Ex-area officer named to top state police post
A former town police officer has been named commander of the state police Troop K barracks.
PLEASANT VALLEY, N.Y. » A former town police officer and Ulster County Sheriff’s deputy has been named commander of the state police Troop K barracks on state Route 44.
Major Richard L. Mazzone was promoted from captain and assigned as the 35th commander of Troop K, state police Superintendent George P. Beach II said in a press release Friday.
Mazzone, 46, lives in the Hudson Valley and started his law enforcement career in 1995 as a Saugerties town police officer before transferring to the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office and later the town of Ulster police. In May 1998, Mazzone joined the state police, as a trooper and was first assigned to Troop F, according to the press release.
Reached at home Saturday, Mazzone said he is “honored to lead the men and women of Troop K and serve the residents.”
In 2004, Mazzone was promoted to sergeant and assigned to state police at Liberty where he was later appointed to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation as an investigator. In 2007, he
was promoted to lieutenant, and assigned to state police headquarters, traffic services, in Albany before transferring to the Professional Standards Bureau. In 2010, Mazzone transferred to Troop T Headquarters in Albany and later returned to Troop F in Middletown as a BCI lieutenant in 2012, the press release states.
In 2013, Mazzone was promoted to captain and assigned to Troop T in Tarrytown serving as the zone commander for the southern portion of the New York State Thruway, then back to Troop F in 2016, serving as the zone commander for Orange and Rockland counties.
Mazzone received a bachelor’s degree from Empire State College, is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and served in the United States Marine Corps. He lives in the Hudson Valley area with his wife and two children.
Troop K covers four counties including Columbia, Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester.
Beach promoted the previous troop K commander, Major Robert C. Gregory, to the rank of staff inspector, and has assigned him to the Professional Standards Bureau in Hopewell Junction.