Suffolk County            Sheriff's Office

The Sheriff's Community Advisory Board:

 

Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. formed a Sheriff’s Community Advisory Board in 2020 to give residents an opportunity to meet regularly with the Sheriff and his staff, discuss topics of interest and concern, be a conduit for information to local communities, and to provide input on Sheriff’s initiatives and policies relating to the Office and its relationship with the general public.

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Applications were accepted until June 19, 2020 for this year's cycle.  The first meetings will be held in the fall of 2020. 

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The Interfaith Council:

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The Interfaith Council was formed in 2019 to bring together a group from various faiths throughout Suffolk County to expand the network of support for inmates transitioning from jail to our communities.  

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The Sheriff's Re-Entry Task Force:

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Over the last several years, there has been a distinct shift in Suffolk County toward collaborative criminal justice policy-making and the implementation of correctional and community-based programs designed to reduce inmate recidivism and ultimately drive down crime and the jail population.

 

Sheriff Toulon has made inmate rehabilitation a priority of his work in public office.  In 2018, he launched several initiatives, including a program for emerging adults 18-24 called CHOOSE YOUR PATH, a program for incarcerated women called CHOOSE TO THRIVE, a human trafficking program, a senior citizen program pod, and enhanced programs for veterans and those with addiction issues.  The Re-entry Task Force provides community support for these initiatives.   

 

The Re-entry Task Force is comprised of more than 100 individuals representing many of Suffolk County’s non-profit organizations, as well as local, state and federal government employees. 

 

In 2013 and 2016 the Sheriff’s Office was granted an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo) for its youth initiatives and the work of the Task Force.  These awards are granted to counties for programs that serve to improve services to county residents and are judged on their innovativeness, effectiveness, and for delivering results.

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The Re-entry Task Force has:

• Served as a vehicle to enhance community relations between the government and the county’s human service providers

• Helped to intensify the county’s focus on driving down the local jail population through Alternatives to Incarceration for non-violent youthful offenders and, in some cases, appropriate treatment alternatives in the wake of the opioid epidemic

• Collaboratively developed the kinds of services and programs to address the underlying causes of criminal behavior, thereby reducing inmate recidivism

• Developed sub-committees to tackle specific issues related to education, grants, housing, and mental health.

• Worked as a group to educate policy and lawmakers, the media and the general public about issues concerning crime and rehabilitation.

• Advocated for service improvements and made recommendations to improve and streamline systems that impact the operations of the jail.

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The Sheriff's Veterans Re-Entry Task Force:

The Sheriff's Office launched the Veterans Housing POD at the Suffolk County Correctional Facility in June 2016.  The initiative was spearheaded with former Suffolk County Legislator William Lindsay III, (Retired) Judge John J. Toomey of the Veterans Treatment Court, and Veteran Mentors from the Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 11, from Farmingville, New York. 

 

The Veterans Re-entry Task Force met for the first time in September 2016 to help plan programming and provide ongoing support for incarcerated veterans.  The Task Force is comprised of Veterans, correctional staff, members of the non-profit community and county, state and local government employees. 

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For more information on these initiatives, please email us. 

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