CHENANGO COUNTY — “Being in law enforcement is in my family,” said Chenango County Sheriff’s Deputy Chad O’Hara. “I knew I always wanted to do it.”
O’Hara has spent nearly five years with the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office and was awarded “Deputy of the Year” in 2012.
I was provided the opportunity to spend a shift with O’Hara on Saturday.
Arriving as instructed at 3:47 p.m., I was prepared to observe O’Hara’s law enforcement duties for his entire shift.
He first gave me a tour of the patrol area within the facility, and I met his Sergeant and a couple of his co-workers. O’Hara then grabbed the necessary items he needed for at least eight hours on the roads and we entered his vehicle.
O’Hara has a K-9, currently on sabbatical, so the dog was not with us Saturday. I had also previously informed the Road Patrol Lieutenant Richard Cobb that I was scared of dogs.
Upon entering the SUV, I realized that I would not enjoy to be in the backseat as an arrested individual. The dog’s area is directly behind the passenger seat, and an arrested person would sit behind the deputy. There is a blockage of sorts between the deputy and the person taken into custody, and between the person in the backseat and the K9.
O’Hara then checked to make sure he had everything he needed and we pulled away. He was to cover the northern portion of the county that night. Other deputies were assigned the south and central zones.
The CCSO patrol vehicles cover 911 square miles of Chenango County.
O’Hara was set to work the 4 p.m. to midnight shift.
Not long after being on the road, the in-vehicle radar spotted a vehicle traveling over the posted speed limit. O’Hara had instructed me in the beginning to be prepared for quick and sharp turns, and he wasn’t joking.
Once the vehicle was pulled over, I remained in the passenger seat as he approached with his flashlight. He touched the brake light, shined his flashlight into the vehicle, and then began discussion with the driver.
The driver admitted to knowing she was speeding. In the process of the traffic stop, a New York State Trooper pulled up behind us.
When I asked O’Hara as to the reasoning behind that, he explained it is common for a member of another law enforcement agency to stop as a courtesy to make sure everything is okay.
The driver was given a verbal warning and she went on her way.
We carried out two other traffic stops, where one of the drivers was issued a uniform traffic ticket for speeding.
Throughout our drive there was quite a bit of quiet time. O’Hara explained the beginning of winter tends to be a little slower, with the exception of vehicle vs. deer calls.
“Once winter sets in, we get a lot of domestic dispute calls,” said O’Hara. He explained that domestic dispute calls are one of the most common calls the CCSO receives and are not restricted to the season, time of day or location.
During our travels toward Lincklaen — part of O’Hara’s territory — he explained to me one of the main purposes of a sheriff’s office: to serve civil papers. Of course other purposes include but are not limited to providing a jail for the county, road patrol and sex offender checks.
A sex offender check was taken care of while I was with the deputy. We arrived at the residence the individual reported, and O’Hara was to make sure that is where the person did indeed reside. While the sex offender was not home at the time, it was verified it was his residence.
“There are times when they (sex offenders) provide an address that is fake,” said O’Hara. “Or, they move and fail to notify the Undersheriff, which they are supposed to do.”
Upon completion of the sex offender check, and with no other calls for O’Hara to head to anywhere else, we delved into what got him into law enforcement. He said he has multiple family members who are in the same line of work: uncles, cousins, and other relatives. One relative was a State Trooper who was killed in the 1950s.
O’Hara said before becoming a deputy he had his own business.
“But then, the opportunity came about to get involved with law enforcement, so here I am,” said O’Hara. “I love what I do.”
I asked O’Hara how it worked with multiple agencies within the county.
“I like to give courtesy to other departments,” said O’Hara. “If I know Sherburne PD, for example, is on duty, I’m not going to take their stop, but I will offer help.”
He explained the same goes for other towns, villages and the Norwich Police Department.
There was additional quiet time before we were called to go elsewhere, so we continued to drive around his coverage area.
“I have to give kudos to Lt. Cobb because he is just outstanding at what he does,” said O’Hara. “In every facet from patrol on up he has just excelled. The way he handles certain situations is something I look up to.”
O’Hara spent some time explaining circumstances where Lt. Cobb diffused situations that could have otherwise been catastrophic. O’Hara said he enjoys having Cobb as his Road Patrol Lieutenant and working with his other supervisors — which change depending on the day.
I then asked O’Hara what it was like to be awarded Deputy of the Year in 2012.
Deputy of the Year is awarded to the deputy who has outstanding performance across the board.
O’Hara said it is based upon how deputies handle case work, interact with the public, the number of arrests throughout the year, tickets, drug busts and “big” cases in which the deputy was involved.
“I guess it’s things that set you apart from the others, and a way to show you that your hard work has been noticed,” said O’Hara.
According to Cobb, in 2013, O’Hara was Deputy of the Month and had the highest arrest numbers in the categories of felony criminal arrests, misdemeanor criminal arrests, felony traffic tickets and misdemeanor traffic tickets. He also issued the second highest number of violation traffic tickets.
As it got later in the evening, O’Hara was called to help out with a domestic dispute in Sherburne. The victim clearly had a black eye, and the subject who had punched the woman had fled to Norwich, according to neighbors.
While Sherburne PD took care of the victim, we headed to the City of Norwich and notified the NPD we’d be in the city and asked for an officer to join in the search for the man. The NPD officer was familiar with the man we were searching for and we all made our way to the establishment where he was said to be.
I waited in the vehicle, but within minutes three men came out, one of which was cuffed and placed into the back of the CCSO vehicle. We transported him back to Sherburne where the officer there was planning on getting an arraignment set up.
In transport, the man asked several times why he was arrested. He also said, “Shoot, I love pizza,” more than two dozen times. It was clear he was intoxicated.
O’Hara and I remained in Sherburne until the man was fingerprinted and an arraignment was set up in Smyrna Court.
We went on our way and O’Hara then took some time to explain the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system in the patrol vehicle. In essence, it is the computer system used where deputies can check the location history on calls (in case they respond to the same location many times they would know if they are approaching a high risk situation), write their reports, communicate with other deputies and read updates on the current call they’re on, along with various other functions. It also has an “emergency” button in case the deputy is in a dire situation.
At 11:26 p.m., O’Hara was asked to backup another deputy on a larceny call. We arrived at 11:35 p.m. The individual reported a stolen vehicle. I remained in the patrol vehicle while the deputies investigated.
O’Hara walked the property looking for footprints near the garage and around other areas of the residence. He asked questions of the person who called in the complaint.
It was nearly 1 a.m. when we left the home. O’Hara told me that I could have come inside, yet the sign on the garage left me feeling safer in the patrol vehicle.
O’Hara told me his theory regarding the larceny, but I’ll refrain from sharing in case the investigation is ongoing.
While O’Hara’s shift was to end at midnight, he explained that in the middle of a call, even if your shift is supposed to be over, work needs to be completed first.
O’Hara said he works four days on and then has two days off. With his shift, he said he sometimes goes four days without seeing his children. When he is off, they are at school, and they are asleep by the time he finishes.
“Chad is respected by the community he serves, his supervisors and his peers,” said Lt. Cobb Tuesday. “He as always made it one of his goals to become more knowledgeable and never turns down an opportunity to learn something new.”