The Highland Falls Village Board hired both a full and and a part-time dispatcher at its meeting on November 4, and dealt with several other HFPD personnel matters.

Police dispatcher Kaitlin Boyle resigned, effective November 6; her resignation was accepted with regret. Natalie Welsh was then hired as a full-time dispatcher, at an annual salary of $50,080, and John Shoemaker was hired as a part-time dispatcher, at a rate of $18.50 per hour.

In both cases of the new hires, the vote was 4-1, with Trustee Dr. Melanie Guerrero voting no. She reiterated her case that “spending half a million dollars a year on local dispatch, when we could be using Orange County 911 at no cost” is a problem.

“We are $17 million in debt,” she said. “The real question is can we afford it.”

During the public comment period prior to the votes, resident Jake Feldman, who said he works as an Orange County Deputy Sheriff, thanked the board for keeping local dispatch, saying “it reduces the response time” and that it is “something I’m willing to pay as a taxpayer”. Guerrero said: “I appreciate what you just said – it’s nice of you to come”. She also accused Mayor Joe D’Onofrio of “setting up” Feldman’s comments.

In other HFPD personnel matters, the board took three police officers off probation – part time officer Patrick Kaley, full-time officer Elizabeth Leonardi and full-time officer Bryan Shriver.

Later in the meeting, D’Onofrio listed several grants the HFPD has received in 2024, and thanked Chief Jason Torpey and other department administrators for seeking out the grants. He said among them were $5000 for body armor, $18,000 for a LiveScan system, $25,000 for a trailer with a speed sign on it, $50,000 for law enforcement related technology, and $10,000 to use for National Night Out.

Deputy Mayor Jim DiSalvo, the police commissioner, gave the department’s October report, saying officers had responded to 921 calls, made eight arrests (six misdemeanors and two violations), written 80 citations (36 for parking and 44 for traffic matters), impounded one car, collected $1510 in revenue, and driven 4000 miles using 560 gallons of gas.