Protecting Clarence: New York State Police's roll in the community

“We just got dispatched to a call. A women found, well she’s home and there were two cars that were parked in her driveway for about half an hour," David Ziemba, a New York State Police officer, said.

Ziemba has been a New York State Police officer in Clarence for 12 years. He’s been with his trusty side-kick Arny for the past year and a half.

“He loves the attention. I tell everyone he’s okay to pet just warning he’s going to lean on you. He’s a leaner," Ziemba said.

The Town of Clarence doesn’t have its own police department, it’s too small. For about 100 years, state troopers have patrolled these streets, keeping Clarence safe.

“The state police was formed in 1917 for communities exactly like Clarence that don’t have a police department," Captain Steven Grapp said. “You name it we do it all, there some days where its really quiet and low key in terms of call volume and there's other days its hard to catch a break”

While state troopers have had a presence in Clarence for roughly a century, they've only called this brand-new $6.8 million Public Safety Building on the Town Hall campus home for about a year.

“As the town has grown as the community has grown, from 1975 when we occupied that building there was about 18,00 people in Clarence, now there’s 30,000," Grapp said.

But as times change, one thing stays constant with these troopers.

“I like to give back to the community,” Ziemba said.

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