Jail, transparency and more: What Broome County sheriff candidates say about election

The election to replace outgoing Broome County Sheriff David Harder will match a current law enforcement leader within the department against a former one.

Kate Newcomb, a captain and 30-year veteran of the Broome County Sheriff’s Office, is running on the Democratic ticket opposite Fred Akshar, a Republican who is the department’s former undersheriff and nearing the end of his fourth term representing New York’s 52nd State Senate District.

Akshar was made captain of the law enforcement division in January 2012. In June 2015, he was sworn in as undersheriff, an appointed position second in command to incumbent Sheriff Dave Harder.

Six weeks later, Akshar announced his candidacy in a special election to fill the 52nd State Senate District seat, which was vacated in July 2015 by the late Sen. Tom Libous, a Broome County Republican who was convicted of lying to the FBI.

The Press & Sun-Bulletin / pressconnects.com asked both candidates about issues facing Broome County, including jail administration, bail reform, public transparency and accountability.

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Endorsements from law enforcement employees

Even as senator, Akshar was long favored to replace Harder, who has served as Broome County Sheriff since 1998. He was the first candidate to toss his hat in the ring in June 2021, when Harder announced his coming retirement.

However, Harder publicly endorsed Newcomb last month, a year after she announced her candidacy on the Democratic ticket.

Two weeks after Harder’s announcement, Akshar’s campaign countered with the near-unanimous support of the Broome County Sheriff’s Law Enforcement Association, the union representing active-duty sergeants, detectives, road patrol deputies and sworn officers.

Forty-two of the 46 members present from the organization — which boasts 57 members in total — voted to support Akshar in his bid for sheriff; the remaining four voted to remain neutral.

According to an Oct. 21 announcement by the Law Enforcement Association, a previous vote on the matter yielded a near-even split between support for Akshar and a desire for the group to remain neutral. The tide shifted in Akshar’s favor following Harder’s endorsement of Newcomb, according to the group’s statement.

How Akshar, Newcomb plan to improve transparency

Both candidates pledged to increase the department’s transparency and improve public accountability.

If elected, Newcomb said, she would hold frequent press conferences and issue regular media releases.

“We’re funded by taxpayer dollars, so I think you owe it to them,” she said. “You have to be transparent to the public.”

Akshar criticized the lack of transparency by the current administration, citing a slew of deaths among detainees.

Since 1982, at least 25 people have died in the Broome County Jail or immediately following their release, according to a tally compiled by Justice and Unity for the Southern Tier.

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JUST filed a lawsuit against Harder and the Broome County Jail earlier this year, claiming the latter dragged its feet in reopening jail visitation to the public following restrictions imposed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

In August, a New York State Supreme Court dismissed Harder’s claim in court filings that the ongoing “blanket prohibition” of in-person visitation was justified as part of an ongoing effort to stem the spread of COVID.

Newcomb and Akshar both chalked up the delay to an extreme staffing shortage at the correctional facility, citing 38 positions currently vacant.

Both candidates said they would be amenable to negotiating the addition of part-time positions to alleviate the staffing shortage at the jail, subject to agreement with the corrections union.

Recidivism and responsible reentry

Akshar outlined plans to make medically assisted treatment available to all detainees dealing with addiction and substance use, an approach Newcomb agreed with.

“MAT is an effective standard of care, especially when utilized in conjunction with mental health services and programs,” she said.

Akshar’s campaign pledges to expand access to education and reentry programs in an effort to reduce recidivism rates and prevent the prevalence of “repeat offenders” among the jail’s population.

Newcomb said she plans to use the office of sheriff to advocate for increased funding for and access to social services, mental health and addiction support programs throughout the county as an effort to prevent crime.

Policing in Black communities and bail reform

Asked about his plans to address the Broome County jail’s high incarceration rate of Black people, Akshar touted the efficacy of current department training policies in combating bias and racism.

“Crime doesn’t know color,” he said.

JUST and other advocates have criticized what they describe as the over-policing of Black and other minority communities in Broome County, resulting in the highest incarceration rate of Black people per capita in the state.

Black residents make up about 5% of Broome County’s population, but account for approximately 30% of detainees in the jail, according to data from the state Department of Corrections.

Akshar also railed against New York’s bail reform measures, enacted in 2020, calling the policy an “unmitigated disaster.”

Newcomb advocated for the expansion of the list of offenses that qualify people for bail and urged the importance of judicial discretion when assigning bail.

“While incarceration should never be utilized as a punitive measure for marginalized populations, the health, safety, and well-being of our community is paramount when discussing bail reform,” she said.

Akshar, Newcomb have long history

Employment at the Broome County Sheriff’s Office is not the only common history between the two candidates. The pair were involved in a personal relationship from 2004 to 2017.

During that time, Newcomb was the subject of parallel investigations by both the Broome County District Attorney’s Office and New York State Police regarding a 2009 incident involving Newcomb’s nephew, who pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an injury accident following a one-car crash in the Town of Union.

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Both investigations cleared Newcomb of any wrongdoing or interference with the initial police investigation into the crash.

“If I knew then what I know now, I never would have answered the phone when my nephew called,” Newcomb said in an interview on Oct. 24. “And if I had anything to hide now, I wouldn’t be running for sheriff.”

Akshar, who lived with Newcomb at the time, was also involved in the incident but was not subject to any investigation. He declined to comment in an interview Oct. 25.

Akshar faced ethics questions as state Senator

Akshar also declined to comment on a pair of inquiries that emerged during his time in office.

Jessica Akshar was hired as a part-time staffer in 2011 by Libous. She was transferred out of Akshar’s office in 2018 after her recent employment history came to light, but remained for a time on staff in the Senate Republicans’ central office.

Before marrying the state senator in 2019, State Comptroller’s Office records show Jessica Akshar — then Jessica Williams — received eight pay raises and three promotions during Sen. Akshar’s first two and a half years in office.

A representative from Akshar’s office told the USA TODAY Network’s Albany Bureau at the time Jessica Akshar’s increasing salary was commensurate with the work she was tasked with doing.

In 2019, during Akshar’s third term as state senator, the mother of a murder victim whose case Akshar had investigated as captain of the sheriff’s office, publicly revealed a sexual encounter with Akshar four years prior.

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Akshar acknowledged having what he described as a “brief, consensual relationship” with Mirella Masciarelli, which he said happened sometime after a man was convicted in 2014 of killing two people, including her 24-year-old son, Mario, the previous year.

Masciarelli disputed Akshar’s characterization of their interactions. She accused Akshar of preying on her grief in the months leading up to a one-time sexual encounter in 2015.

In return, Akshar released a statement accusing Masciarelli of attempting to “harass me, my office and my staff with threats and false claims” in recent years.

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Inside Broome County sheriff race: Fred Akshar vs. Kate Newcomb