LETTER TO THE EDITOR, CAROLYN WHITING

Welcome to The New Everything Croton, a collection of all things Croton--our history, our homes, our issues, our businesses, our schools--in short, EVERYTHING CROTON.

THE FOLLOWING LETTER APPEARS IN THE GAZETTE:

March 13, 2023--The Gazette

To the Editor,

I am writing on behalf of the Croton Police Advisory Committee in reference to Michael Grant’s letter to the editor in last week’s newspaper. While our committee thanks Mr. Grant for his thoughts, and the Police Department and Police Advisory Committee always welcomes and seeks all viewpoints from residents, business owners, and visitors to our wonderful community, we must point out misinformation in Mr. Grant’s letter and share additional insight that might shed light on the staffing and workings of the Croton Police Department.

The Croton on Hudson Police Department currently has 21 officers, not the 28 –30 cited in Mr. Grant’s letter. A study done by Rebanks Pepper Littlewood – PoliceFacility Consultants of The VCA Group in 2008 advised that staffing levels arecurrently below recommendations for a Village population of 8,000. According to the report, the anticipated population of Croton on Hudson in 2032 was 8,200. It is only 2023, and according to the U.S. Census Bureau, we are already above that.

Additionally, with the current housing developments in progress and additional large-scale developments in the proposal phase, we will soon have several hundred more residents. The report also recommended that a new position be added every 2.5-3.5 years. This would be 1 position approximately every 3 years.

This recommendation is prior to the vastly expanded police training recommendations, the changes in NY discovery law, and Croton Police accreditation, all creating additional staffing needs. According to the 2008 report from Rebanks, Pepper Littlewood, the department should have at least the recommended 26 officers in 2023 for our population of 8,200, 5 officers above the 21 officers on staff in 2008 and the 21 officers, including the Chief, currently on staff in 2023.

Mr. Grant suggested that the Village could eliminate its department and utilize the NY State Police or Westchester County police. The feasibility of this was investigated in the very recent past and it was found to be more expensive than the current Croton Police Department. The Town of Ossining eliminated their department some years ago, contracted with The Westchester County Department of Public Safety and when the contract was completed, the costs of service were greatly increased. The Town of Ossining subsequently contracted for service with the Village of Ossining Police.

The Westchester County Department of Public Safety and the New York State Police both have jurisdiction on the Croton River and yet they currently do not provide any police protection or patrol on the river. The Croton Police Department utilizes a boat to patrol on the Croton River throughout the summer and has a trained dive team to assist in emergencies on the Croton River. There are often upwards of 400 people on the river, and it would be incomprehensible and life threatening to leave that area unpatrolled if the Croton Police Department was eliminated.

Our Croton on Hudson Police Department is heavily invested in community policing as evidenced by the number of events and foot patrols they undertake.

Croton Officers participate in and engage with residents at community policing 
events, such as the dunk tank event, cones with a cop, coffee with a cop, the holiday toy drive, Rotary car show, Hudson River day at the Croton Yacht Club, Summerfest, the Fall festival, and the pumpkin painting event. This doesn’t include when officers on the bicycle or on a walking post in town and are
engaging with members of the local youth to build better community relations with the public.

Compared to other village Police Departments in Westchester County, Croton has more residents, and fewer officers, with a significantly smaller budget. For example, the Village of Irvington has 6,700 residents, 23 sworn officers, patrols 4.08 sq miles and a budget of $3.9 million. The Village of Pelham Manor has 5,500 residents, 27 sworn officers, patrols 1.4 sq miles, and a budget of $4.7 million. The Village of Briarcliff Manor has 8,000 residents, 20 sworn officers, patrols 5.9 sq miles and a budget of $4 million. Croton has 8,208 residents, 21 sworn officers, and patrols 4.69 miles, not the 3 sq miles as cited by Mr. Grant.

Croton has two major bodies of water, one of which the Croton River requires frequent police boat patrol from June 1 through October 1. The Croton Police Department has a budget of $3,259,872. This is approximately 17% of the overall $19,000,000 Village budget, not the 40%/+/- Mr. Grant suggested. The Village budget is but a percentage of a resident’s overall property tax bill, which includes
Westchester County taxes, Town of Cortlandt taxes, and local school taxes, with school taxes the greatest percentage.

The Police Department and the Police Advisory Committee invite all residents to learn more about the Police Department through numerous articles written by the Police Advisory Committee. In addition to articles, there are individual profiles of officers. www.crotononhudson-ny.gov/police-
department/pages/police-advisory-commitee-community-information-project

Thank you and please feel free to communicate with officers on patrol, Police Chief John Nikitopoulos at 914-271-5177, or the Police Advisory Committee at Crotonpoliceadvisorycommittee@gmail.com We also encourage you to share your thoughts, experiences with the Department, and your concerns by filling out the 2023 Community Survey on Safety and Law Enforcement:

www.crotononhudson-ny.gov/police-department/webforms/2023-community-
survey--safety-and-law-enforcement 

The Department and the Committee strive to ensure the Department is as responsive to community needs as possible and welcomes all input.