With one year as interim sheriff under his belt, the newly elected Aaron Applehans plans to expand on his goals of diversity in the force and implement a better mental health crisis response.
After a historic and tumultuous transition into the Sheriff position following the departure of predecessor David O’Mally following the shooting of Robbie Rameriez, Applehans made dedicated steps towards having his force best represent the community it serves.
“We have to deal with a lot of different people, a lot of different situations from a lot of different places here in Albany County, having a diverse group of people from a diverse background portrays that law enforcement doesn’t have to be for one specific type of person. It can involve everybody, and to be honest, it does involve everybody.”
As an African American man in law enforcement coming into power during a time of great civil unrest in the country, Sheriff Applehans described his unique perspective on equality in the justice system.
“I come at it from both sides, and I’m able to recognize that there’s a need for law enforcement to be able to protect and serve and provide that public safety. But that there’s also problems within the criminal justice system that definitely target people of color. Justice isn’t dolled out the same for absolutely everybody.”
Part of addressing that and other inequities is the development of an appropriate mental health crisis response model and the continued mental health training of his deputies, which includes Green Dot for bystander intervention, substance abuse, partner violence, sexual assault, mental health, and Gatekeeper training.
“We’re really trying to take a multifaceted approach to the mental health crisis. The first approach that we’re definitely trying to do which falls right into our bread basket is, trying to provide better and more frequent training for all of our deputies.”
“The second part is trying to collaborate more with people in town, so that we can refer resources out to people in those mental health crisis situations. A criminal justice response isn’t always needed, or required, or the best solution for that individual at that time.”
“The third part is trying to kind of change what that kind of response system would look like. So the Albany County Mental Health Board is really trying to move forward with a crisis response team, involving either clinicians or social workers etc. They’re moving forward on that research, and we’re doing our own as well.”
With this initiative and others addressing issues of transparency in the force, Sheriff Applehans hopes to see not only a change in practice but a change in culture to better serve the people of Albany County.
