Owego Police Department holds open house

The Owego Police Department (OPD), located at 90 Temple St. in the Village of Owego, N.Y. held an open house on Saturday, March 5. The public was welcome to visit and tour the building between the hours of 2 and 4 p.m.

Guests who attended the open house were able to meet Chief Karen Vinti along with several police officers, both seasoned and new to the department. The open house was held to educate and inform the public about the number of important services the OPD provides to the village.

“We’re here for the public,” commented Sergeant Brett Kobylarz, who has served with the OPD for 17 years. Kobylarz explained that the open house provides a positive way to interact with the community.

Visitors were able to see the chief’s office, the patrol officer’s room, the interview room, the evidence room, and a jail cell, among other rooms in the building.  Visitors of all ages dropped by the OPD to tour the building and young people were given “Junior Officer” badges.

Since the flood of 2011, several improvements have been made inside the OPD building, including new equipment advantageous to day-to-day operations, new cameras mounted in various locations throughout the building, fresh paint on the walls and raising up files and other stored equipment and items on the lower level, among other improvements.

Chief Karen Vinti explained, “Some new equipment we have acquired through grants.”

Vinti, who first started with OPD in 1985 and also worked as a DARE officer through the Sheriff’s office, as well as other roles, has been the OPD Chief for four-and-a-half years, starting one month after the flood of 2011.

A new car, computers and two body cameras worn by officers are examples of equipment acquired through grants. Other new items include two tasers with cameras and a live scan fingerprinting machine, which has proven extremely beneficial. Fast and accurate, it eliminates the need for OPD to transport individuals for fingerprinting to the Tioga County facility and then back again to OPD.

“It is well worth the money spent,” commented Vinti.

Officer Rudy Parker, a law enforcement veteran for more than 25 years, 20 years of which he served while in Johnson City, explained that the OPD’s training to administer Narcan has had positive outcomes in the community.

Since training last year, Parker shared that approximately five kits have been used.

Narcan nasal spray, a spray version of naloxone used by the OPD, is a life-saving medication that can stop or reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

In a recent case that occurred near the OPD, Parker shared that when OPD arrived on the scene, the individual was near death, and because of the OPD’s training and quick response, a life was saved.

Sandy Dunbar, owner of Dunbar Antiques and the ‘Erb Lady, located at 35 Lake St. in the Village of Owego, values the important presence of the OPD in the village.

Dunbar shared that another event initiated to foster a better relationship between the OPD and the community is the upcoming “Breakfast with the Chief.”  The next session is planned for April and a date, time and place will be announced in the near future.