NORWICH – Town of Norwich Council Member Debra Cubbedge filed petitions last week to become a candidate for Chenango County Sheriff.

“If the goal is to change police culture,” Cubbedge said, “You need input and leadership from those not tied to that culture.”

Cubbedge is a current Norwich Town Council Member, former administrative law judge, attorney in private practice, a child protective services investigator and small business owner.

“I have extensive experience dealing with people in crisis, as well as law, administration and budgets – all of which contribute to my qualification to manage the sheriff’s office,” she said.

Cubbedge said she became determined to run for sheriff after claiming the current sheriff failed to include community members and interested nonprofits on the state-mandated Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative committee.

She said the resulting committee consisted only of government officials including: the sheriff, the district attorney, the public defender and the county attorney.

Several months into the process the sheriff’s office developed a public survey, but Cubbedge said they never held a public hearing.