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The Association grew out of a informal coalition of fire police from the Carmel, Mahopac, and Mahopac Falls Fire Departments which had been formed to address common concerns. After several meetings, news of the group spread and members of other area departments were invited to attend. Together, an organization with membership open to all fire police primarily from Putnam and Westchester Counties was forged. The only restriction to joining was that the firefighter be a duly sworn fire police officer. Originally, lifetime dues were set at five dollars! The founders took care to include a restriction in the by-laws prohibiting all but two elected officers from being members of the same fire department and instituted the election of four vice presidents, two from Putnam and two from Westchester,  to insure representation from the entire area's fire police squads. In 1978, the group became known officially as the Putnam-Northern Westchester Fire Police Association. It has since been incorporated in the State of New York as a Not-For-Profit Corporation. From this small local membership the PNWFPA today represents over four hundred fire police from no less than fifty-five fire departments in the New York State Counties of Putnam, Westchester, Dutchess and Orange. There are, however, also members from other counties and states including several from neighboring Connecticut departments. Allowing all interested officers to join has made for a diverse membership and has paid many dividends. In 1993, there was talk of forming a fire police response team in Putnam that could be called upon as a independent unit by fire departments requiring assistance during major emergencies. Many PNWFPA members were aware that Dutchess County had been working toward this same goal for many years and had already done considerable research on the topic. Initiating a sharing of their efforts with the Putnam County Bureau of Fire enabled formation of the Putnam County Fire Police Response Team in less than a year. The Putnam Team was formally approved as Resolution 66 by unanimous vote of the Putnam Legislature on May 14, 1994. Since virtually all of the original members appointed to the Putnam team were also Association members, they had little difficulty formulating and working together in the new county unit. Similarly, in 2000, the Putnam Team members forwarded information on their team to Westchester County, which is now considering developing a fire police team of their own. The PNWFPA has also been responsible for creating increased interest in the use of fire police by area departments. Many departments have increased the size, duties and equipment of their squads and, using information supplied by the Association, have reactivated old, or formed new, fire police units. |
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