William J. Kemble is reporting for the Daily Freeman the Saugerties Police Department will pull out of the multi-agency law-enforcement team known as URGENT. Instead, the department has chosen to work with the Ulster County Department of Social Services to investigate domestic violence cases. The Saugerties Town Board voted May 15, to sever ties with the 12-year-old Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team. Town officials noted the county will give the town $75,000 per year for two years to support the work of a Saugerties police investigator exclusively focused on domestic violence cases. The town has received no reimbursement for the URGENT work. “We have a very serious domestic violence issue in Saugerties that we’ve been trying to address for years,” said Saugerties Police Chief Joseph Sinagra. The Saugerties investigator will work on domestic violence cases throughout Ulster County, not just in Saugerties, but could be recalled to work solely on Saugerties cases if needed. Saugerties is not the first municipality to withdraw from the multi-agency team. The town of Ulster Police Department withdrew from URGENT in 2010, and the city of Kingston Police Department followed in 2012. Read the full story in the Daily Freeman.