Volunteers Work 105,000 Hours Keeping Clarkstown Safe

If you've been to any big community event in New City or elsewhere in Clarkstown over the past 12 years, chances are you've seen Donald Mellon.

He's one of 33 volunteers who serve as auxiliary police officers in the Clarkstown Police Department. At age 86, Mellon is finally retiring as an auxiliary officer, but only after he's given 1,972 hours of service to the community.

Clarkstown police officials say Mellon is just one of many examples of town residents whose volunteer efforts have helped keep the community safe and free up full-time town police officers who might otherwise be tied up for traffic control at events such as festivals, concerts, fireworks shows and parades.

The police department and the Clarkstown Town Board on Tuesday honored the Mellon and all the other auxiliary officers at a Town Hall ceremony in New City. As a group, Lieutenant Robert Donaldson said the town's auxiliary officers, who are not paid and are unarmed, have volunteered 105,121 hours to the community.

"We have just about all walks of life represented in the auxiliary police," said Donaldson, who is the police department's liaison to its auxiliary officers.

Donaldson said auxiliary officers work in the community in professions ranging from dentist and CPA to business owners, decorators and even a hair dresser. A new member, Lenore Congemi, is president of the New City Rotary Club.

While the uniformed auxiliary officers may be best known for their efforts at traffic control and crowd safety at large public events, Donaldson said the auxiliary officers also help keep Clarkstown's streets well lit.

He explained that auxiliary officers take part in operation "Bright Light," in which they travel the town's neighborhoods looking for malfunctioning street lights that need to be repaired. Their reports are passed on to the Clarkstown Highway Department, which in turn works with Orange and Rockland Utilities to have the darkened lights repaired.

"Thank you for your work you do with the police department and thank you for your commitment to the community," Clarkstown town Supervisor Alexander Gromack told the auxiliary officers gathered for Tuesday's ceremony.

Here's the roster of Clarkstown's auxiliary police officers and the hours they've served the community since joining the program:

Captain Jason Lukasiewicz, 4,873 hours since February 1988.

Lieutenant Darryl Draper, 4,145 hours since May 1998

Sergeant Mark Dorfman, 5,192 hours since May 1999

Barry Elkin, 2,558 hours since February 2003

Tom Krasinski, 1,876 hours since May 1991

Vincent Vitiello, 1,473 hours since August 1999

Anthony Morena, 2,198 hours since May 2005

Chris Kirkland, 691 hours since November 2005

Paul Murray, 768 hours since September 2007

Mathew Martini, 216 hours since April 2009

Trevor McPolin, 58 hours since March 2010

Ray Francis, 87 hours since March 2010

Sergeant Frank Lia, 3,844 hours since December 1999

Allan Goshin, 2,490 hours since February 2003

Mike Mosner, 3,263 hours since September 1992

Joe Caccamo, 1,725 hours since January 1994

Ken Rees, 2,292 hours since May 1998

Donald Mellon, 1,972 hours since May 1998

Hector Ortiz, 1,262 hours since March 2002

Nellie Blacksberg, 1,130 hours since March 2002

Eugene Papkov, 521 hours since September 2007

Kean Chan, 4 hours since March 2010

Mike Bartoli, 4 hours since March 2010

Sergeant Antoinette White, 2,642 hours since June 1999

Ruben Addarich, 1,881 hours since March 2003

George Clapp, 3,410 hours since May 1991

Steve Kress, 1,953 hours since October 1994

Abe Gerstenzang, 1,989 hours since October 2003

Howard Whitman, 1,627 hours since February 2003

Shaji Mathew, 1,151 hours since March 2000

Marc Laverdure, 1,001 hours since November 2002

Paulina Bandremer, 573 hours since February 2007

Steve Richter, 295 hours since September 2008

Rich Bielen, 270 hours since march 2002

So far this year, auxiliary officers have provided 2,144 hours of community service, according to police department statistics.

To become a Clarkstown auxiliary police officer, you must be a Clarkstown resident who is at least 21 years old. To qualify, you must have a clean driver's license and be able to pass a criminal background check. Candidates for the program are required to complete an auxiliary police training program. For more information on the program, call 845-639-5887.