Public Safety Committee approves salary change, multiple grants and regional partnership agreements

The Chautauqua County Public Safety Committee moved and carried a set of resolutions covering personnel classification, grants and budget adjustments during its September meeting.

Actions approved by voice vote included setting a new salary grade for a digital forensic investigator assigned to the district attorney's office; accepting victim assistance program funding for 2025–2028; amending the 2025 budget for the Department of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Fly Car and Ambulance Services; amending the 2026 budget for the Office of Emergency Services (OES) to accept a fiscal-year-2022 technical-rescue and urban-search-and-rescue (USAR) grant; acceptance of a New York State Office of Homeland Security explosive-detection K-9 grant for the sheriff’s office; acceptance of a New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee grant for police traffic services (fiscal year 2026); and authorization to enter regional partnership agreements for a tactical team program.

Digital forensic investigator salary: Sam Zafuto, deputy director of finance for the district attorney’s office, said the county has reclassified an employee to a new title, "digital forensic…