Budget Woes Threaten Rockland's Mounted Police Unit

Rockland County's mounted police unit is facing the possibility of being knocked out of the saddle because of tough economic times.

Officials of the New City-based Rockland Sheriff's Department said Wednesday the agency is expected to run out of money to pay contracts for the boarding and feeding of its horses by the end of September. The department has asked the county Legislature for assistance in finding $30,000 to cover the mounted unit through until the end of 2010.

Louis Falco, chief of the Sheriff's Department's Police Division, said the 2010 county budget for his department was $46,000 short of funds required to pay the contracts for the care of the mounted unit's horses. However, he said the department was able to switch over $16,000 originally budgeted for uniform expenses to pay for the mounted unit's bills through September.

Rockland Undersheriff Thomas Guthrie said that over the past three years his department has been able to manage such shortfalls internally by adjusting budget accounts during the course of the year. Guthrie told members of the county Legislature's Public Safety Committee Wednesday that this year the county government is running so lean because of the economy that the Sheriff's Department likely will not have any significant amount of additional funds it can switch over to cover the mounted unit.

"We're running out of the flexibility we used to have," said Guthrie. "In my 27 years of doing the (Sheriff's Department) budget, this is the first time I've run into this situation."

The mounted unit includes five full-time and three part-time Sheriff's officers, with the unit operating out a leased stable off Route 202 in Ramapo. The unit is used around the county to assist local police departments, especially at large public events. The department has its own mounted police training program, which also trains officers from other mounted police units throughout the region.

The mounted unit regularly patrols county parks and county operating centers in addition to the campus of Rockland Community College. In addition, the mounted unit participates in community policing functions like crowd control, traffic direction and search and rescue.

The highly-visibility mounted patrols also work in conjunction with local police departments to provide extra coverage in areas coping with persistent street crime problems. The unit from May to September regularly operates in the villages of Nyack, Spring Valley and Haverstraw at the request local police officials.

Members of the Legislature's Public Safety Committee said Wednesday they were surprised that the county's $708 million budget failed to cover an existing contract through the full year. Additionally, the mounted police unit is the second public safety-related program this week to have problems because of budget woes.

Cuts at the Rockland County Fire Training Center in Pomona had threatened to pass along the costs of federally-mandated annual equipment checks for local volunteer firefighters to Rockland's 26 fire departments. Fire departments were facing a new $30 per person fee for the required respirator mask "fit test," however, the county has been able to cover the cost of the tests for the rest of 2010 by using funds available from a federal grant.

"I can't believe emergency services are fighting for what amount to crumbs," said Legislator Connie Coker.

During discussions Wednesday, members of the Public Safety Committee said they supported the Sheriff's Department having a mounted police unit.

"In the Village of Spring Valley, we appreciate the cooperation and work of the mounted unit," said Legislator George Darden.

The combination of the threatened new fee for fire departments and the mounted police unit shortfall ignited a heated discussion among legislators Wednesday about the county's budget process.

"We are not being told everything," said Legislator Jay Hood Jr., chairman of the Public Safety Committee.

Although no action was taken Wednesday, Hood said he expects the Legislature will work with the Sheriff's Department to find additional funding to pay the mounted police unit's costs through the end of the year.

Sean Mathews, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef's chief of staff, told legislators that county departments are preparing their requests for the new budget. He said that with the continuing economic slump affecting Rockland and the rest of the state, there is no guarantee that programs such as the mounted police unit can maintained.

"We have to look at whether we can even have a mounted unit," Mathews said.