Politics & Government

Orangetown Opens Doors to Public

The Town of Orangetown opened the doors to town hall and the Orangetown Police Department for its annual open house Sunday.

Though overall attendance was relatively light with rainy weather and many other local activities going on, the tour of the police department drew much of the attention, with visitors getting a look inside holding cells and at the department's special weapons and tactical gear. 

"I thank everybody who helped out today," Orangetown Supervisor Andy Stewart said. "I hope we will have better weather and a bigger turnout next year, It speaks well of who we are that we are always looking to engage the public and have people come in and tell us how we are doing and find out how they can use our services,"

In addition to representatives of town departments, the Rockland County Sheriff's Department and South Orangetown Ambulance Corps set up outside. New York State sent a speaker with information about the New NY Bridge and local non-profit organizations set up information tables.

The town's new Emergency Operations Command Center was set up in the town hall's lower level. The  command center is designed to be set up quickly as a center for operations during an emergency. I was dedicated in August in the names of Michael Reedy and Thomas Kennedy, the Orangetown police officers killed in the line of duty in Blauvelt  Aug. 2, 1973. 

The open house had previously been run by the Orangetown Police Department before expanding to be a town event and it once again closed with a ceremony honoring the memories of Police Officers Reedy, Kennedy and Waverly Brown and Police Sergeant Edward O'Grady, all of whom lost their lives in the line of duty. Reedy's brother Steve spoke, thanking town officials for remembering the fallen officers and for the ceremony Aug. 2. Read more about that here


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