In January of 2018, Suffolk County became safer. This was the month that Errol D. Toulon Jr. assumed the position of sheriff—Suffolk County’s highest ranking law enforcement official. Elected that prior November, Toulon brought to the table a skill set that few possessed, to fill a position tasked at keeping more than 1 million Long Islanders safe.
Toulon’s career of service prepared him for this moment, with more than 30 years of criminal justice experience. With the intimate knowledge of the needs of the Suffolk County sheriff’s office after serving 25 years with New York City Department of Corrections, 22 of which were spent as a corrections officer captain and his final three he was appointed the deputy commissioner of operations, Toulon was now the leader of 840 corrections officers, 240 deputies and 130 civilian employees, across two detention facilities.
Now, after three years at the post, his mission remains the same as it was on day one: reduce recidivism, do so with fiscal responsibility and use state-of-the-art methodology to reduce crime in Suffolk neighborhoods.
“The first thing I did when I took office was that I wanted to ensure the public’s trust and faith in the sheriff’s office,” said Toulon. “I was in one or two schools a week, talking about the issues that face our children and also … [more]