Cortlandt is making some changes to how police operate in town.

The first change is that police cruisers now have the "Town of Cortlandt" logo on them. That change may seem small, but Supervisor Dr. Richard Becker says it's having a big impact. He says people should know their police and police should know the people and this helps accomplish that.

Cortlandt is also adding Deopaul Mahadeo as a new community resource officer, which is an officer dedicated to the area with special training and more time than a typical patrol officer to build relationships. 

Community resource officers support domestic violence responses and are part of the county's new "Project Alliance," which pairs police with mental health practitioners for a mental health mobile crisis response team.

Mahadeo says he's met with homeowner's associations, condo associations, senior centers and youth centers about quality of life complaints, such as people speeding in the area. 

Becker says these charges are important because Cortlandt hasn't had its own police force in more than 20 years. It's patrolled by Westchester County and state police so the new logos and the community resource officer show an expanded police presence in town.

Cortlandt is the first community in the county to have a full-time community resource officer, and Becker says it's working. "The community officer is out and about on the streets, in his car stopping everywhere. We wanted everyone in town to know not just that there was a police presence, but who that police officer was."