LITTLE VALLEY — Cattaraugus County Sheriff Timothy S. Whitcomb said it is “an honor” to serve as president of the New York State Sheriff’s Association, as he was sworn in to do on Jan. 26.
He’s the first sheriff from Cattaraugus County to be installed as president of the state Sheriff’s Association. Former sheriff Ernest Dustman was on the Executive Committee, but did not serve as president.
Former Sheriff Jerry E. Burrell, who hired him in 1991, held the Bible during his swearing in ceremony, and Assemblyman Joseph Giglio, who was a Sheriff’s Department administrative officer at the time, administered the oath of office.
“It was full-circle for me,” Whitcomb said in an interview in his office Friday. “They hired me and they were there to swear me in when my wife and family couldn’t be there. It was a proud moment to have Jerry Burrell hold the Bible and Joe Giglio administer the oath.”
Whitcomb’s wife and family members could not attend the Albany ceremony due to heavy lake-effect snow across much of the state.
Whitcomb said he feels a sense of responsibility to make a difference in some way. He was installed on the association’s Executive Committee six years ago, in his second year as sheriff, and rose through the ranks each year toward the presidency.
Whitcomb feels his leadership of the Sheriff’s Association is a recognition of how he came to become Cattaraugus County sheriff after the death of his friend Sheriff Dennis John, who took his own life in August 2009, and how Whitcomb has managed the department.
Whitcomb sees himself as a messenger on the important issue of post traumatic stress disorder in police and other first responders. He recognized it in himself in the wake of John’s suicide.
His message is that supervisors have to be aware of PTSD, how to recognize its symptoms and get treatment. Police and first responders are exposed to repeated trauma, he said.
“We have to protect and serve those who have chosen to protect and serve,” he added.
The sheriff believes all employees need to know the signs and symptoms of PTSD.
“It’s an unseen injury,” he said. “It can be diagnosed. Then it is easier to help manage. They need support from family and administrators. If serious enough, they need to get treatment.”
Whitcomb has given dozens of presentations to police and other first responders over the past several years.
“I tell first responders that we put a badge on to protect and serve. The people we need to remember to protect and serve is ourselves and our loved ones,” he said. “If you can’t help you, you can’t help anyone else effectively.”
At the end of almost every presentation, a few people come up to Whitcomb to talk.
“They are talking about themselves,” Whitcomb said. He advises them to seek help. When he gets back to his office after a presentation, there are always several emails thanking him for his talk and describing incidents that have troubled them as well.
The presentations “are healing for me too, even to this day,” Whitcomb said.
“I’ve been a cop for 28 years, but I get butterflies every time I make a presentation to first responders. … There are not too many things that make me nervous.”
Whitcomb is also part of a group called TRAUMA in Law Enforcement, where a seven-member team presents an intensive two-day training seminar.
“I’m the lead-off hitter,” Whitcomb said.
Other members of the team include parents who have lost children in the line of duty, officers involved in horrific events including murders and suicides, a clinician, a veteran and the director of the National Police Suicide Foundation.
Whitcomb said the group has had an impact, saving the lives of 20 or more first responders in the past few years.
“It’s difficult to change the culture — especially when law enforcement or the military are involved,” the sheriff said. “Emotional and psychological injuries deserve the same path to recovery as a physical injury,” he said.
Whitcomb said the New York State Sheriff’s Association “is as professional as you get. It is full of fantastic people.” If a sheriff has a particular question, the association can put them in touch with another sheriff who has faced the same situation.
“Every county is unique, but we do have very common situations,” Whitcomb said. “Chances are another sheriff has already faced it. The association helps sheriff’s every day of the week, all year long.”
The association allows 62 sheriff’s to speak with one voice when it comes to state legislation, Whitcomb said.
“I’m going to do the best I can for the sheriffs of New York State during my year as president,” he said.
