CPD promotes officer to new detective post tasked with ‘red flag’ cases 

The Carmel Police Department has promoted one of its patrol officers to the rank of detective in an effort to reduce the burden investigators face when dealing with extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs), also known as “red flag” orders. 

ERPOs are designed to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed a danger to themselves or others by a court. The law allows family members, law enforcement, and school officials to petition for intervention. 

Acting in its role as the Board of Commissioners for the police department, the Town Board unanimously approved the probationary promotion of Officer Scott Fiske to the position of detective, effective immediately, subject to the provisions of Civil Service law, at its Jan. 21 meeting. 

“There have been a lot of changes in policing since 2020. One of them has been the extreme risk protection order, or ERPO,” Police Chief Anthony Hoffmann explained to the board. “The red flag order states that a court can temporarily suspend someone’s firearm ownership while they go through a proceeding for a criminal matter.” 

Hoffmann said that while the law has good intentions aimed at keeping the community safe, many times such policies “aren’t fully thought out.” 

“Sometimes we encounter a burden, especially for smaller agencies such as ours, where these ERPOs aren’t criminal matters, and the district attorney isn’t necessarily going to handle them, and they are beyond the scope of a municipal attorney,” Hoffmann said. “So, who does it fall to? It falls to the police departments.” 

Hoffmann said that when his department receives ERPO requests, it is often the detectives who must investigate the matter, prepare the paperwork and appear before a judge to obtain the order. 

“We have found that sometimes our detectives must drop what they are doing, including the caseloads they are working on, and dedicate their time solely to this ERPO preparation for anywhere from 24 to 72 hours,” the chief said. “Thankfully, in 2024, the state recognized this imbalance and provided funding from the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) for crisis intervention. We applied for it using Sgt. Erin Macom and our grant writer for the creation of an ERPO detective position, which would give us an additional detective in our squad who would take on these investigations, prepare them and spread the work out, allowing our detectives to continue their existing caseloads.” 

Hoffmann said the DCJS grant funding is limited to 36 months, after which the Town Board and police department can reassess the need to continue the position. 

“The grant is only for a certain period, and then we can revisit it,” Hoffmann told Mahopac News. “We want to see if the workload justifies this position.” 

Under an agreement with the Police Benevolent Association, the union representing the police force, the patrol officer position formerly held by Fiske will not be replaced at this time, according to Hoffmann. 

The chief said it is not necessarily the volume of red flag cases the department receives, but rather the disruption they cause to ongoing investigations. 

“When they do come in, we drop everything and concentrate on them,” he said. “We get referrals from a lot of different avenues, and a detective has to follow up on them. This isn’t a criminal proceeding, so the district attorney can’t help us. There is kind of a limbo, and our detectives have to do everything.” 

Hoffmann said Fiske was the ideal candidate for the newly created role. 

“We interviewed a number of officers who applied for the position, and Officer Scott Fiske was the clear choice,” he told the board. “He is a Mahopac native and a graduate of Mahopac High School. He has been in law enforcement for eight years. He started with the NYPD.” 

Hoffmann said Fiske had a distinguished career with the NYPD’s 47th Precinct, serving on the Public Safety Team in plain clothes as a field intelligence officer. He also worked as a police officer investigator with the precinct’s detective squad. 

“He came to the Carmel Police Department in the summer of 2024 and did exemplary work as a patrol officer, assisting with large-scale investigations such as narcotics and weapons cases,” Hoffmann said. “In fact, he was almost late for his interview for this position because he was in the middle of an elder scam investigation that he was contributing to.”