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Gordon Dibble looks back on 43 years of good luck on his last day with the Sheriff's Office

By Howard B. Owens

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In the time the world has gone from rotary phones to smartphones, and the nation has gone from Nixon to Trump, and Adam-12 and Kojak on network TV to viewers streaming Fargo and True Detective, Gordon Dibble has lived out a career in law enforcement.

Not much has changed in 43 years, though.

Dibble said the thrill for cops is still in catching the bad guys.

"Well, you know, the best part about it, and it sounds funny, but we all get in this job to catch the bad guys," Dibble said during his retirement party Friday at the Sheriff's Office. "That's really what we're here for. So, so many times you know who's done the crime. You can't prove it. You can't get them. And that's the most frustrating part.

"But when you're actually involved in catching one of them, physically catching them, like you chase them and you know it is somebody who you know did something wrong, and you know you know, and you get to chase them and maybe physically catch them, I think that was one of the more rewarding things that a guy (in law enforcement) will do."

Dibble feels fortunate to spent his entire career with the Genesee County Sheriff's Office.

He was hired Jan. 6, 1973, by then-Sheriff Roy Wullich, who was six days into his new job, making Dibble his first hire. Dibble, who spent four years in Chicago going to college and getting a degree in corrections, was assigned -- like all new deputies then -- to the jail. After a year, he was transferred to road patrol. After five years on the road, he became the juvenile officer. Then, in 1996, he was put in charge of road patrol with the title of chief deputy.

For a lot of people who work in law enforcement, they call it a career after 21 years. That's how long Dibble headed up road patrol after already putting 22 years in the Sheriff's Office.

"I think that people in this line of work," Dibble said, "they're either the 20-and-out type of people and they're going to maybe go do something different or you're here, you know it, and maybe hopefully become the sheriff or the undersheriff or whatever. You know I think that those are pretty common tracks.

"I was lucky," Dibble added. "I mean, I got different things to do and not everybody gets to do that. There are a lot of great people here that don't get those opportunities because it's just a small department."

Dibble said he was also lucky to work in the kind of job where you never know what your workday is going to be like when you show up at the office. Every day is different and unpredictable. That made 43 years go by fast.

"I know when I worked in factories that clock never moved on a wall," Dibble said. "But this job, you know, days went by, weeks, and months went by, years went by like nothing," repeating with emphasis, "like nothing."

During his farewell speech, Dibble said he felt lucky to work with a lot of good people, not just in the Sheriff's Office, but with Batavia PD, Le Roy PD, State Police, the County Legislature, and other agencies that interact with local law enforcement, and even the local media.

"That's why small towns are great," Dibble said. "Everybody knows everybody and we all want to get the job done."

At the end of our interview, asked if there was anything else he wanted to add, Dibble came back to the theme that he shared during the interview and his farewell speech, how lucky he has been.

"I'm very lucky that I've worked for a great department," he said before taking a long pause, " ... with some really good people. Like I said, I'm a lucky guy. That's all."

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Jail Superintendent William Zipfel, Undersheriff Gregory Walker, retired Chief Deputy Gordon Dibble, Sheriff William Sheron, Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster.

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The incoming chief deputy of road patrol, Joseph Graff, and Gordan Dibble have fun changing name plates on Dibble's old office.

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Gordon L. Dibble of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office attends statewide training program

By Billie Owens

Upon completion of the Law Enforcement Division Supervisors Training Program, Gordon L. Dibble of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, left, receives certificate from Chris Moss, president of the New York State Sheriffs’ Association and Sheriff of Chemung County Sheriff.

Forty-five law enforcement supervisors from 30 sheriff’s offices around the state attended the 17th annual Law Enforcement Division Supervisor’s Continuing Education Program at the Gideon Putnam Hotel in Saratoga Springs last week.

As the chief officer in the sheriff’s road patrol division, law enforcement supervisors are responsible for criminal and traffic law enforcement, sex offender management, investigations, and administrative matters for their divisions.

The three-day program, sponsored and organized by the New York State Sheriffs’ Association and the New York State Sheriffs' Institute, provides participants with training in the latest advances in law enforcement.

Sessions included: an ICE review and update by Dennis Rau from the NYS Division of Homeland Security; a case study of how to handle a criminal case in the national spotlight by St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells; a review of New York’s Crime Statistics by NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services Executive Deputy Commissioner Michael Green; and a case study of the shooting of Johnson City Police Officer David Smith by Broome County Undersheriff Alex Minor.

The New York State Sheriffs’ Association, Inc., is a not-for-profit corporation, formed in 1934 to assist sheriffs in the efficient and effective delivery of services to the public. It comprises all of the elected and appointed sheriffs of New York State.

Visit http://www.nysheriffs.org

The New York State Sheriffs’ Association Institute, Inc., was established in 1979. The mission of the Institute is to assist the office of the sheriff in advancing education in the criminal justice community, preventing juvenile delinquency, developing lawful and productive citizens, and supporting victims of crime and their families.

Visit http://www.nysheriffsinstitute.org

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