Gov. Cuomo, Suffolk Sheriff's Office go back and forth over Thanksgiving gathering order

Cuomo blasted the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office in the wake of a recent tweet that is would "not be participating in enforcement of Thanksgiving gatherings."

News 12 Staff

Nov 25, 2020, 3:16 AM

Updated 1,492 days ago

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Suffolk Sheriff's Office have continued to trade barbs over his executive order limiting the size of holiday gatherings.
Cuomo blasted the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office in the wake of a recent tweet that is would "not be participating in enforcement of Thanksgiving gatherings."
Sheriff Errol Toulon's Twitter post was in response to a state mandate limiting gatherings in private homes to 10 people.
"Sheriff says well, politically I disagree with that. Well, are you a politician or you a law enforcement officer? You have to pick," says Cuomo. "Because it's very dangerous when a law enforcement officer says, I'm only going to enforce the laws that I agree with."
Cuomo's says his concern for COVID-19 spread in connection to holiday gatherings shouldn't be looked at as a political situation.
Melissa DeRosa, the secretary to the governor, also slammed Toulon's stance, saying, "I believe the sheriff's jurisdiction in Suffolk is actually the jails, not the constituents. So his opinion on this is even more irrelevant."
But the sheriff fired back in a statement, saying in part, "The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office has a police division with jurisdiction throughout Suffolk County. Our deputies are involved in international narcotics and trafficking investigations, serve lawful warrants for thousands of domestic violence cases, handle evictions and make arrests."
County officials say officers will not be going door-to-door to count occupants inside a home, but they will respond to complaints made by residents.