Candidate Profile: Jillian Hanlon For Dutchess County Sheriff

MILLBROOK, NY — In 2022's general election, residents of the Hudson Valley will be voting for state and local officials.

In anticipation, Patch asked candidates in the contested races to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles before election day Nov. 8.

Jillian Hanlon, 58, of Millbrook, is running for Dutchess County sheriff on the Democratic and Working Families party lines. She is running again Acting Sheriff Kirk Imperati who appears on the Republican and Conservative party lines.

Campaign website

https://jillianhanlon.com

City or town of residence

Millbrook, NY

Office sought

Dutchess County Sheriff

Party affiliation

Democratic and Working Families Party

Education

B.A. Organizational Leadership and Communication, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY (2012); AAS Criminal Justice, Columbia Greene Community College, Hudson, NY (1984); AEMT-4 Paramedic, Regional Emergency Medical Organization

Occupation

Police Officer (Deputy Sheriff, Retired) 24 years LEO

Family

I'm divorced, my adult child lives in the central part of NYS.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Previous public office, appointive or elective

Never held elected office.

Why are you seeking this office?

I'm seeking this office because I am uniquely qualified to lead the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office into the future. The Office needs fresh leadership to address the waste and mismanagement of the Dutchess County Jail (DCJ), and an evidence based, trauma-informed approach to managing behavioral crises. I have a proven track record of saving both lives and money, and by addressing the root causes of crime and disorder — poverty, desperation and trauma — we can have safe, thriving communities.

Currently, the DCJ’s RESTART Unit uses something called Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT), which is based off the better known and effective Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). However, it is not at all clear that is more effective than CBT, and at any rate a more than 20-year-old study in defense of MRT was that it reduced recidivism from 93 percent to 81.2 percent. Furthermore, a meta-analysis of MRT noted that a significant number of studies were reported by the company that markets the treatment and therefore may or may not have even been peer-reviewed. Furthermore, most of the studies cited in the literature were reviews of studies, not studies themselves. Lastly, MRT does not directly address the psychological underpinnings of anti-social behavior, but rather treats criminality as if it were a form of “moral immaturity.” It also claims to be able to “fill a spiritual void.” I am always suspect when supposedly scientific approaches tout quasi-religious goals.

I intend to make available to any inmate who wishes it, a proven treatment modality — Dialectic Behavioral Therapy — and not limit it to one single housing unit. Additionally, I intend to train all staff on evidence-based and trauma-informed best practices to behavioral management.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My experience is broader, deeper and wider than my opponent’s. In addition to my greater number of years in more public safety roles and my roughly a decade more road patrol experience, I have a proven track record of policy and program development. I oversaw two successful accreditations, and it was my analysis that the County relied upon when choosing who would provide the security package for the new Justice and Transition Center. I actually was a correction officer, so I know what it will take to get the Correction Division back on track; I saved taxpayers more than $1M on the construction costs of the JTC. I was not only a Field Training Officer, but I trained senior deputies to become FTOs.

When the pandemic struck, and after the previous Administration played political games with COVID denialism, we almost lost out on a supply of life-saving N95 respirators; NYS would not release them to us because we had neither a respirator program nor did we have fit-tested staff. In less than a day, I created both a model OSHA- and County Risk Management- compliant respirator policy, but also developed an OSHA-compliant fit-testing training program, trained a core group of officers how to fit-test, and were able to get more than 100 sworn staff fitted.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

I don’t want to say my opponent, although he is the Acting Sheriff, has failed; I think that we can be critical of our opponents without casting them as failures or dangerous. It doesn’t serve the voter’s interests to drag the other person down, even if we have pointed criticism. We can question another person’s policy choices without questioning their character, competence or patriotism.

That having been said, the entire institution of the Sheriff’s Office has failed the Correction Division for decades. The Jail staff have always been understaffed and undervalued. They walk the hardest beat in Dutchess County, and are some of the lowest paid law enforcement professionals. Low pay, ridiculous forced overtime, dangerous and inhumane conditions have been the norm since I worked the housing units.

The organizational culture in the Correction Division is toxic as well. Favoritism and retaliation are the carrots and sticks used to control the correctional staff. The is currently no path for excellence, and limited opportunities for either personal or professional growth. The jail and civilian workers’ union president was promoted to Sergeant at the same time the union gave my opponent a secret endorsement. Can you imagine having supervisors and workers in the same bargaining unit? What a conflict of interest! My insistence on compassion extends to our hard-working and only-paid-attention-to-when-it-is-an-election-year staff as well. We won’t be successful in changing our recidivism rates unless we change the organizational culture as well.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

Addressing the drivers of crime and disorder — poverty, desperation, and trauma — we can create economically thriving communities. I recall a recent conversation with a local business leader about how homeless people camping out at the Municipal Garage on Market St. in Poughkeepsie had an economic impact on The Bardavon, and how that had subsequent knock-on effects for other businesses that rely on the theater as well as the gig economy.

Communities that thrive are resilient communities and are much more capable of withstanding any kind of natural disaster, and they are much, much less likely to experience civil strife.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

A number of years ago, there was a serial rapist in the Village of Pawling, Butch Anderson's hometown. The rapist was Latino and undocumented. At that time, day laborers would gather at street corners, alarming the deeply conservative residents and business owners. Some took to forming vigilante patrols, and menacing anyone who looked Latino and was out after dark. One nativist local state representative was getting on CNN to demonize "illegal" immigrants and stoke fear, not unlike the situation we face today.

I was assigned as school resource officer to the district, and was dealing with harassment of students whose parents were immigrants. I, and then-Deputy Eddie Ramirez, built a community coalition of the Office, the school district, the local village and town governments and local business leaders to reach out to the immigrant community to both offer and ask for help. We were able to get a school auditorium filled with undocumented immigrants who were afraid of being rounded up and deported. But we had already built enough trust by fairly policing that they were able to put aside their fear and come.

We offered free training in ESL and basic computer literacy, and even immigration legal assistance. The result was that the business owners found their stores doing better, there was less crime and disorder, we moved the day laborers to a safe and centrally located place that allowed a better connection between them and local companies, everyone felt more comfortable, and most importantly, we developed a lead that led to the eventual capture and conviction of the rapist.

As I mentioned earlier, I have extensive policy, programmatic and budgetary experience that prepares me for this role. Much of what I did was above my paygrade, yet I was able to accomplish all of the work not because I held rank but because of my compassion-driven leadership style.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

My police academy director was Egidio Tinti, currently Chief of the City of Kingston Police. He was also our PT Instructor, meaning he would exercise us. It was hard: We would run 5 miles, do calisthenics under the hot August sun for an hour or so, run up and down bleachers and hills… And through it all, Gid would shout, “FOUR MORE MINUTES!”

Now, that didn’t mean that our suffering would end in four minutes, but that it would continue for another four. And another four. And another four.

I remember collapsing one day while doing wind sprints. Gid rushed over to me, not to help, but to scream at me. “Hanlon! Get up! Get moving! The bad guy is coming after you! He’s going to get you!”

I don’t know where I found the strength, but I remember digging my finger nails into the sod and pushing with my toes to inch forward up the hill. Several other recruits, upon hearing the yelling, rushed to my aid, and helped me to the top of the hill for water and rest.

And four more minutes later, we were at it again. Four more minutes didn’t stop our suffering, but it broke it into manageable chunks. I’ve been in some tight scrapes and four more minutes has kept me going through the worst of times. Thank you, Chief Tinti.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Some have criticized my insistence on compassion as somehow being “weak” on crime. It’s not, and here’s why: Compassion is the recognition that someone else is suffering and it combines it with a sincere desire to help. That’s it. Remember, the parent shows compassion by disciplining the child, and the surgeon shows compassion by plunging the knife and removing the offending organ. Compassion saves lives and it saves money.