Headquartered in the City of Kingston, the Criminal Division provides all types of proactive and reactive law enforcement services to county residents and visitors in 20 towns, 3 villages and the city of Kingston. Ulster County is comprised of 1,150 square miles with 2,200 miles of roadways, and a population of approximately 182,000.
The Criminal Division is the police division of the Sheriff's Office and is comprised of full-time and part-time sworn deputy sheriffs/detectives. The Captain of Police Services commands the Criminal Division which includes the Patrol Unit, Detective Unit, and Security Services Unit, each of which are supervised by a Lieutenant. These sworn police officers provide for the peace and security of all residents and visitors of Ulster County with particular emphasis on those areas in which the Sheriff's Office is the primary law enforcement agency, and to assist those other law enforcement agencies that seek assistance.
Originally accredited in 1992 by the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Council, the Criminal Division of the Ulster County Sheriff's Office was the first in New York State to achieve this distinction. The Criminal Division has successfully undergone five re-accreditation assessments since 1992 and is currently accredited by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS).
Criminal Division highlights include:
- A Detective Unit that includes deputy sheriffs classified as detectives. Assignments within this unit also include the multi-jurisdictional, URGENT team and the multi-jurisdictional Ulster County Family and Child Advocacy Center.
- Members may participate and be assigned to one or more of the specialty teams including; In-Water Rescue Team, K9 Unit, Navigation Unit, Critical Incident Stress Management Team, ATV Team, Training Unit, Warrant Unit, and the multi-jurisdictional Ulster County Emergency Response Team (U.C.E.R.T.). They may also be assigned as a School Resource Officer or to the Project Lifesaver and Child Passenger Safety teams.
Several full-time deputy sheriffs and full-time/part-time certified security guards are assigned to Security Services at the following locations:
- UC Veterans Services Agency
- UC Dept. of Social Services
- UC Dept. of Child and adult Servies
- UC Health Department
- UC Trudy Resnick Building in Ellenville
Technological Advancements at the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office include.
