Cobleskill police shortfall persists amid ambulance-jacking

COBLESKILL, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Bob Bradt told NEWS10 exclusively he almost had his car stolen by alleged ambulance hijacker Adam Cole. Bradt said that upon calling 911, no police responded.

"I kept on hearing sirens and no one showed up to help me, later finding out that the sirens were taking off to chase the ambulance," said Bradt.

Last August NEWS10's Carina Dominguez reported that eight of only 12 Cobleskill police officers resigned. On Thursday, NEWS10's Zion Decoteau went to the Cobleskill Police Department. The clerk's windows were shuttered and no one answered the buzzer phone to contact officers behind the window. If local police weren't available the next solution would be the Schoharie County Sheriff's Department. Why weren't they able to help Bradt?

"It may have been because everyone was tied up on the ambulance call," said Schoharie County Sheriff Ronald Stevens. “On that particular night, there was a sergeant and two patrol cars from the sheriff's department. Now they're not just dedicated to the village of Cobleskill, they're dedicated to the County of Schoharie” Stevens added.

If the Sheriff's department can’t assist, the next agency is the New York State Police. Former Cobleskill Police Chief James McCrum highlighted the issue with that. 

"They put one patrol vehicle out from the hours of midnight to 5:00 a.m. but it has two troopers in it. Now Schoharie County is 620 square miles. That's a very large area to cover with only one patrol" said McCrumb. According to McCrumb, luckily Schoharie is a quiet county with only 30,000 people where not much happens.

Recruitment is a typical staffing solution, but McCrumb says that isn't going well. "When I took the test in 1988 to become a state trooper I think I was taking the test with 45,000 people. And today I think they have a hard…to get 2,000 people" said the former police chief.

He added that of the 15 people who took the last county civil service exam, only two passed. Both the sheriff and the former police chief attribute recruitment issues to cultural apathy to the profession from young people, as well as salary and alternative job options. To bolster recruitment the Sheriff's office is reaching out to job fairs, and college campuses like SUNY Oneonta.