Posted by Joel Keefer on Aug 24, 2018
Pictured L-R: Vince Horrigan, Jim Quattrone & Katie Geise
 
Our speaker today was no stranger to the club. Jim Quattrone was introduced by Vince Horrigan. Jim spoke to the club recently about the United Christian Advocacy Network City Mission (formerly the Union Gospel Mission). Jim is currently the Executive Director.
 
Jim was here today to speak in regards to his campaign for the position of Chautauqua County Sheriff. Current Sheriff Joe Gerace will be speaking to the club in the next few weeks.
 
Jim has 30 years in Law Enforcement on his resume, 15 of those years in a supervisory capacity. He has also volunteered in various agencies, working with Mental Health and addiction issues. 
 
As part of his speech, Jim mentioned that he is striving for improved, efficient, effective law enforcement. He also wants to create law enforcement partnerships to combat the drug epidemic. One of the biggest issues facing our County Jail is the repeat offenders who continue to be incarcerated there. Jim stressed that we need to keep people from returning to jail, as it takes a toll on the budget. 
 
We need to be smarter in how we handle these folks, Jim said. And mentoring is one of the ways Jim feels will help decrease the repeat offender issue. We still need to arrest people, Jim said, but let's try to do that less by offering mentoring more! 
 
Jim also stated that we need to get back to the basics of law enforcement, by reaching out to the community, strengthening Neighborhood Watch groups, and not staying in "silos". All law enforcement needs to work together, however, Jim it not saying that agencies need to be combined. 
 
In conclusion, Jim (who has lived here all his life) said that Chautauqua County is a great place to live, and that he wants to serve the residents of the County as their next Sheriff.