What do you get when you’re married to your job and the love of your life at the same time?
You get married Kirkland Police Department officers Leanne and Alfred Montegari.
Leanne is a full-time officer at the KPD, and Alfred is part time at the department and full-time as a New York State Corrections deputy superintendent for security in Rome.
Leanne, from downstate Orange County, always knew she wanted to be in law enforcement. She grew up on a dairy farm and knew that farming was something she didn’t want to do.
Her grandfather was a City of Albany detective-sergeant. Her uncles were also Albany police officers.
“I always loved what they did. So, that was my ultimate goal,” she said.
She became a corrections officer in 1998 at Green Haven Correctional Facility. It was also where the now-married couple met. Alfred was a sergeant in Corrections at the time.
Alfred, from Dutchess County, also downstate, said he was interested in law enforcement from a young age. His mother’s cousin, a police officer, was someone Alfred looked up to.
He took the Corrections exam and police officer exam at the same time. In 1994, Corrections called first.
He worked at various facilitates and then spent 12 years at Green Haven, where he worked his way up to sergeant.
“We really liked working together,” Alfred said of their time at the Green Haven facility. “We drove together. When we were at the jail together, we were on the same squad and same shift.
“We did tons of things together. I became in charge of the honor guard. And she came onto the honor guard with me. We did parades together. We did honor details for fallen staff. We used to compete in the Corrections Olympics with the honor guard. We lived, breathed and ate the job all together.”
In 2004, Alfred learned he was eligible for a part-time police officer position. The next year, the couple married.
“We meshed very well. We were on the same page with work and work ethic. We helped each other out. Anywhere we worked, we’d do projects together,” Alfred said.
He said sometimes the couple would be paired together at work because they worked so well together.
“Tons of things they’d put us together on. Where’d you think a husband and a wife would clash, we actually worked together really good,”...
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