Police Division Units

UNIFORM PATROL

Road Patrol

This is a 24/7 operation.  Officers assigned 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 Rockland Community College and its satellite centers in the community.
 
The Patrol is also responsible for serving orders of protection and related legal process of the Family Court.  Frequently, execution of these orders involves the seizure of firearms, which must be inventoried and safeguarded. 
 
Officers also provide local law enforcement assistance, when requested, in the areas of: 
 
    a.   Traffic enforcement initiatives like occupant restraint and driving while intoxicated checkpoints. 
    b.   Crowd control at community events like parades, sporting events, walkathons, and at any major
          labor unrest sites like strikes and/or protests.
    c.    Large-scale narcotic sweeps or felony warrants sweeps.

Mounted Unit:

The Mounted Unit was established to provide specialized and general mounted police services to all the people of Rockland County. The Unit is staffed by six officers and seven horses stabled at a base in Suffern, New York. All operations and deployments are conducted from this location.
 
The Mounted Unit regularly patrols the County parks and County operating centers. 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.
Upon request, mounted patrols are also conducted in public access and parking areas of local malls 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. 
 

Marine Unit:

The Marine Unit was established as a full service navigational safety and enforcement unit.  It is 75% funded by state revenues and is based in the northern part of Rockland County, New York.  It utilizes two vessels to patrol the County’s 23-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 became an integral part in the protection planning following the terrorist’s events in New York City, Washington and Pennsylvania. The Unit was tasked with providing security at the 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.  The Tappan Zee Bridge is constantly monitored for all suspicious activities.  The Unit also works with other enforcement agencies along the Hudson River namely Dutchess, Ulster and Putnam County Sheriff’s offices, Westchester County Department of Public Safety, the NYS Police and the NYS ENCON Police.

Sub Station Units:

The Patrol Division maintains a Sub Station at the Rockland County Health and Hospitals Complex (Dr. Robert Yeager Health Center) in Pomona where patrol, investigative services and traffic control services are provided as required.  Similar static posts are maintained at the County Government Office Complex in New City and the Haverstraw Bay Park in Haverstraw.
 
The Sheriff’s Police Division is also the lead law enforcement agency for the county’s counter-terrorism planning, emergency response and incident command system. The Division works in consort with the office of Emergency Services and local law enforcement agencies to respond to major incidents occurring in Rockland.  Example: nuclear disaster preparedness, weather and ecological events, and major accidents.

BUREAU OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS

Warrant Executions, Extraditions and IV D Support Collection

The Bureau of Criminal Investigations conducts criminal investigations into all criminal matters specifically originating within the Patrol Unit, the Correctional Facility, all County owned properties/facilities and all activities related to the municipality and community in general.  Officers are responsible for warrants execution and extraditions from outside jurisdictions. Officers carry out investigative work relative to the Department of Social Services Adult Support Collection function. This unit boasts a 90% clearance record for cases received.  In addition, the unit also conducts investigations into internal affairs of the department and works with local and state police on matters of mutual interest and concern. The unit renders investigative assistance to all police departments and criminal justice agencies as required. 

Arson Investigations

Trained and certified investigators interact with Rockland County’s fire services and other police departments to support prosecutions for arson.  In addition, the unit has a full time K-9 “Scooter” dedicated to the detection of accelerants used to start fires. Scooter was trained and certified by the Maine State Police, and additionally certified by the New York State Academy of Fire Science K-9 Program. The dog and handler test and recertify for both agencies annually.

 
Bomb Disposal and Explosive Detection

In a continuing effort to combat terrorists and domestic acts of violence, the Sheriff’s Department has established a fully operational Bomb Squad with two full time K 9s “Lollie” and “Gunner” who have explosive detection capabilities. In addition the Bomb unit has received through Federal support, a well equipped response vehicle, a total containment vessel and an operational bomb disposal robot system. 
 
The Team is trained and equipped to respond to all types of hazardous devices and explosive material incidents, as well as chemical, biological and radiological incidents.  The team is also trained in post-blast investigations along with other members of the Detective Bureau.

 
 
Crime Scene Investigations:

Specialized and technical forensic crime scene investigators provide expertise to aid county and local police investigative efforts. They also provide expert court room testimony in county, state and federal investigations.

Computer Crime Investigations

In June 2000 the Rockland County Sheriff's Computer Crime Task Force was formed through the partnership of the Sheriff Kralik and District Attorney Bongiorno, to combat the increase of computer-related crime due to the increased use of computers for e-commerce, e-mail and entertainment.  Online child pornography, business fraud, proprietary information theft, identity theft, credit card fraud and computer intrusion (hacking) are all areas where the Task Force has been effective.

Narcotics Investigations

The Sheriff’s Police Division participates in another joint task force run by the District Attorney’s office. This task force is comprised of officers from various Police Departments in Rockland County. This task force conducts under-cover Narcotics operations with the help of confidential informants, surveillance and eavesdropping techniques.

Polygraph/Post Sex offender polygraph

The Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation has formed a Polygraph Unit to assist the County Probation Department in testing post convicted sex offenders and to also assist local law enforcement agencies in criminal investigations.

Offender Watch Program

This Program was introduced by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and designed to monitor sex offenders in Rockland County. It can track all registered Level 2 or 3 sex offenders in the County. It is a useful tool to help raise community awareness about sex offenders in the county.  This program is overseen by the Sheriff’s Office and works in partnership with all police agencies in Rockland County.

SAFIS (Statewide Automated Fingerprint Identification System)

The Rockland County Sheriff’s B.C.I. houses and mans the Hudson River West Site of the New York Statewide Automated Fingerprint Identification System (S.A.F.I.S.). This site has been in operation since the system’s inception in 1989. It is one of the 13 sites in the state. The system is also utilized by state qualified personnel from other police departments in the four-county zone that makes up the Hudson River West Region. This region consists of Orange, Rockland, Sullivan and Ulster Counties, but the work is not limited to this area. As an operational SAFIS site, cases are accepted from any Law Enforcement Agency that makes a request. We have received cases from New York and New Jersey State Police, the Local field offices of the F.B.I., and local Police Departments in New Jersey.

After searching crime scene latent prints manually against possible suspects and elimination prints this system allows those unidentified latent prints to be searched against a database made up of over 3 million fingerprint cards.
 

As an enhancement to the site the Authenticated Digital Asset Management System (A.D.A.M.S.) has been added to increase the unit’s quality and productivity. This system allows a complete digital management and enhances latent prints while searching the New York State database and the federal (FBI) database of over 40 million fingerprint cards thereby increasing the number of total identifications.

SPECIAL OPERATIONS (COUNTYWIDE JOINT PARTICIPATION)

REACT (Rescue Entry and Counter Terrorism Team)

The Rockland REACT Unit is a team of specially trained police officers from participating agencies in Rockland County. This unit is an organized County wide regional team dedicated to proactive counter-terrorism deterrence, as well as response to acts of terrorism. The Rockland REACT Team is under the direct supervision of a unit Commander (S.O.C.) with governing authority derived through a cadre of police chiefs and the Rockland County Sheriff who has signed a Memorandum of Understanding and have officers assigned to the unit. The Rockland County Sheriff’s Police Division is a participating agency and officers of this Division are members of the Rockland REACT unit.
 
The unit consists of highly trained personnel with specific skills in the areas of marksmanship, tactical response and containment, deployment of chemical munitions, hostage negotiations, and specific-threat security.  These skills would also include the ability to set up defensive positions around buildings, areas, and events for the purpose of deterring and preventing possible terrorist attacks. 
 
The role of law enforcement in all cases is the protection of lives and property, whether dealing with acts of terrorism, riotous activity, insurrection, barricaded subjects, execution of narcotics warrants, arrest of dangerous felons, and the rescue of hostages or endangered persons. In the pursuit of this goal, the Rescue, Entry, And Counter Terrorism (REACT) Team was established. The team may also respond to requests from outside agencies.

MFF (Mobile Field Force)

The Mobile Field Force (MFF) Concept is a method that allows law enforcement to respond to a civil disturbance by mobilizing a group of police officers and supervisors who have been specifically trained and equipped for this purpose. Additionally the MFF also plays a role in the County’s counter-terrorism plan. They can be used for target hardening and special tactical assignments like:
Surveillance of critical infrastructure locations
Restricting threatened facility access to essential personnel only
Monitoring, redirecting or constraining transportation systems
Closing or lockdown of public or government facilities
 
In order to enable Rockland County Law Enforcement Agencies to respond effectively to all of these situations, the Mobile Field Force concept was jointly adopted, organized and established by the various police agencies in the county. It is by utilization of this concept that Rockland County Law Enforcement hopes to best serve the people of Rockland County as well as assist neighboring jurisdictions. The Mobile Field Force is the standard mutual aid resource. Crowds and acts of civil disobedience are dynamic and require a flexible response. While such acts may be constitutionally protected Law Enforcement Agencies have the responsibility to protect the lives and property of all people.

Intelligence Unit

The Sheriff’s Police Division has personnel assigned to the Rockland County Intelligence Center.  The RCIC is comprised of officers assigned from nine different Rockland County law enforcement agencies. The Center’s mission is to provide intelligence to law enforcement based upon the collection, evaluation, and analysis of information that can identify criminal activity.  Officers assigned to the RCIC are primarily focused on crimes related to burglary, robbery, traditional organized crime, street gangs, and identity crimes.

Operation Lockdown

This is public safety protocol put together by the Major Incident Response Committee of Rockland County, under the direction of the Rockland County Police Chiefs Association and the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department. In the event a major incident should occur within Rockland County a detailed procedure has been compiled that provides for a response from various law enforcement agencies in the county that is both pro-active and reactive in nature. The Sheriff’s Police Division participates in this protocol.

RCPIN (Rockland County Police Information Network)

The Rockland County Police Information Network project provides myriad public safety related services to all law enforcement agencies within Rockland County. The network serves as a data bank available for all law enforcement personnel in Rockland County to access vital criminal records, photo databases, State and Federal law enforcement records. It also includes  electronic fingerprint submission and searches, police mobile unit access for dispatch and records checks, TRACS reporting, E911 automation, intelligence gathering and dissemination, just to name a few. Information will be shared with three levels of government, local, state and federal.  Projects in the immediate future include the expansion of data sharing capabilities among law enforcement entities to expand beyond the borders of Rockland County.  The data sharing model includes “single search” capability to cover disparate Records Management Systems that other law enforcement agencies may utilize. One of the keys to fighting crime is access to current information.  RCPIN provides the law enforcement community access to multiple databases in a seamless manner.  Thus providing our officers with real time information at their finger tips.  Not only can you access the information but now we can map incidents on our desktop to aid in crime trends and intelligence, man power allocation and unit assignments.

TRAFFIC SAFETY

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. The fitting station is run by appointment only. Besides the fitting stations the CPS unit also runs major events in conjunction with local car dealerships and other police agencies around the county.

Seat Belt Enforcement

The Sheriff’s Police Division participates in statewide seat belt enforcement initiatives like Buckle Up New York, Click It... Or Ticket. This zero-tolerance enforcement effort coordinated by the State Police and the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee helps increase seat belt and child safety seat use and reduce crash-related injuries and fatalities.

 

COMMUNITY POLICING

CARE (Computer Aided Rescue Effort)

The Rockland County Child C.A.R.E. Program is a pro-active program designed to protect and educate the children of Rockland County on the issues of child abuse and abduction.  It is a cooperative effort among law enforcement, education, and business communities of Rockland County and New York State. This is a program initiated by the Sheriff and the local Chiefs of Police. A trained officer visits over 80 individual schools and the children in grades K-8, are digitally imaged and identified by name, age and school. The data is stored electronically for immediate retrieval in the event of abduction or a missing child report within minutes of the report of the missing child. This information is used for local alerts as well as Amber Alert activations and sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The division has the capability to transmit photographs and descriptors to law enforcement agencies in the region as well as a myriad of other public locations. Upon request, students are given safety training and educational sessions.  These presentations are delivered jointly by a Rockland County Deputy Sheriff and a local D.A.R.E/Youth Officer, working in consort within the classroom

TRIAD

This is a program, which focuses on reducing the criminal victimization of older persons, and the enhancement of the delivery of law enforcement services to these individuals. This program is co-sponsored by the Sheriff’s Department, local Chiefs of Police and the Senior Citizens organizations.  It is intended to make law enforcement services more responsive to the needs and concerns of older persons.  It focuses on crime prevention against the elderly, elder abuse prevention, personal safety tips, home security, neighborhood watch, information about frauds and scams, identity theft, training in coping with door to door salesman and telephone solicitation, recognition and reporting of suspicious activities, victim assistance for and by Seniors, emergency preparation plans for and by Seniors, and communicating with and assisting older persons.

CAP (Crime Awareness Program)

Officers work with individual school districts throughout the County and focus on crime within our society.  Students receive a tour of the County Judicial system, observe criminal court proceedings, and ask questions of judges. They visit the county jail and while role-playing, they participate in the arrest, handcuffing, frisking and shackling procedure.  Accompanied by their teachers and/or parents, they visit the Sheriff’s law enforcement museum and learn about law enforcement as a profession.  The student is then required to write a reaction paper to convey their experiences and fundamentals derived from the entire process.  At each school’s graduation ceremony or on awards night they are given certificates of participation and merit.  The Judges, Sheriff and the Chiefs sign the certificates.  The concept of this program is for the youth of our County to develop an insight into all aspects of our criminal justice system.

ATAG (Anti-Terrorism Analytical Group)

In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 2001, this group was formulated by the Sheriff. The ATAG group consists of the Sheriff, a Lieutenant from the Sheriff’s Office, former Chiefs of Police in Rockland County, four former Special Agents of The Federal Bureau of Investigation, a retired General, a former member of Military Intelligence, a person familiar with school safety and health issues, a retired military commander familiar with security issues, and a veteran Israeli Army Anti-Terrorism Specialist. They act as a “Think Tank” in order to generate ideas and concepts and to assist in reaching conclusions as to the necessity and feasibility for Intelligence and Security procedures. Ideas are generated for training, informational posters, and to review Inter-Agency communication systems. This group has been very helpful in gearing this County in the right direction. The ATAG group is a component of New York State’s Counter-terrorism Zone 4. The zones throughout New York State were modeled along the “Concentric Circles of Counter-Terrorism System”.

Special Reserve Force

The Reserve Force was established in 1991 and is comprised of 75 volunteers that are called to work for various details throughout the county. They must attend mandatory training classes outlined by the Rockland County Police and Public Safety curriculum. These volunteers are divided into three platoons of 25 each.  Each platoon consists of a Platoon leader to coordinate the activities and four squads, each headed by the volunteer squad leader. This force also has a role to play in counter terrorism planning as envisioned by the “Concentric Circles of Counter-Terrorism System”.

Internship Program

This program is extended to local college and high school students in an effort to give them exposure to all facets and functions of the Sheriff’s Office.  Their participation in such a program entitles the student to earn college credits.

PRISONER TRANSPORT UNIT

The unit has responsibility for the handling and movement of all inmates committed to the Rockland County Correctional Facility. They assume the duties of care, custody control of inmates outside the facility. The prisoner transport unit executes all court remand orders from local and county courts as well as orders to produce from both these jurisdictions. In addition officers transport inmates for medical assistance to the local clinics and hospitals and other institutions. Inmates are also transported out of the county to and from State and New York City facilities.