PRESS RELEASE

Police assist first person into ‘Hope Not Handcuffs’ program for treatment

Release Date – August 12, 2020:

         The Town of New Windsor Police Department assisted its first person into the Hope Not Handcuffs
program today, just more than a week after the program went live with the department. The person heard
about the program and walked into to the Police Department lobby looking for help with his drug addiction.
He was soon greeted by Officer Anthony Weed and Officer Brian Levy, who began the first steps in the process
with him. As part of the program, the Officers contacted a volunteer ‘angel’ to respond to the police station to
complete the process of locating a treatment facility for the individual.

         Police Chief Robert Doss stated, “It is my hope that this is just the first of many people who will come
to the Police Department for help with their addictions. We all know that there are several people in our
community that are battling with addiction related issues every day. I want people to understand that we are
here to help and to assist them in any way possible. It is a huge moment in a person’s life when they finally
decide that they just can’t live a certain way anymore and they decide to do something about it. This program
works but it can only work with community trust in the Police Department. This man trusted us when he had
nowhere else to turn and we were able to help him begin his journey to recovery. It is truly a wonderful thing
to be able to help people in this way.”

Photo: Officer Brian Levy (L) and Officer Anthony Weed (R) stand near the new Hope Not Handcuffs sign at
Police Headquarters

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       The Hope Not Handcuffs organization works with local law enforcement agencies to provide support. A
person struggling with any addiction can voluntarily walk in to a participating Police Department, like in New
Windsor, and ask for help. They will be greeted with support, compassion and respect. A trained Angel
volunteer will be called to the station to help find treatment. The Hope Not Handcuffs program is a
community outreach program designed to reach people struggling with drug addiction to encourage them to
seek recovery and regain control of their lives. It is community members taking care of community members.
 

COMMUNITY REMINDER
Prescription Drug Drop Box

The Town of New Windsor Police Department is reminding the community that the best way to dispose of most types of old, unwanted, or expired medicines (both prescription and over the counter) is to drop the medicine off at a drug take back site.

The New Windsor Police Department, located at 555 Union Avenue is designated as a permanent drug take back site that is open to the community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Anyone can stop off at the police station to place their unwanted medications into a secure prescription drop box in the lobby.

Police Chief Robert Doss stated, “It is so important that we continue to raise awareness in our community about the serious dangers of keeping unused medications in the home, especially when it comes to opioid pain medications.  We know that trouble with opioids often starts at home when the unused medications fall into the wrong hands.  I urge you to do your part in protecting your family by eliminating the risk. Gather them up and get rid of them! ”

Since June of 2016, the New Windsor Police Department has collected and disposed of over 1,300 lbs. of unwanted medicines.  The collected medications are permanently disposed of by incineration at an EPA approved location.  

 

            PRESS RELEASERESS RELEASE

PRESS RELEASE

 

Sex Offender arrested at private playground

 

02/27/2020 1:30pm

 

Prepared by Deputy Chief Michael Farbent

 

Town of New Windsor Police arrest Mark Edward Nelson age 61 of Newburgh NY,  after investigating a report of a male trespassing in a fenced in playground of a Nursery School in town. Two employees and two children were exiting the Nursery School out of the side door adjacent to the playground when the suspect approached them in the darkened area and attempted to make contact with them while in the playground school property. The women and children then retreated to their vehicle and left the area and police were later notified.

 New Windsor Police then investigated the incident and were able to determine that the suspect was Mark Edward Nelson, a Level 3 sex offender in New York State. Level 3 is the most dangerous level.

 

Mr Edward was located and arrested for Criminal Trespass in the 3^rd Degree.

He was released without bail due to the Bail Reform Laws that prevent him being remanded to Jail.

 

This is the link to Mark Nelson sex offender webpage:

https://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/SomsSUBDirectory/offenderDetails.jsp?offenderid=14565&lang=EN

On January 24, 2020, New Windsor Police Officers Hardy Pierce and Jeremy Arcaro were at Little Britain Elementary School to do an Anti-bullying presentation for the 2nd – 5th grade students. 

The Officer’s presentation went great and there was quite a bit of positive feedback from children on the topic. Officer Pierce and Officer Arcaro are also members of the department’s very active Community Policing Unit.

Dispatcher Stephen A Bedetti was recently presented with the New Windsor Police Department ‘Service Achievement Award’ for recently achieving 30 years of service with the town. Dispatcher Bedetti is currently the town's dispatcher supervisor who works closely with all the emergency service agencies in the town. This includes all police, fire and ambulance services. Police Chief Robert Doss stated, “It’s quite the achievement to work at any job for thirty years. The fact that Stephen worked all of those years dispatching and coordinating emergency service personnel throughout the town under stressful circumstances is commendable and I offer my congratulations to him.”

On January 29, 2020, New Windsor Police Officer Brian McLean spoke with the local Girl Scouts troop about his duties as the department’s K-9 Officer. Officer McLean, who is a 23-year veteran of the police force, has been a member of the K-9 unit for 16 years. His current K-9 partner is named Soto and he is a German Sheppard that is 7 years old. In 2019, Officer McLean and K-9 Sato handled 119 calls for the department. These calls include many areas of responsibility such as: Investigating alarms, building searches, tracking missing persons and sniffing for illegal drugs. Thank you for all that you do for the Town Officer McLean!