Content warning: This article contains details about suicide. If you are experiencing thoughts of distress and self-harm, call or text the 988 Lifeline or reach out to Counseling and Psychological Services at Ithaca College at 607-274-3136.
From working on housing authorities and town boards to coaching kids sports, employees in the Ithaca College Office of Public Safety and Emergency Management actively engage in the community beyond their responsibilities as college law enforcement.
OPS community work
Scott Garin, executive director and chief, works as a board member at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, as a kids baseball and basketball coach, and volunteers to help out in South Hill Elementary School classes. He said that in his role as a board member at the GIAC he is able to give scholarships named after Ithaca community leaders like J. Diann Sams, the first Black woman to serve as an alderperson on the City of Ithaca’s Common Council.
“When we give scholarships to young people, and they don’t all come to Ithaca College, but when they do, I’m very happy about it,” Garin said. “They’re in remembrance of some people that have really done some amazing community-based work throughout the greater Ithaca area.”
Lieutenant Loretta Epthimiatos is a commissioner on the Housing Authority of the City of Ithaca — an organization that helps low-income individuals and families find safe affordable housing opportunities. She said the housing authority has a scholarship program for kids living in Section 8 and low-income housing areas to be able to go to college.
“I didn’t come from the best-case scenario situation when I was younger,” Epthimiatos said. “And if I can help kids especially improve, then that’s one of the big things.”
Epthimiatos said she thinks it is important for law enforcement to be engaged in the communities they work in.
“I live in the community, and I want to be part of the community,” Epthimiatos said. “It helps me be part of it.”
Patrol Officer Steven Hutchison, whose chili team donated the winnings from the 2025 Ithaca Chili Fest to Foodnet Meals on Wheels, and Corporal Kevin “KP” McClain, who coaches youth sports, said they believe OPS employees are driven to work there and engage in community work out of a desire to help others.
“This is our calling for how we can give back,” Hutchison said. “But everybody has their passion and the way that they can support others and help the community too. So get involved.”
Softball tournament for suicide prevention
Since 2024, OPS has organized an annual summer softball tournament at Kostrinsky Field to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The Cornell University Police Department, the Ithaca Police Department and the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office participate in the tournament along with OPS.
Law enforcement officers are 54% more likely to die by suicide than the civilian population. Elyse Nepa, assistant director of Clery Act and prevention education, said part of the reason the softball tournament raises money for the AFSP is because of the high suicide rate among law enforcement officers.
“This is an issue that touches so many of us in one way or another,” Nepa said. “It’s preventing somebody from committing suicide by making sure that we’re advocating for the resources that they need … and also should an individual commit suicide, making sure that there’s support for their families and those that are still living with the impact of such a significant and oftentimes sudden loss that they’re experiencing.”
Crystal Young, administrative operations coordinator, said raising money for suicide prevention is important to her because she worked with an OPS officer who died by suicide. Sergeant Keith Lee worked in OPS for 25 years before he died by suicide in June 2005. Young said that before Lee’s death, he had sustained a knee injury that left him unable to return to work.
“He was seeing that it may be a possibility that he wasn’t going to be able to come back,” Young said. “And it was his life. He loved being a police officer. He loved working with the students. He loved working at the college.”
Garin, who previously worked in the Ithaca Police Department, said the stressful situations and traumatic incidents law enforcement officers are exposed to on the job can weigh on them. He has been able to get past trying moments through finding community with fellow officers.
“Teamwork is essential to being effective at being a first responder,” Garin said. “And the more that you are aware of, prepared for or trained to recognize all components of what keeps people healthy, I think the better in general, your agency will be and the people will be.”
