The Chief of Police at SUNY New Paltz, Michael Corbisiero, announced his decision to retire effective Feb. 29. Corbisiero previously worked as Deputy Chief and then acting police chief. He finished career as Chief of Police, which he took on in January 2023.
According to the SUNY New Paltz Administrator page, Chief Corbisiero has a career spanning more than two decades in law enforcement, and “has worked for the New York City Police Department, the College of Southern Nevada Police Department and the Stony Brook University Police Department.” Chief Corbisiero is also a trained firefighter, a veteran of the U.S. Navy and a volunteer lacrosse coach.
Chief Corbisiero implemented new community policing strategies such as “Brunch with the Brass,” which allowed students to sit down and converse with campus police at Peregrine Dining Hall. “Plain Clothes, Plain Talk” was an event where officers did not wear uniforms so students could have the opportunity to meet the person behind the badge. “We do a lot of things normal police departments wouldn’t, and we understand that we’re here to support students,” Corbisiero said.
In his time at SUNY New Paltz, Chief Corbisiero worked with the University Police Department’s Advisory Committee to create a program for cameras to be worn on officers’ bodies. Chief Corbisiero coordinated the security logistics for major campus events that harbored large crowds. Chief Corbisiero authored the university’s Annual Security Report of all Clery Act reportable crimes, information that had to be gathered and published, both of which he also partook in.
“I’ve seen them implemented in other agencies where I came from down on Long Island. People say, ‘I’ve been doing it this way for 20 years, I don’t want to change.’ We are resistant to change, but seeing the positive impact the [cameras] made on my prior deployment, I learned they can be a good tool to use for this department. In the heat of the moment, the officer may not remember every little detail, and the person talking to the officer may not remember every single detail, but if it’s on video, you could always go back and realize, ‘I missed when he said that,’” Corbisiero said.
Chief Corbisiero led a department of 23 sworn-in members as well as five civilian employees. Additionally Chief Corbisiero enforced new training and development opportunities for officers on de-escalation, mental health emergencies, Safe Zone training, as well as Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR) training.
With regards to his personal life and retirement plans, Corbisiero said, “I’m not jumping into anything just yet. I have two very active sons, a tenth grader and a sixth grader. My eldest is currently looking at colleges and playing lacrosse so I think a lot of my time is going to be spent being his promotional manager, managing his YouTube page and doing all the video work and everything that goes with trying to get recruited for college. My younger son does wrestling and jiu jitsu, so they keep me busy.”