Rockland Sheriff Unveils Mounted Officer Graduation Class

ROCKLAND COUNTY, N.Y. -- Four members of the Rockland County Sheriff's Mounted Officer Unit graduated from an 80-hour in-service training course on Friday presided over by Rockland Sheriff Louis Falco.

Mounted Officers from the Rockland County Sheriff's Office.
Photo Credit: *Rockland County Sheriff's Office*

Mounted police from across the state attended a graduation ceremony in Rockland on Friday.
Photo Credit: *Rockland County Sheriff's Office*

Rockland County Sheriff's mounted officers show off their skills.
Photo Credit: *Rockland County Sheriff's Office*

K Reakes

04/29/2017 7:00 a.m.

The graduation ceremony, which included 22 officers from across the state, was held at the Mounted Unit Location in Ramapo and included a full demonstration on horseback of the capabilities of officers with their equestrian partners.

Former Sheriff James Kralik was a guest instructor for the first week of the course.

The course included instruction on:

1. Precision riding
2. Application of police horses in law enforcement to cover car stops, auto extrication, and crowd control.

The four Rockland County officers who graduated included: James Nawoichyk, Christopher Finch, Joseph Bonardi and Greg Soriano.

The first unit was formed on Nov. 23, 1962, under Sheriff J. Henry Mock and had 30 mounted officers, who had to own their own horses at that time.

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