Zone Sergeant David M. Corbine

Dave and I were roommates for several years at SP Clarkson in the 60's. We had many hellish times together both on and off the job. We worked hard and played together day in and out.

One "A" shift, about 3am, I was driving and Dave was snoozing. He had had a rough off duty night, the night before. I pulled over a suspicious car occupied by two men. When slowing, I shook Dave to let him know what was happening. It turned out the car had been stolen from Rochester and both men were arrested. Back at the Troop Car, I shook Dave and borrowed his handcuffs for the second prisoner as he shook off the cobwebs. We arraigned them and they were lodged in the Monroe County Jail

A month or so later, Dave being senior to me by about a year, received a Troop Commander's Commendation citing his attention to detail, alert behavior and overall vigilance. I got an "Atta-boy." I never let him live it down and he, in turn, teased me for years to come. However, I had the last laugh. I made Sergeant first. There really is a lot of humor on the "inside."

As our Lewis County DA Nat Merrell once said, " When people drive past that building (SP Lowville) if they ever knew what went on inside, instead of tightening up, they would drive into the ditch...laughing."

And yes, Dave is from Lowville, a place I'd never heard of until meeting him. In fact he frequently spoke of Boonville, which I refused to believe existed until looking it up on a map. I love him like a brother and cherish the evening, years later, when my wife and I had dinner with him, his wife and young daughter at their home near Syracuse.

RIP my brother.

Sergeant/Station Commander (Ret)
New York State Police July 13, 2021

July 13, 2021