History
At a regular Town Board meeting on December 15, 1930, the Board appointed Elmore F. White as Chief Constable and resolved that he, along with Constables John Walters, John Dash, Edward Yesser, and Clifford Caswell, constitute the Police Force of the Town of Evans.
On December 18, 1937, the Town Board appointed Maurice Crawford, better known as Mike to his many friends, as Chief Constable. In July, 1938,the Board appointed Bantle Green as Constable.
Between 1938 and 1952, when the Police Force became an established Civil Service Police Department, the Force was augmented by the addition of Joseph Cervola, Alfred Kinn, Albert Snyder, Pete Jackson, and Arthur Cash as Constables.
When the Force became a Department in 1952 only Chief Mike Crawford, Al Snyder, Bantle Green, Chet Borngraver, and Pete Jackson remained as full-time police officers. Mike Crawford was sworn in as Chief in 1952, a position he held and did honor to until his death in 1967.
In the early days, the patrol car was not equipped with a two-way radio. When a complaint was received, a telephone operator would call radio station WMJ in Buffalo and have it relay a message for the patrol to call the operator, who would then tell the nature of the complaint. The Department had only 1 patrol car when the first two-way radio was installed.
By July of 1971, the Department had grown to include 15 full-time officers, 8 part-time officers, and 4 desk clerks, and 6 vehicles equipped with two-way radios.
The personnel of the Police Department in July 1971 were: Chief William Joyce; Lieutenants Arthur Elvin, Stephen Slowinski, Thomas Wilson, Bantle Green; Detective Daniel Haidon; Patrolmen Millard Lonkey, Donald Conti, David Roth, Robert Cummins, Frederick Eckles, Nelson Tomczak, David Burke, John Persinger, Robert Ferguson; Part-time Patrolmen Norman Wehland, Frederick Herold, Sam Pinto, Bernard Feldmann, Norman Boergers, Charles MacPeek, Charles Picone, Philip Hadsell; Desk Clerks Nella Reed, Donna Sagnibene, Thomas Dalton, Robert Barone.
On January 12, 1983, Robert N. Ferguson was appointed Chief of Police, a position held until his retirement in 2007. Assistant Chief Stephan J Slowinski served as interim Chief of Police from August 1, 2007 until December 5, 2007. He then retired from the Department on January 3, 2008, after 44 years of dedicated service to the Town of Evans. Samuel V. DeJohn then became Chief of Police on December 5, 2007. Chief of Police Samuel V Dejohn retired from the Department on August 22, 2008, after 36 years of dedicated service to the Town of Evans. On August 23, 2008, Ernie Masullo was appointed Chief of Police, a position he held until his retirement in 2016. On December 10, 2016, Douglas Czora was appointed Chief of Police and held that position until his retirement in June 2021 after 27 years of dedicated service to the Town of Evans.
The Police Department is currently headed by Chief of Police Gregory Szarowicz whose appointment became effective June 25, 2021.
Today, the Department consists of 23 sworn officers, 20 full-time, up to 5 part-time; 18 dispatchers, 6 full-time and 12 part-time; 2 clerical, 1 full-time and 1 part-time; 2 dog control officers, 1 full-time and 1 part-time; 5 part-time police matrons; and 1 crossing guard. Personnel
