Mission Statement

The Rockland County Sheriff's Police Division is dedicated to the protection of life and property, prevention of crime through patrol and enforcement, without prejudice, and the provision of a safer environment in which our citizens can live, work, and pursue a better quality of life.


Core Values

  • ACCOUNTABILITY: the fact or condition of being accountable; responsibility.
  • COMMITMENT: the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.
  • TEAMWORK: the combined action of a group of people, especially when effective and efficient.

General Functions of the Police Division

The Rockland County Sheriff’s Patrol is the Police Division of the Sheriff’s Office. It is a police agency at the county level responsible for the protection of county properties, roads, thoroughfares, holdings and interests. The Division will handle any and all complaints occurring in or on Rockland county properties. This is accomplished under the direction of the Sheriff by utilizing aggressive modern police patrol techniques. The Division will assist any and all outside agencies, resources permitting, as requested by that agency. The organization is headed by the Chief, has one Captain and five Lieutenants, thirteen Sergeants and fifty Patrol Officers. It has several sub–units such as Marine, Mounted, Crime Scene, Arson Bomb, K9, Intelligence and Computer crimes. Each sub unit performs specialized and distinct functions. The units are staffed by well-trained police officers supported by a civilian complement of clerical and technical workers.

Accreditation

The Police Division is an accredited agency, participating in the Law Enforecement Agency Accreditation Program.


Police Division Units

Command Staff

Uniform Patrol

This is a 24/7, 365-days a year operation. Officers are assigned to conduct the primary and basic function of the Division’s mission, which is the provision of public safety services to the County of Rockland. These services include physical security and police response to all county operating centers, facilities and holdings including but is not limited to:

  • The Robert L. Yeager Health Complex
  • The New City Government Complex
  • Rockland County Jail
  • Rockland Community College
  • Rockland County Sewer Department
  • County roads
  • County Parks
  • All county owned properties and buildings

Officers of the uniform road patrol also provide local law enforcement assistance, when requested, in the areas of:

  • County Court and Family Court
  • Warrant Executions
  • Missing Persons
  • Local Disasters and other Law Enforcement Emergencies
  • Joint Law Enforcement Operations
  • Crowd Control and Traffic Enforcement
  • Commercial Vehicle Enforcement
  • Calls for service in local jurisdictions when requested
  • Some examples of Law Enforcement assists:
  1. - Town of Orangetown Police: St. Patrick's Day Parade
  2. - Town of Haverstraw Police: Latin Day Parade, Haverstraw Fireworks
  3. - Town of Stony Point Police: Wayne Day
  4. - Village of Suffern Police: Suffern High School Graduation
  5. - Village of Spring Valley: Unity Day, Ecuadorian Parade
  6. - Village of Piermont Police: Bastille Day, Piermont River Day

Officers also provide traffic safety services such as:

  • Child Passenger Safety - The Sheriff’s Police Division runs a monthly fitting station where child seats are checked and parents/guardians are instructed in proper installation and use, by trained technicians. Please click on the following link to go to our Child Passenger Safety page for more information.
  • Police Traffic Services - the Sheriff’s Police Division conducts targeted vehicle and traffic enforcement like red light, seat belt and distracted driving (texting and cell phone) violations as well as other funded programs received through grants from the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee.
  • Railroad Speed Checks - the Sheriff’s Patrol periodically monitors the speed of freight trains passing through Rockland County due to concerns involving freight cars with hazardous materials.

Community Relations programs:

  • Operation Medicine Cabinet (Prescription Drug Disposal Program) - a statewide prescription drug disposal program, the Rockland County Sheriff’s Police Division has been approved as a 24/7 drop-off location (as of 2012) for disposal of expired or unwanted prescription drugs. Members of the public can simply come to our front desk and discard their unwanted or expired medication into a pre-marked container located within the lobby area of the Sheriff’s HQs (With no questions asked). Officers do not request ID from subjects, nor do they ask any questions pertaining to description or ownership of the medications being discarded.
  • Silver Alert Program - To help protect an increasing number of citizens with cognitive impairments who wander and become missing, the County Legislature in conjunction with the Sheriff’s Office and various town and village police departments initiated the “Silver Alert” program. The Silver Alert program is modeled after the Amber Alert program for missing children now in effect in all 50 states. The alert programs can quickly distribute information about missing persons to law enforcement, radio, and television stations. The alerts are designed to advise the public of a missing adult, by utilizing all forms of media, as well as using other messaging alternatives such as traffic signs. While the Amber Alert programs quickly disseminates information about missing children, Silver Alert programs are designed particularly to protect individuals over 18 years of age suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, dementia or other cognitive or intellectual impairment.
  • TRIAD (Crime prevention for seniors) - TRIAD is a program that focuses on reducing criminal victimization of older Americans, and the enhancement of the delivery of law enforcement services to these individuals. It is a symbol of unity between the Sheriff, local police, and the American Association of Retired Persons (A.A.R.P.) The main purpose is to reduce senior victimization, enhance a sense of security among seniors through education, training and involvement. It is designed to improve the overall quality of life for seniors.

Marine Unit

The Marine Unit was established as a full service navigational safety and enforcement unit. It is partially funded by state revenues and is based in the northern part of Rockland County, New York. It utilizes three vessels to patrol the County’s 33-mile water boundary from Bear Mountain South to Palisades, New York. This unit provides enforcement, safety, ecological and rescue services while interacting with all emergency services and environmental agencies. The Unit is tasked with providing security at the Bear Mountain Bridge, Tappan Zee Bridge and the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, in conjunction with United States Coast Guard and the Governor’s Hudson River Estuary Law Enforcement Task Force. Recently the Marine unit has been requested to provide contract policing for by the Tappan Zee Constructors for the new bridge being built. Coverage will be split between the North and South ends of the county.


Mounted Unit

The Mounted Unit was established to provide specialized and general mounted police services to all the people of Rockland County.

The Mounted Unit regularly patrols the County parks and County operating centers. Upon request, mounted patrols are also conducted in public access and parking areas of local shopping centers during times of high traffic. Mounted Units have responded to the scenes of labor disputes and public disorder, to assist with containment and dispersal operations. During the school year the Unit is assigned to Rockland Community College.

In addition the Mounted Unit participates in community policing functions like crowd control, traffic direction and search and rescue. The ability of the horses to negotiate terrain that vehicles cannot access vastly increases the chances of locating a lost or injured person. High visibility mounted patrols function in conjunction with local police jurisdictions to provide coverage in areas that have shown a high incidence of street crime, like drug sales, robberies and assaults. In response to a request from the Chiefs of Police, the unit is currently assigned to the Villages of Nyack, Spring Valley and Haverstraw on the weekends.



Transport Unit

The prisoner transport unit was established in the early 1980s after the New York State Chiefs’ Association filed a lawsuit and forced all Sheriffs throughout the State to take custody of all prisoners upon remand by the Judge to the custody of the Sheriff. The unit is responsible for the handling and movement of all inmates committed to the Rockland County Correctional Facility. It executes all remand orders from local and county courts as well as orders to produce from both these jurisdictions. In addition inmates are transported to and from local clinics and hospitals and other institutions, out of the county, including State and New York City correctional facilities. The unit comprises of recently retired law enforcement professionals. The officers of this unit are responsible for the care, custody and control of several thousand inmates, yearly, while transporting them, outside the Correctional facility.

K9 Units

The Patrol Division K9 unit currently consists of four K9 teams for tracking, drug and explosives detection plus one K9 team for arson investigations. These K9 teams are made available on a 24 hour basis.


Bureau of Criminal Investigation

The Rockland County Sheriff’s office Crime Scene Unit was established in 1958 at the request of the Police Chiefs and District Attorney of Rockland County. It is the main source of Crime Scene Investigation for nearly every Police agency in Rockland. The Rockland County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Unit has three level 3 fingerprint examiners. No other law enforcement agency in Rockland County has attained such a high level of certification. The members of this unit also provide expert courtroom testimony in county, state and federal investigations.

Some of the various services performed by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation are listed below:

  • Criminal Investigations
  • Crime Scene Investigations
  • Fire Investigations
  • Bomb Disposal and Explosive Detection
  • SABIS (Statewide Automated Biometric Identification System)
  • Faro Laser Scanner (creates a virtual 3D / panoramic view of a crime scene)
  • Polygraph
  • Background Investigations
  • Ballistic projectile recovery tank system
  • Fingerprinting services via a Livescan Fingerprinting System for pistol permits plus licensing for the private sector such as nursing and childcare certifications.
  • LeadsOnLine - connects with reporting businesses to access data on stolen property, criminal activity patterns and more.
  • Warrant Executions / IV-D Support Collection

Rockland County Sheriff's Reserve Force

The Rockland County Sheriff’s Reserve Police Force is an all-volunteer force from diverse social, ethnic, religious and occupational backgrounds that is used to augment and supplement full time law enforcement staff. They can assist the regular staff during times of declared emergencies, assist with traffic and crowd control at parades, sports and special events, residential house checks, crime prevention and traffic safety.

Animal Abuse Registry

The Rockland County Sheriff's Office maintains an Animal Abuse Registry. The Rockland County Legislature had established Local Law #2 of 2011 known as the Animal Abuser Registry Law to create an online animal abuser registry. This registry is for individuals residing in Rockland County, who are convicted of animal abuse crimes.