University Police officer deployed to New York City

Allen Saxby grew up in Windsor, N.Y., a stone’s throw from where he works now. But, as a member of the Air Force National Guard, he’s a bit further from home — deployed to New York City (NYC) to assist on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m currently in Manhattan as part of a joint task force down here in the city, working with emergency management,” Saxby said. “Our duties are to respond to different locations in the city, with the medical examiner, and we are dealing with fatality management.”

With a wife and two teenagers at home in Windsor, he’s thankful for technology. “With FaceTime and with social media, we’re able to keep in touch with each other,” he said. “Cell phones are a major line of communication down here, even with the military operations.”

Following his plan

“I knew that I always wanted to serve my country right out of high school,” Saxby said. “I knew that it would look good if I did some time in the military and I had always wanted to be a police officer, so that was my initial thought, going in after high school. And then, you know, the camaraderie. It all really allowed me to continue and make it a career.

“I started off my career right after high school, in the Army,” he said, where he spent three years overseas, including in Bosnia.

Returning to his roots after his discharge, he continued his education at SUNY Broome Community College and Binghamton University, and brought his plan to become a police officer to fruition. He’s been a police officer with New York State Police at Binghamton University for the past 13 years.

He also joined the Army National Guard in time to be deployed to New York City after 911.

“We were here 12 hours after the planes hit the towers for nearly a month,” he said. “And then, about a year later there was a terrorist threat on the subway system, and so we came down and spent another month down here, with the NYPD, in the subway system.

“So, this my third time down here now,” he said. (He’s been there since Wednesday, April 1.)

Now a member of the Air Force National Guard, Saxby received his orders to respond to New York City through his chain of command, but can’t get into specifics about his day-to-day duties during his deployment.

Nor does he know for sure how long he will be deployed. “Right now, we’re being told 30-some days, but everything is very fluid, so we don’t know when this stuff is going to change,” he said. “There’s very few of us Air Force compared to Army, but we have special training in mortuary type needs.”

As a University Police officer, Saxby is stationed at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Johnson City, working with the Johnson City Police and “responding to calls, doing a lot of community policing and educating students on safety and good practices like vehicle and traffic safety.”

Being a police officer on campus is a unique environment, Saxby said. “We police a little bit differently. We stay more in touch with our community. And, we’re able to reach out to them, better than a lot of police departments, so, yeah — I definitely enjoy it. “

A first responder’s advice

It’s a scary situation, Saxby said. “Recently, we (NYC) had our first slight decrease in deaths, so we’re hoping that it’s plateauing at this point. I feel like more people than should be are out. But, obviously, you can’t shut down everything. You know, people have to eat and need to go out for the essentials, groceries, and what have you.

“But just continue,” he said. “Continue supporting the first responders, the healthcare workers, and we ask you to do what the governor says. Stay in. Let’s flatten the curve, which will lessen the curve of the coronavirus for everybody.”

And wear a face mask, he said. “Pretty much everywhere here everyone is wearing some type of a face shield or mask. We’re pretty much not going anywhere outside of our hotel room without the mask on and that seems to be helping. Keeping your social distance from people. Washing your hands. Don’t touch your face. I think that’s huge. If people would just be cognizant of not touching their face, it would help — definitely.”

Thankful for support

Saxby can’t give his wife, Heather, enough credit for making it possible. “She’s always like, ‘You are a person who serves. You know we’ll have everything covered back here for you. I’ll hold down the fort, make sure the kids are taken care of.’

“So I do want to stress, for all of us first responders, that our families deserve just as much credit as we do, because they’re doing everything that we can’t do while we’re gone helping the people of New York City down here.

“And, I would love to give a shout out to my administration and the University Police. They are helping us out and they’ve given us some essential supplies that they’re short of down here like hand sanitizer,” he added. “It’s peace of mind.”