Bittersweet: Smith and Gardner retire after decades of service
From Steuben County Sheriff James Allard:
It’s a beautiful day in Steuben County. Another Steuben County Fair is in the books. For once, we had fantastic weather throughout the fair! Fall is now in the air, with cooler nights and sunny days that grow shorter and shorter. It is the time for apple picking, long hikes, apple cider and evening campfires! Soon the magical color changes will occur on our hills and woods, creating breathtaking beauty. Until then let us all enjoy the last days of summer.
In August, we said goodbye to two retirees from our Office. Investigator Marcus Smith, with over thirty years of service, retired with a walkout on August 14. We will miss “Smitty” and thank him for his service. We also said farewell to Sergeant Lorrie Gardner who retired after 25 years of service on August 28. We are happy to report that Lorrie will be returning to us in a part time fashion to help with court security! Due to these retirements, Sergeant Josh Day was appointed as a Criminal Investigator, and we congratulate him on this new chapter. On August 28 we also held our awards ceremony recognizing our employees for their service to Steuben County and Captain Mills and Lieutenant Wetherby cooked pizzas for all staff.
We swore in two new Correction Officers, two new Deputies and one new School Resource Officer in August. Officers Cameron Derby and Evan Campbell, along with Deputies Garrett Reppert and Noah Warriner, and SRO Bill Baker, have now joined our family. Deputy Warriner, now appointed full time, is the son of Deputy and Mrs. Alan Warriner, who are extremely proud of their son’s accomplishments! Deputy Reppert is a former NYS Correction Officer and SRO Baker is a retired Sergeant from the Bath Police Department and a former Steuben County Deputy. He will be assigned to the Campbell Savona Central School District. Our Jail Garden provided 100 pounds of produce for the Corning Food Pantry and Captain Mills and Sheriff Allard cooked a pancake breakfast for all staff. Sergeant Sorge and Deputy Butler taught another NYS Boater’s Safety Course, continuing our monthly presentation of this course. Deputies Bush and Bendzlowicz provided weekly water safety trainings to the campers at the Sheriff’s Camp on Keuka Lake as part of our navigational patrol. Investigator Ellison, Deputies Kidder and McCoy participated in the NYS DCJS incumbent officer physical fitness test. Investigator Shepherd attended a phone investigation course. Sheriff Allard attended the Governor’s Highway Safety Summit, with classes in automated driving, highway safety strategies and community partnership for traffic safety. Sheriff Allard appeared on the WETM-TV Sheriff’s Forum and also appeared on the monthly “Frankly Speaking” interview.
August was another busy and challenging month in the Sheriff’s Office. Our investigators and deputies were tasked with an armed bank robbery investigation, a rape investigation, four assault investigations, two trespass investigations, three burglary investigations, an unlawful imprisonment investigation, an obstructing governmental administration investigation, a resisting arrest investigation, three endangering a child investigations, one menacing investigation, a stalking investigation, two sexual assault investigations, twelve larceny investigations, ten grand larceny investigations, two obstruction of breathing investigations, three welfare fraud investigations, three death investigations, three falsifying business records investigations, three filing a false instrument investigations, three misuse of food stamps investigations, two criminal contempt investigations, one fire investigation, one prison contraband investigation, one disorderly conduct investigation, ten harassment investigations and eight criminal mischief investigations. Our Patrol Division was tasked with multiple domestic incident investigations along with mental health detainments, emergency medical aid, assisting other agencies, serving of warrants, and seven intoxicated or impaired driving arrests.
All of our deputies and officers performed in an outstanding fashion, and we received multiple commendations from the public regarding their outstanding performance.
Swearing in of Deputy Warriner, SRO Baker and Deputy Reppert with Sheriff Allard
Officer Turner, Major Sutton, Officer Derby, Officer Campbell and Captain Mills
We continue to pray for our first responder colleagues and deployed military across the globe, as well as their families. We also pray for the victims of mass casualty events and state sponsored aggression.
Thank you for supporting the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office in these challenging times and stay safe!
Steuben County Sheriff Jim Allard
