In May 1966, under an original idea of a young NYPD Sergeant, Timothy Finn, and a group of other police officers, the Rockland County Shields was formed.
The Shields would be dedicated to providing a fraternal and social organization for all active and retired police officers who either worked or lived in Rockland County. The Shields would foster the fact that officers, be they Federal, State, City, or Local, are all brothers. The Rockland Shields has maintained this over these last 57 years and today is comprised of over 1300 members.
The first Executive Board members in 1966 were:
President
Timothy Finn
1st Vice-President
Daniel O’Reilly
2nd Vice-President
Louis Corbo
3rd Vice-President
Thomas Kiggins
Secretary
Joseph Doyle
Recording Secretary
Dominick Coyne
Financial Secretary
William Novotny
Treasurer
Edward Clinton
Sgt at Arms
Walter Moore
Legal Consultant
Herman VanDerlinde
Trustee – Clarkstown
James Finn
Trustee – Orangetown
Fred Alcaro
Trustee – Ramapo
Al Benza
Trustee – Haverstraw
Steve Ryan
Trustee – Stony Point
John Bosworth
The following members have held the office of President:
1966-1967 – Timothy Finn (deceased)
1968-1969 – Daniel O’Reilly (deceased)
1970-1971 – Edward Clinton (deceased)
1972-1973 – James Finn (deceased)
1974-1975 – Steven Ryan (deceased)
1976-1977 – Richard Tarbox
1978-1979 – William Weber
1980-1981 – Thomas Mullins (deceased)
1982-1983 – John Dillon
1984-1985 – Vincent Coyne
1986-1987 – Timothy Connolly, Sr
1988-1989 – James “JJ” Doyle (deceased)
1990-1991 – Robert Dichiaro (deceased)
1992-1993 – Vincent White (deceased)
1994-1995 – William Coyne
1996-1997 – Victor Reyes
1998-1999 – Neil Sweeney
2000-2001 – John Crapanzano
2002-2003 – Jack Coleman (deceased)
2004-2005 – John Peluso
2006-2007 – Timothy Connolly, Jr
2008-2009 – Jim Ferguson
2010-2011 – Bill Ryan
2012-2013 – John Pinto
2014-2015 – Bob Varieur
2016-2017 – Mark Murphy
2018-2019 – Ed Weireter
2020-2021 – Keith Hansen
2022-2023 – Christian Cortelli