Monroe County, NY Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn
On August 29, 2017, Holly Colino, was in custody of the Monroe County, NY Sheriff’s Office in a substation in Henrietta, NY, a suburb of Rochester.
Colino, who is accused of shooting and killing Megan Dix, who was eating lunch in her pickup truck at her Brockport, NY job, had been arrested just hours earlier by Monroe County, NY Sheriff’s deputies at a Henrietta, NY hotel, after she pointed a gun at a woman in a nearby parking lot.
Back at that Monroe County, NY Sheriffs substation, Holly Colino managed to slip out of handcuffs, and escape.
Immediately after Colinos’s escape, Monroe County, NY Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn, went into full damage control spin mode.
But not just damage control spin mode.
Monroe County, NY Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn completely downplayed the escape.
The escape of an accused killer who executed an innocent woman on her lunch break.
Former Monroe County, NY Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn
“As the suspect was being taken into custody, she bolted from the investigators, and after a short chase, she was taken back into custody,” Sheriff O’Flynn told news media, after Colino was captured.
But O’Flynn left out a few important details surrounding Colino’s escape.
Like the fact that the accused killer was on the lose for several hours.
That’s right.
It was more than a “a short chase.”
Holly Colino was lose for several hours.
Not only was it not just “a short chase”, but Monroe County, NY Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn also didn’t mention the fact that his office had to request assistance from New York State Police, in the form of a NYS Police helicopter, in order to locate the accused killer.
Again, that doesn’t sound like “a short chase” to me.
The fact of the matter is that Monroe County, NY Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn knew his office and his deputies screwed up.
And as a result of that screw up, a killer had escaped.
But instead of owning his department’s screw up, Sheriff O’Flynn downplayed a killer’s escape and refused to be transparent with the public.
In other words, he lied.
And Sheriff O’Flynn also refused to take accountability.
Accused killer Holly Colino
Fast forward almost a year later, and there’s a new Sheriff in town.
No, literally, there’s a new Sheriff in town.
Monroe County, NY Sheriff Todd Baxter, who defeated O’Flynn last November.
And right away, Sheriff Todd Baxter, a former United States Army Drill Sergeant, who served years on the Rochester, NY Police Department, as well as serving as Greece, NY Police Chief, is showing that he’ll be a different kind of top cop.
Following an internal investigation after yet another embarrassing escape, this time by Aliyah Burden, a woman 9-months pregnant who managed to slip by a distracted Monroe County, NY Sheriff Deputy on April 30th, while she was being held in custody on petit larceny charges at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, setting off an intense police manhunt which lasted several hours before she was finally caught in the hospital’s parking garage, Monroe County, NY Sheriff Todd Baxter owned his department’s and his deputy’s fuck up.
After the conclusion of the interval investigation, Sheriff Baxter decided that Monroe County, NY Sheriff officials at every level of the organization would be held accountable.
But not only did Monroe County, NY Sheriff Todd Baxter hold members of his department accountable, ordering new training for his deputies when dealing with prisoners, but Sheriff Baxter held himself accountable as well.
Because a Sheriff is an elected position, Baxter can’t suspend himself.
So in a symbolic gesture, Sheriff Baxter is donating one day’s salary to the family of a fallen deputy.
In essence, the move is a sort of self imposed one day suspension.
And as someone who has criticized the Good Ol’ Boys Club culture that still permeates law enforcement to this day, that’s a good start.
You see, in taking accountability for his department, Monroe County, NY Sheriff Todd Baxter did something that former Monroe County, NY Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn never did in the 16 years that he was Sheriff.
Monroe County, NY Sheriff Todd Baxter held himself accountable, taking full responsibility for his department.
And that’s what true leadership is about.
And that’s what being a man is about.
Taking accountability.
And admitting when you and/or your officers are wrong.
And we need more of that in law enforcement.
Good job Sheriff Baxter.
