Irvington Police Department Fills Two Vacancies, Promotes a Sergeant

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(L-R:) Irvington Police Chief Michael Cerone, Police Officer Paul Robibero, Sergeant Edmund Vize, Police Officer Angelo Liberatore and Lieutenant Michael Morano. —Photo: Irvington Police Department

December 6, 2016

by Barrett Seaman

Under its budgeted headcount of 22 officers because of recent retirements, Irvington’s Police Department hired two new cops and promoted a third, veteran Edmund Vize, to sergeant.

New to the force are Paul Robibero, 34, a six-year veteran of the Greenburgh Police Department, and Angelo Liberatore, 29, formerly with the NYPD. Robibero was with the Greenburgh Technical Rescue Team, which specializes in hazardous and difficult rescue situations. In addition to being a NYC policeman, Liberatore was an Emergency Medical Technician in Greenburgh and is a member of an Air National Guard unit based in Newburgh.

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Vize comes from a law enforcement family: his older brother John is a member of the New Castle PD; his niece Jennifer is a detective with the Westchester Department of Public Safety; his younger brother Al was until recently with the Mamaroneck Police, and his late nephew, Danny Vize had been with the Mount Vernon Police Department. Sergeant Vize has been with the Irvington force for 28 years.

Under community pressure in recent months to crack down on traffic violations in keeping with the “Slow Down Rivertowns” traffic calming campaign, the department has cited its manpower shortage as a reason it has not assigned a dedicated officer to traffic enforcement. Thus, even with these new hires, said Village Administrator Larry Schopfer, “We are still short one person compared to our full roster of officers. The manpower just hired will be deployed in the regular patrol schedule.” Before the department ratchets up traffic enforcement, added Schopfer, “The third hire is needed.” That is expected to come before year’s end.

Even with the third and final hire, it remains to be seen if the department will satisfy persistent community demands to deter speeding and other traffic violations. Little more than a month after the last presentation by the Traffic Calming Committee of data indicating the need to broaden enforcement, representatives were back before the board at their November 21 meeting, echoing data that indicated limited areas of enforcement. Expressing appreciation for the physical improvements—signage, crosswalks, electronic speed indicators—they pressed the need for more data collection and more follow-through on the analysis, namely enforcement.

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