youth Conference at GCC.

Erion put Destro through his paces demonstrating common dog tricks such as sit, down and stay, and then had Destro chase after him a few feet and then bark at him as if he were a fleeing criminal suspect. Destro then found a marijuana sample hidden in the room.

After each task, Destro got to play with a tug with a small rubber ball attached, or he got to chew on his favorite toy -- an old piece of fire hose.

Erion recounted one of Destro's greatest law enforcement feats yet, finding a post-it note that had been used in an alleged armed robbery. The job well done really demonstrates Destro's ability to pick up human scents, Erion told the students.

After the demonstration, Erion shared information about a new Facebook page set up by the children of Deputy Brian Thompson to help raise funds to support the K-9 program.

"The care and maintenance for a police K-9 is above what it typically is for a household pet," Erion said. "Their teeth have to be regularly maintained. Often they break teeth -- he's broken a couple of teeth already that had to be fixed -- care, feeding, all those sorts of things go into the K-9 fund to support the dog."

There isn't a specific budget amount the K-9 fund is trying to raise. The goal is to maintain an ongoing source of revenue to help take care of Destro and Pharoah, who retires in October, when Thompson retires, though Erion believes it would be a good idea to maintain a fund balance of $5,000 to $10,000.

"Then, if something were to happen, we could handle that immediately," Erion said. "We could put a new dog and handler into the field immediately."

The Facebook page was set up by Thompson's daughters Olivia and Sophia. They also came up with the idea of an envelope fundraiser. People can send a message through Facebook requesting an available envelope -- once a numbered envelope is taken and returned, it's counted as "filled," so you'll need to pick a different number -- and they will receive the requested envelope to fill with a donation and return.

The goal is to raise $10,000. According to the page, $2,000 has already been raised.

"If you think about it, the only life (Thompson's) children have known is life with a police K-9," Erion said. "He's worked K-9 his entire career with the Sheriff's Office and before that. It's part of their life, just having a police K-9 in the house, and they came up with an idea for a fundraiser. I just think it speaks volumes about their character and Brian's character to have that thought to do that."

Since becoming a K-9 officer, Erion said he's really learned a lot about the generosity of the Genesee County community.

"This assignment has opened my eyes to a lot of good things in our community," Erion said. "There's a school right now (where) the whole school is working on a K-9 fundraiser and I've had other people approach me to find out how to go about raising funds."

Visit the Facebook page Genesee County NY K-9 Support and click "Like"

Above, Kyle Mott gets a chance to pet Destro.

Press release:

The New York State Sheriffs' Association Institute will begin its annual Honorary Membership Drive in Genesee County within the next few days, according to Sheriff Gary T. Maha.

The institute was established in 1979 and is a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation, and contributions to it are tax deductible.

While the Sheriff's Office is a unit of county government, many of the concerns of Sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies are best addressed on a statewide level. The Sheriffs' Institute provides centralized training programs and services for all Sheriffs offices where those programs and services would be unavailable or impractical on a single-county basis.

The flagship program of the Sheriffs' Institute is the Sheriffs' Summer Camp for economically challenged children. This camp, in its 37th year of operation, is located on Keuka Lake and 840 children statewide attend each summer. The institute pays the entrie cost of the camp stay and transportation. Most children attending wouldn't otherwise have an opportinuty for vacation travel or a summer camp experience.

The Sheriffs' Camp program conbines summer recreation with activities designed to teach an understanding of, and respect for, our laws and the men and women who enforce them. The strong camper-to-counselor ration allows for individual attention with an emphasis on the development of self-esteem.

"In these difficult economic times we cannot forget our youth who will not have the opportunity for a summer camp experience or a summer vacation," Sheriff Maha said. "By becoming an Honorary Member you are supporting the Sheriffs' Summer Camp for economically disadvantaged children."

In addition, the Sheriffs' Institute operates a scholarship program that provides one scholarship to each of New York State's Community College Justice Programs. This program is designed to help attract the best and the brightest to the criminal justice vocation.

For more information about the Sheriffs' Summer Camp and other Sheriffs' Institute Programs, visit www.sheriffsinstitute.org

The Genesee County Sheriff's Office is looking for assistance in locating the owners of some recovered property.

The items may have been in storage and stolen within the last year.

The fishing equipment recovered appears to be for deep water fishing and there were also more than 10 porcelain dolls found.

Deputy Bradley Mazur says investigators are also looking for help in recovering a 3-foot tall mechanical horse which makes horse sounds and has a head that moves up and down.The horse is tan in color and may have been purchased at a yard sale over the summer on North Street or Ellicott Street in the City of Batavia.

Anyone who can assist in the investigation or has purchased the mechanical horse from the two yard sales mentioned can contact Deputy Bradley Mazur at the Genesee County Sheriff's Office at 585-343-5000.

Aqua-Vu underwater viewing system, which includes a monitor and underwater camera.

Tundra fishing pole

More than 10 porcelain dolls were recovered. Here are two of them. They have tags that say porcelain collector series.

Press release:

The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office recently hired Andrew Hale to fill the position of Deputy Sheriff; a position that was left vacant by a Deputy Sheriff who was promoted to Sergeant earlier in the year.

Deputy Hale is a 2002 graduate of Batavia High School. Following high school, Deputy Hale enlisted in the Marine Corps from 2002 to 2006 and then continued his education, earning a bachelor of arts degree in History with a minor in Sociology from St. John Fisher College. Deputy Hale was previously employed by Fed Ex Express as a driver. Deputy Hale graduated from the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy at Niagara University on December 20, 2013. The keynote speaker at the graduation was the newly appointed Buffalo Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Resident Agent In Charge Michelle Spahn.

Sheriff Maha stated, “Deputy Hale has been participating in our 14-week field-training program and is performing exceptionally well. He will be a great addition to our road patrol.”

"Destro" likes people. He likes the snow. His favorite toy is a piece of old fire hose. But don't let the puppy disposition of the 2-year-old German shepherd fool you. He's a trained police dog, capable on command of doing all the things police dogs do.

If you meet Destro, you're likely to make a new friend, but let him approach you. Just to be safe.

"He's good," said his new handler and partner in crime-fighting Deputy Chris Erion. "He gets on my nerves once in awhile and I get on his, but we're a good match. He works very well."

Yesterday was the first day on the job for the new K-9 team after Erion and Destro completed 15 weeks of K-9 police dog academy.

"We start with a brand new dog who has almost zero training and we start right from the beginning," Erion said. "That way we know how he's trained, how he learns certain things. If problems come up, we know how to correct them, so it's a lot of long classes."

The 15-week course covered training in the areas of building and open area searches, obedience, tracking, drug detection, and handler protection.

The hardest part of the training, Erion said was "just sticking to it and getting up every morning."

"I got up at 4:30 every morning to get to Canada by 7:30 and I didn't get up home (until) 6:30, 7 o'clock at night and then my kids and wife needed attention, too, so balancing all of that was a challenge."

Destro gets along well with Erion's four children, the deputy said. "And he's kind of brought new life to my old German shepherd. They run around outside and play. They get along very well."

Erion and Destro start their new career together just as the K-9 handling career of Deputy Brian Thompson comes to a close. Thompson and "Pharoah" still are available to handle calls and help with the new team's training, but in about 10 months "Pharoah" will be retired from active duty.

Erion said he's grateful to the community support to help keep the Sheriff's Office K-9 program going.

"This program is completely funded by the community and we're certainly grateful for that," Erion said. "I'm personally grateful for that. There's an expense that goes into training and maintaining the dog, and that comes from donations. Without that we wouldn't be able to support the program."

Work is proceeding pretty much on schedule for the county's new emergency communication system and phase I should be up and running by the Feb. 10 deadline, Steven Sharpe told members of the Public Service Committee today.

The necessary equipment has been installed on the towers at Cedar Street and in Pembroke, and the Pavilion tower should be completed shortly.

The microwave-transmission system should be operational soon.

New radios have been installed in more than 200 town and county highway vehicles. Installation started today with Batavia Fire Department's mobile units and volunteer fire departments will start getting their new radios soon.

Sheriff Gary Maha also shared with the committee that Uniden announced over the weekend a new emergency frequency scanner that will be compatible the Phase II P-25 TDMA system being installed by Harris RF.

The new scanners from Uniden should solve the problem being faced by local media, off-duty emergency responders and others who need access to police and fire communications to help them serve the public.

Legislator Marianne Clattenburg asked Maha if the media will have the same access to communications as under the current system and Maha said he believed media outlets would.

The new Harris system makes it easier for law enforcement to encrypt communications, but Maha said encryption will be limited to law enforcement situations and not widely or regularly used.

One hold up with getting equipment installed on the Pavilion tower has been negotiations with American Tower Asset, the company that owns the tower. American Tower apparently wanted a lease fee to have the equipment installed on the tower, but Sharpe believed the company had previously agreed to provide such access for free.

Today, Sharpe said, he obtained the public documents showing that American Tower agreed in 1998 to allow Pavilion fire and Genesee County public safety agencies to use the tower facility at no cost as a term of getting approval to build the tower.

The county is also planning to build -- as part of phase II -- towers in Darien, Bergen and Alabama.

The Darien tower installation was somewhat delayed a few weeks ago when prehistoric human artifacts were found at the site. Researchers have determined, according to Sharpe, that the site was neither a burial ground nor an encampment, but rather a place were items were discarded along a travel path.

Previously:

• Prehistoric artifacts found at site of planned emergency communications tower in Darien
• Grants and bond will pay for $10.8 million upgrade to emergency communications system
• It turns out, nobody currently makes scanners for the county's new emergency radio system
• Sheriff's Office receives $5.4 million grant for radio system upgrade
• Sheriff's communications to dispatch all State Police calls in Genesee County

Press release:

 

A $10.8 million upgrade to the county's emergency radio system is expected to greatly improve the reliability and efficiency of emergency communication, but the unintended consequence is that citizens, off-duty first responders and the media could all be in the dark for months or longer once the new system is fully operational.

It's a bit of a surprise to everybody involved, but the new technology being installed by Rochester-based Harris RF is incompatible with even the most advanced consumer scanners currently on the market.

And when new scanners are released -- perhaps as early as the first part of the year -- they are likely to cost as much as $500 to $600 each.

Sheriff Gary Maha is a big believer in the idea that citizens with scanners help solve crimes.  Clearly, when he spoke with The Batavian in the spring about the new radio system, he didn't anticipate the new technology would be incompatible with existing digital/trunking scanners.

"We're few and far between out there," Maha said. "We need all the eyes we can possibly have. If we have a bank robbery, we put that information out over the air so some citizen down the road may see the vehicle we want and can call 9-1-1. It's a benefit to us to have the people out there watching. They're our eyes and ears out there."

In recent weeks, we've had discussions with Maha about the situation and he said he's interested in finding a solution.

Getting scanners into the hands of media outlets is one thing. One solution that's been used in other parts of the country is for local law enforcement to lease emergency radios, with the outgoing transmission capability disabled, to news outlets. These radios cost in the neighborhood of $4,000 each, so it's still an expensive solution.

Another solution is putting streaming feeds of emergency transmissions from the P25 system on the county's Web site. But it's unclear at this point if the county has the available bandwidth or necessary technology to make this happen.

A Web-based solution would help both media outlets and make transmissions available to all county residents who care to tune in.

The Sheriff along with Undersheriff William Sheron met yesterday with executives at Harris.

Sheron said that Harris indicated it's a problem beyond the scope of their work, but said they are aware of other jurisdictions doing exactly what the Sheriff is considering.

"We're certainly aware of the issue and are interested in finding a solution," Sheron said.

Genesee County isn't the only jurisdiction facing this issue, as more and more agencies switch to the new technology and RadioReference.com's forums are filled with discussions about the situation.

What The Batavian has been able to piece together from the forum posts as well as interviewing Gerry Oliver, owner of G&G Communications in Le Roy, is that:

• A company called GRE America made a radio that was designed to be compatible with Phase II technology, but the company went out of business. Its radio was imperfect technology and needed improvements and wouldn't necessarily work with Harris RF communication systems. BRS Phase II TDMA radios can be found on Ebay, but you take your chances buying one.
• A company, The Whistler Group, Inc., has acquired GRE's intellectual property and is planning to enter into the scanner business. It didn't specifically announce a Phase II scanner, but presumably they'll bring one to market, perhaps before the end of March.
• Representatives from Uniden have dropped hints in Radio Reference that the company -- which is the largest manufacturer of scanners -- is close to announcing a Phase II scanner. Estimates of when it will go to market range from fiscal Q1 2014 through the end of 2014.
• Oliver believes that even after the switch-over, fire dispatch will remain on channel 4612, which means scanners currently programmed to pick up that channel will still be able to hear the fire dispatcher. There just won't be any chatter from emergency responders in the field answering the calls for people still listening on old scanners.

Radio Reference is an organization of ham radio operators and scanner enthusiasts. Through RF, volunteers from around the nation make their local emergency communications available on the radioreference.com Web site. Every smartphone app that allows people to listen to police and fire calls on their iPhones and Droids uses RR feeds, so if RR doesn't have working Phase II scanners, then those apps won't work for P25 jurisdictions.

Harris officials would not comment for this story.

The county has until March 1 to stop using one of its current 800 mhz channel so that the bandwidth becomes available for an inter-operable communication channel for federal Homeland Security.

Steven Sharpe, director of emergency communication, said installation begins next month, but current scanners will work on existing emergency channels until the P25 infrastructure is in place and operational.

Migration to the new system for emergency users should begin in December.

Beyond that the schedule of the transition depends on other factors -- from FCC licensing to tower crew availability -- though all equipment is scheduled to be installed by Feb. 1, giving the county one month to meet the 800 mhz channel deadline.

What happens at that point largely depends on what the county can make available to citizens and media for monitoring emergency transmissions, and what Whistler and Uniden make commercially available for purchase.

Oliver said there are a lot of people concerned about the issue, and people should be concerned.

"This is a public safety issue and it's a public information issue," Oliver said. "There's the average listener who pays taxes and thinks they have a right to listen in, but there's also the issue of firemen, off-duty police officers and EMTs -- how are they going to listen?

"I hope there's a solution for safety sake," he added. "Let's say I'm an (off duty) EMT and I live down the street from a call, a scanner might tell me, do I respond? What should I do if I hear nobody's responding? Those are the people who need scanners."

The Sheriff's Office once again experienced an increase in calls for service in 2012.

There were 27,787 calls in 2012 compared to 25,923 in 2011 and 21,334 in 2010.

The latest numbers are in the recently released Sheriff's Office annual report.

Here is some of the other data contained in the report.

Jail:

• The jail served 83,497 meals;
• The inmate food expense was $138,361;
• The inmate medical expense was $184,713;
• A total of 1,146 inmates were booked;
• The jail population over the course of the year went from 85 inmates to 69 inmates;
• Corrections officers completed 808 hours of training;
• The jail collected $61,000 in fees for such things as housing Wyoming County inmates, federal inmates, state prisoner transports and the inmate telephone system ($22,000).

Civil Service:

• There were 511 summons/supoenas served;
• For Family Court, 964 summons;
• Evictions, 138.

Law enforcement:

• Deputies received 5,362 hours of training on about 30 topics, including breath analyis, criminal street gang investigations, DNA evidence, domestic violence, sex offender cases, DWI enforcement, terrorist bombing, awareness, workplace violence, drug identification, active shooter training, police mental health, child abuse and human trafficking;
• 438 active warrants were cleared;
• The Stop DWI program received $154,799 in grants;
• 200 child IDs were processed;
• Department vehicles traveled 812,486 miles;
• DWI arrests -- 150, with 29 being in the 21-24 age range, 113 males, 51 on Saturdays and 14 felony DWIs;
• Refusal to take breath test -- 22;
• Total breath tests administered was 138, with 15 reading .00, six .08, 11 at .14, 15 at .15, 13 at .16 and nine at .22.

Accident statistics:

• There were 10 fatal accidents and 11 total fatalities;
• There were 136 hit-and-run accidents;
• There were 192 personal injury accidents;
• Accidents involving an animal -- 596;
• Alcohol related accidents -- 52.

Citations:

• 204, expired registration
• 68, uninsured motor vehicle
• 31, tinted windows
• 35, driver's view obstructed
• 124, unlicensed operator
• 142, aggravated unlicensed operation
• 29, leaving the scene of a property damage accident
• 224, disobey traffic control device
• 57, failure to keep right
• 69, following too closely
• 42, failure to yield right of way
• 307, speeding over 55 mph
• 404, speeding in zone
• 3, driving too slowly
• 56, driving while on mobile phone
• 293, no seat belt

Criminal complaints:

• 36, aggravated harassment
• 2, arson
• 11, bad check
• 131, burglary
• 36, criminal possession of a controlled substance
• 61, criminal contempt
• 118, criminal mischief
• 29, disorderly conduct
• 20, endangering the welfare of a child
• 49, fraud
• 1, gambling
• 105, grand larceny
• 138, harassment
• 419, larceny
• 283, liquor law violations
• 1, motor vehicle theft
• 9, rape
• 16, sexual abuse
• 65, trespass
• 83, unlawful possession of marijuana
• 1,904 total criminal complaints

Investigations

• The Local Drug Enforcement Task Force initiated 73 cases, made 71 drug arrests, with 16 cases pending and 14 search warrants executed;
• The task force handled 57 vice cases with 44 arrests;
• There were 17 polygraph tests given;
• Investigators handled 118 misdemenaor cases;
• There were 262 pistol permit records checks;
• A 20-year-old cold case was solved when Deputy Chris Erion used a polygraph  and a child abuse suspect confessed;
• The juvenile section handled 199 cases.

The 9-1-1 Call Center:

• 49,846 calls for police, 2,342 for fire and 8,459 for EMS, for 56,440 total;
• The Sheriff's Office received 23,231 calls for service; BPD, 14,749, Le Roy PD 3,562;
• Dispatchers received 29,156 inbound seven-digit calls;
• Dispatchers completed 580 training hours;

Court Security:

• 600 knives were found during screening, 33 razors, 108 scissors, two drug paraphernalia and 17 "other" weapons;
• 56,917 people were screened and 19,478 items scanned.

Animal Control:

• 45 animal bite cases
• 465 cats adopted
• 21 cats euthanized
• 538 cats impounded
• 233 dogs adopted
• 16 dogs euthanized
• 429 dogs impounded
• 16 livestock cases investigated
• 239 lost animal cases investigated

Genesee Justice:

• In its 14th year;
• 305 victims of serious and violent crimes served;
• 18 compensation claims filed;
• 28 clients assisted in family court;
• 218 in-person counseling;
• 782 phone counseling;
• The Child Advocacy Center served 112 children in Genesee County and conducted 54 sexual abuse examinations, 84 forensic interviews, made 38 therapy referrals.