Police Sign History

The “Police” sign that we currently have displayed on Police Headquarters has a lot of history with it.  Did you know the sign was “lost” for 24-years and later restored for installation on our current building?

The sign, which is a neon sign, was also displayed on two of our past Police Headquarters buildings.  The sign was first displayed outside of our Police Headquarters building when it was located at 244 Union Avenue from 1969-1977 and it had green colored neon.  It was also displayed at Police headquarters when it was located at Building 708 on Stewart International Airport from 1977-1991 but by this time the neon was no longer functioning. 

Then when the Town built its Police Headquarters at its current location at Town Hall on Union Avenue in 1991, it was decided that the sign was no longer needed and it was to be thrown in the trash.  Not wanting to see the sign meet this fate, Det. Gregory T. Gaetano took possession of the sign in 1991.  He then placed the sign alongside an old shed that he had on his own property.  The sign remained outside in that spot for the next 24-years.  In 2015 Sgt. Robert Doss learned about the sign and was told that it was still in existence while having a conversation with Sgt. Gaetano, who had since retired at the rank of Sergeant in 2003. 

Based on the sign’s long history with the Police Department, Sgt. Doss thought it would be best to have the sign restored back to its original condition and installed on the current Police Headquarters building.  On August 28, 2015, Sgt. Doss accepted the sign back into the Town’s possession on behalf of the Police Department from Sgt. Gaetano.

As Sgt. Doss worked to get funding from the Town to have the sign restored, it was displayed by the Police Department at New Windsor Community Day on August 31, 2015.  This gave everyone in the community a chance to see the sign before its restoration. 

In September of 2015, a local business named Leifsigns, LLC began the sign’s full restoration.  During the restoration, new glass tubes had to be made for the neon and they were filled with a blue color gas instead of the sign’s original green color gas.  This color was chosen to better represent the Law Enforcement profession and the thin blue line. 

On January 21, 2016, the sign was installed on the current Police Headquarters building located at 555 Union Avenue, where it has remained ever since.