Suffolk County Sheriff's Office History The origin of the Sheriff is traceable to the Office of the Sheriff and Constable of early English history. On Long Island, from 1664 to 1683, ridings were used to establish boundaries within the Shire. The East riding comprised the territory now occupied by Suffolk County. The West riding consisted of Kings County and Newtown (Queens). The remainder of Long Island belonged to the North riding. Collectively, the three ridings were called Yorkshire. The Governor appointed a “High Sheriff” for Yorkshire with a Deputy from each riding. In 1683, the ridings were abolished and the East riding became Suffolk County. The High Sheriff was no longer necessary being that each County would now have its own Sheriff. Suffolk County’s first Sheriff was Josiah Hobart in 1683. After the American Revolution, the practice of the Governor appointing a Sheriff continued and was incorporated into the first Constitution adopted in New York in 1777. At the Constitutional Convention in 1821, the appointed Office of the Sheriff was made elective. That year, Abraham Gardiner became Suffolk County’s first elected Sheriff. Today, the Sheriff of Suffolk County is elected to the term of four years. On January 1, 2018, Dr. Errol D. Toulon, Jr. became the 67th Sheriff of Suffolk County and the County`s first African American Sheriff in Suffolk County history. Please scroll through a pictorial history of the the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office. History of the Suffolk County Jail Facilities The first Suffolk County Jail was erected in 1727 on the north side of Main Street in Riverhead at the site of former Perkins store. A bronze plaque placed there by the Suffolk County Historical Society marks the site. This jail was severely damaged during the Revolutionary War and had to be rebuilt in 1784. Continuous enlargements and improvements were made throughout the next 75 years until a new site on Griffing Avenue was purchased and a court house and jail built of brick and stone was erected in 1855. This jail was a separate two story octagonal stone building located at the rear of the court house. The cells were also arranged in an octagon, each cell going back almost to a point with the floor resembling the shape of a piece of pie. It was enlarged in 1881, adding a third floor to this unusually shaped building. In 1911, a new jail was built after the state deemed the octagon jail "unsanitary, overcrowded, and a breeding place for immorality - a relic of the dark ages, a disgrace and a stigma upon the county." The massive stone blocks used in the old octagon jail can be found around the flag pole at the current Riverhead Correctional Facility, comprising a monument to fallen officers and deputies. The 1911 jail was designed to hold 136 inmates but quickly grew to over 200 inmates with overflow housed in the Nassau County Jail at $4.50 per inmate per day. Once again, age and overcrowding turned the 1911 building into a substandard jail falling short of the minimum standards set by the State Corrections Department. In 1961, the Yaphank Penal Farm Building (Honor Farm) was opened. The main reason for erecting this facility was to relieve the overcrowding at the County Jail in Riverhead. However, by locating this building in close proximity to the County Farm, the county saved the time and expense of transporting the inmate farm workers to and from the Riverhead Jail on a daily basis. Work on the Suffolk County Farm was performed almost exclusively by the inmates. This provided the men with a healthy environment and a sense of self-respect. Moreover, the farm provided about 80% of all food consumed at the Suffolk County Jail, the Children's Shelter, the County Infirmary, and the Honor Farm Annex itself. The 1965 inspection of the Suffolk County Jail, conducted by the State Commission of Correction, pointed out the need for construction of a new jail with enlarged and modern facilities. Groundbreaking for the new jail took place on March 15, 1966. Three years later, on January 24, 1969, the state certified the cells for occupancy. However, due to lack of adequate staff, the new jail was not operational until August 28, 1969, when the 190 inmates from the 1911 jail were transferred to the new modern jail. In an effort to boost the morale of the department, in 1977 Sheriff Finnerty requested that the name of the Suffolk County Jail be changed. Therefore, by an act of the Suffolk County Legislature, the jail was renamed the Suffolk County Correctional Facility, while the Honor Farm was renamed the Suffolk County Minimum Security Correctional Facility. In 1980, due to ongoing overcrowding, a 200 bed addition was approved for the Minimum Security Facility in Yaphank. Overcrowding continued, however, despite this addition, and a 300 additional cells were added to the Riverhead Correctional facility creating a Medium Security addition. In 2013, a major addition was added to the Correctional Facility in Yaphank including six pods consisting of 60 cells each. A modern medical unit, medical housing unit, visiting area, and booking and processing unit were also added. This changed the facility from the Suffolk County Minimum Security Correctional Facility to the Yaphank Correctional Facility. Both the Yaphank and the Riverhead Correctional Facilities could now house inmates of all three security classifications. Suffolk County Sheriffs Throughout History 1. Josiah Hobart 1683-1701 2. John Mulford 1701-1702 3. Hugh Gray 1702-1710 4. John Brush 1710-1718 5. Daniel Youngs 1718-1723 6. Samuel Dayton 1723-1728 7. William Sell 1728-1730 8. Joseph Smith 1730-1731 9. David Corrie 1731-1734 10. Jacob Conklin 1734-1740 11. Thomas Higbe 1740-1774 12. James Muirson 1774-1785 13. Thomas Wickes 1785-1787 1791-1799 14. Silas Halsey 1787-1791 15. Phineas Carll 1799-1803 16. Josiah Reeve 1803-1807 1808-1810 1811-1812 1813-1814 1815-1819 17. Phineas Smith 1807-1808 18. Benjamin Brewster 1810-1811 1812-1813 19. Nathaniel Conklin 1814-1815 20. Samuel Carll 1819-1821 21. Abraham Gardiner 1821-1826 1829-1832 22. Samuel Smith 1826-1829 23. Richard Smith 1832-1835 24. Silas Horton 1835-1838 25. Samuel Miller 1838-1841 26. David Brush 1841-1844 27. Henry Penny 1844-1847 28. David Rose 1847-1850 29. John Clark 1850-1855 30. Samuel Phillips 1855-1856 31. George Carman 1856-1859 32. Stephen Wilson 1859-1862 33. Daniel Osborn 1862-1868 34. George Smith 1868-1871 35. J. Henry Perkins 1871-1874 36. Egbert Lewis 1874-1877 37. George Cooper 1877-1878 38. Robert Petty 1878-1883 1888-1891 39. Selah Brewster 1883-1886 40. Henry Halsey 1886-1888 41. A.M. Darling 1891-1897 42. Benjamin Wood 1897-1900 43. J. Sheridan Wells 1900-1903 44. Henry Preston 1903-1906 45. John Wells 1906-1909 46. Charles Platt 1909-1912 47. Melville Brush 1912-1913 48. D. Henry Brown 1913-1914 49. Charles O'Dell 1914-1917 50. Amza Biggs 1917-1920 1923-1926 51. John Kelly 1920-1923 52. Burton Howe 1926-1929 53. Ellis Taylor 1929-1932 54. Joseph Warta 1932-1935 55. William McCollom 1935-1938 1942-1957 56. Jacob Dreyer 1938-1941 57. John Levy 1941-1942 58. Charles Dominy 1957-1962 59. Frank Gross 1962-1970 60. Philip Corso 1970-1976 61. Donald Dilworth 1976-1977 62. John Finnerty 1977-1986 63. Eugene Dooley 1986-1990 63. Patrick Mahoney 1990-2002 65. Alfred C. Tisch 2002-2006 66. Vincent F. DeMarco 2006-2018 67. Dr. Errol D. Toulon, Jr. 2018- Current

The mission of SHP & the Sheriff's Office collaboration is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence. Sandy Hook Promise In December of 2017, then Sheriff-Elect Errol Toulon, Jr. attended a gala in New York City for the Sandy Hook Promise Organization. There he met with Mark Barden, one of the founders of Sandy Hook Promise and the father of Daniel, one of the young children killed in Sandy Hook Elementary School. Sheriff Toulon was so moved by this organization, that out of something tragic, built a school safety program that empowers students, teachers, and the community to become empowered bystanders. Upon taking office in January 2018, his first community initiative was to partner with Sandy Hook Promise to bring their programming to all Suffolk County schools. Sheriff Toulon was an invited speaker at the 2019 Sandy Hook Promise Gala in Washington, DC, Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. talks about what inspired him to join the movement to honor the victims and families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting by preventing more tragedy. Under Sheriff Toulon's leadership, school safety and protecting youth from violence and self-harm is a priority of his work in public office. By partnering with Sandy Hook Promise-- and becoming Promise Leaders, Suffolk's Correction Officers & Deputy Sheriffs are teaching students everywhere to know the signs of someone in distress and to say something to a trusted adult. Suffolk County Deputy Sheriffs and Correction Officers are specially trained to teach the Sandy Hook Promise program in schools and for community groups. Learn more about the two programs: Start with Hello Start With Hello teaches students to be more socially inclusive and connected to each other. With activities and curricula available for all ages, students are empowered to end social isolation in three easy steps. Step 1: See someone alone. Learn how to recognize the signs of loneliness and social isolation. Step 2: Reach Out And Help. Find out what you can do to help others feel included. Step 3: Start With Hello. Discover how to break the ice and strike up a conversation. Say Something The goal of the Say Something Program is to teach students how to look for warning signs, signals, and threats, especially in social media, of an individual who may be a threat to themselves or others and to say something to a trusted adult to get help. We want to teach students to understand and recognize warning signs and threats, how to act immediately, take it seriously, understand strategies to take action, and overcome potential barriers to being an “upstander” rather than a “bystander." Ultimately, the student is taught to seek out a trusted adult. Request a Program

LIFE IN LAW ENFORCEMENT ASK THE MEN & WOMEN OF THE SUFFOLK COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE First Name Last Name Email Phone Town Thanks for registering! We will see you on Thursday, May 1st. Send Yaphank Correctional Facility 200 Suffolk Ave, Yaphank Thursday, May 1st 6:00-7:00pm

CONTACT THE TEAM MORE INFORMATION DOWNLOAD THE APP

Press Contact: For all media or press inquiries, please contact the Public Relations Office. Vicki DiStefano Public Information Officer Office: 631-852-3436 Email: victoria.distefano@suffolkcountyny.gov ​ THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE IN RECENT MEDIA: Press Releases PRESS RELEASES Aún no hay ninguna entrada publicada en este idioma Una vez que se publiquen entradas, las verás aquí. Media Clips TV Click on an image to watch the story: PRINT NEWS STORIES Click on an image to read the story: Top of Page Press Contact Information Press Releases TV News Reports Print News Stories