Nearly two years into his role leading the Old Westbury Police Department (OWPD), Chief Stuart Cameron reflects on the strides made to enhance safety, improve communication with residents, and modernize the department. Many of these improvements were supported by the nearly $1 million in grant funding he secured in just the past year.

Before joining the OWPD, Chief Cameron served nearly 37 years with the Suffolk County Police Department, rising to Chief of Department in 2015 and overseeing 2,500 officers until his retirement in 2022. A graduate of the FBI National Academy with a Master’s in Criminal Justice, he is a decorated leader recognized with numerous awards for leadership and school safety. As a member of several professional associations, Chief Cameron has built a career on transparent leadership and a deep commitment to community safety.

In this Q&A, Chief Cameron reflects on some of the changes implemented since taking office, insights gained from his nearly 40-year career in law enforcement, and even a few surprises about his life outside the badge. 

Police work is personnel intensive by design, and as a result having the right staff is critical.  One of the reasons that I was interested in working in Old Westbury is the great reputation that the department has, and as I found out that reputation was warranted.  The officers and civilian employees here are top notch, very dedicated to ensuring the safety of the village residents each and every day.  I did note that the department was lacking in some modern technology, so we’ve been working on addressing that issue.  Of course, technology costs money, so we’ve also been working to obtain grant funding to cover the costs involved in technological upgrades as much as possible.  I also feel that it is important to empower our residents to know what types of crime are occurring in the area and to be aware of how they can protect themselves. As a result, I try to communicate with the residents on a regular basis through community meetings and messaging to empower them with knowledge to protect themselves.  I’d like to believe that our relationship with the village residents has improved since I’ve been here.  Our department is part of the Old Westbury community, for over 100 years now, so that relationship is very important to me     

I had always wanted to be a police chief of a smaller department.  As the chief of a very large department, like Suffolk County, you can do a lot of great things, but you often don’t get the satisfaction of directly helping residents, which is perhaps the best aspect of being a police officer.  I like directly interacting with the Old Westbury residents and trying to help them resolve their problems.  Unlike working in a big department though, I often need to personally do some specialized work myself.  For example, in Suffolk County we had a grants unit who would prepare grant applications for the department. Here in Old Westbury, I’ve been writing and submitting grant applications myself.  I do enjoy being busy and getting my hands dirty, so I don’t mind this at all.  The police officers will tell you that when the license plate readers go off indicating that there is a stolen car in the village, I’ll often be out there with them looking for it.  

Recent climate patterns have created more frequent severe weather-related events, such as flooding and brush fires, to which Old Westbury is not immune. During my career I was able to work on everything from a massive wildfire, a major serial killer crime scene search, a commercial plane crash response, a pandemic and major hurricanes.  I also spent years overseeing the department’s SWAT team, bomb squad, canine, crime scene and aviation units gleaning knowledge at a wide variety of serious incidents.  Throughout these events, I’ve learned the value of training, planning, preparedness and interagency cooperation.  I hope to leverage this experience to deal with any type of crisis that may arise here in Old Westbury.     

I was very involved in school safety when I was in Suffolk County, and I was very humbled when the Suffolk County School Superintendents Association honored me with their Friend of the Association Award for this work.  Our officers regularly check in at the schools and we do have a trained school resource officer, who does an outstanding job.  We recently facilitated a tabletop exercise at New York Institute of Technology, and we have increased our presence on the campus.  We also have scheduled active shooter response training for our officers in conjunction with other nearby village departments.  And of course, a common theme is enhancing technology that has relevance to school safety as well as overall safety in the village.  My children and grandchildren are precious to me and I take the responsibility of protecting other people’s children very seriously.     

Unlike Suffolk County, much of the serious crime committed here in Old Westbury is done by criminals from outside the village, in fact often from outside the state or even the country.  The pattern burglary group, for example, is an international theft group with hundreds of members, so preventing them from targeting homes here will be an ongoing effort.  Empowering our residents with the knowledge as to how they can prevent themselves from becoming a crime victim is a key to success.  I try to keep people informed, even about emerging patterns that have yet to affect us here in Old Westbury, without going overboard and making people unnecessarily fearful.  Old Westbury is a very safe community, but we’re working every day to make it even safer.  As we continue to roll out new public safety technology, we will be one of the most technologically advanced departments in New York, all of which is geared toward keeping the village safe.      

Police work can be a stressful occupation.  I find that regular exercise can help counter the ill effects of stress.  I work out every day before work and on the weekends, often getting up before five in the morning on workdays.  I also love to spend time with my family.  Spending time with my wife, children and grandchildren can certainly take my mind off the stressful aspects of the job.  I will say, due to the greater complexities of operating a large department, I’m less stressed now than when I was working in Suffolk County.  

I enjoy writing and I’ve published well over 50 magazine and journal articles in a wide variety of public safety publications. I’ve also been working to master Spanish. I started learning the language when I was in Suffolk County due to the large Spanish speaking population in the county.  I believe that I was the first chief and acting commissioner to ever address groups in Spanish.  I enjoyed the reaction that I would get when I surprised groups by addressing them in their native Spanish.  I had a long ride out to headquarters in Yaphank everyday and I’d use the time constructively to learn Spanish, however I’m not someone who can easily master a new language. I do have less need to speak Spanish now, but I’m trying to retain what I’ve learned.  I believe it is as important to work your mind as it is your body, so writing and learning new things are important to maintaining a sharp mind.      

**PULLQUOTES** 

"Old Westbury is a very safe community, but we’re working every day to make it even safer."