Briarcliff D.A.R.E. Officer Marks 25 Years with PD

This year marks 25 years of service in the for Officer Tom Farrington.

A native of the village, he said he has always loved being around Briarcliff Manor.

"I guess it's home," he said. "I live in Ossining now, but I grew up in Briarcliff and graduated from ."

In addition to working with the BMPD for the past quarter of a century, Farrington has been a member of the for 30 years—and as a former chief—was into the Briarcliff Manor Fire Department Deputy Chiefs Association.

The village board also recently announced he received a certificate from The New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials for his 25 years with the police department.

"Last year, I got inducted into the hall of distinguished alumni of ," he added. "That means a lot. I never thought that would happen."

Despite these accolades, you might know Farrington best for his work as D.A.R.E. officer in the public schools for the last 14 years.

"I really like working with the kids," he said. "We have a great time. I always tell the kids in the beginning, 'You're going to have fun, but you're going to learn a lot.'"

He said the D.A.R.E. curriculum is geared mostly at 's fifth graders, which is considered an "exit grade," before the youths head off to middle school and are exposed to older students and potentially drugs, alcohol and other dangers.

"I've done programs with the middle school through their health classes," he added. "We try to talk about current things—they are always changing as the years go on and there's always something new and dangerous happening."

He also works with the high school's driver's education classes, where he shares local statistics about teenage driving accidents and their causes.

Farrington said he keeps in touch with many of his graduates over their middle and high school careers, especially since his own children, ages 14 and 16, interact with them through sports.

"Every grade, there's a connection," he said. "It's fun to see how they are doing and they make a point to stop and say, 'hello.'"

Back in 2001, Farrington to aid with perimiter security—a scene he described as "really eerie."

The low point of his career, Farrington said, was when he was struck by a car during a traffic stop on Pleasantville Road in 1994.

"I was in the hospital for 10 days with a really bad head injury and my left leg was all but destroyed," he recalled.

Doctors initially told the police officer the injury may not be salvagable, "but after long reconstruction with a bunch of titanium they put me back together and with several months of physical therapy I learned to walk again and was back to work in about a year," Farrington said.

Local kids are familiar with the story and now fondly call the officer "Robocop," he said. "Aren't they cute?"

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