Five years ago I went to the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office terrified and seeking protection. The judge had just issued a restraining order against someone who had access to a handgun and several long guns. I did everything I was told to do: the same day the order was signed I went straight to the Sheriff’s Department, dropped off the restraining order, and surrendered my co-registered pistol as directed. I gave the deputy the subject’s home and work addresses, identifying information, vehicle description, and a basic routine. I also warned the office that this person and some associates had access to county emergency and sheriff communications — and asked that radio traffic be kept to a minimum so those communications couldn’t tip anyone off.

What I expected was an immediate, professional response. What I got was eighteen days of fear.

When I asked how I was supposed to defend myself while waiting for service, an officer literally told me to buy wasp spray. Deputies went to the subject’s apartment while he was at work but didn’t stop at his workplace even though it was on the way. At one point a deputy told me they had seen bottles of liquor on the kitchen table and a long gun through a window and were reluctant to return. It took repeated phone calls — including calls from someone who personally knew the sheriff — before the restraining order was finally served.

I lived through those eighteen days feeling abandoned, unprotected, and devalued. Five years later that fear is still raw.

Sullivan County deserves better. We deserve a Sheriff’s Office that responds quickly when lives and safety are at stake, that enforces restraining orders without delay, and that treats every victim with seriousness and dignity. That is why I am supporting Tim Dymond for Sullivan County Sheriff — and why Sheriff Schiff should be voted out.

Tim Dymond’s 100-day plan addresses exactly the failures I experienced. It promises to restore leadership and integrity at the top, hire experienced investigators and a respected undersheriff, and install a Chief of Patrol with clear, consistent policies so deputies know what is expected and how to protect the public. It calls for a standalone Internal Affairs position and a full audit of the evidence room — critical steps toward accountability and restoring public trust.

Dymond’s plan also commits to concrete, practical improvements: pursuing NYS DCJS accreditation for patrol and the jail; exploring body cameras for patrol deputies; filling dispatcher positions already in the budget; an aggressive recruitment push to fill critical vacancies; and creating a countywide narcotics unit to tackle fentanyl and heroin traffickers. He pledges to cooperate fully with federal investigators, to ask the Comptroller to review spending, and to meet with every division of the Sheriff’s Office and the community to rebuild relationships and improve service.

Those are not campaign platitudes — they are the kind of structural, operational changes we need to prevent what happened to me from happening to someone else.

If you value a Sheriff’s Office that responds quickly, acts professionally, and treats victims with the urgency and respect they deserve, please vote to replace Sheriff Schiff with a write-in vote for Tim Dymond on November 4. It’s time to put competent leadership, transparency, and public safety first.

Sandra Deckelman
Obernburg, NY