​Westchester Cops Receive Top Honors For Fitness

WHITE PLAINS, NY — The Westchester County Police Special Response Team recently took home some top honors following the National Tactical Officers Association’s Physical Fitness Qualification Test.

After putting 370 tactical teams from across the nation through its paces, the association reported that Westchester County Police Officer Jason Payne had achieved the highest individual score in the nation in 2021. As a unit, the Special Response Team achieved the third-highest score of any tactical team on the association’s rigorous fitness test.

County Executive George Latimer commended Payne and the entire Special Response Team for their outstanding accomplishment.

“This achievement is another testament to SRT’s commitment to excellence and to meeting the highest professional standards for a special weapons and tactics team,” he said.

Commissioner Thomas A. Gleason said the Special Response Team is called on to handle some of the most high-risk incidents that occur in Westchester, from leading raids on locations where illegal narcotics are being sold to executing arrest warrants of armed and dangerous criminals.

"It is work that requires a wide range of tactical skills and abilities," he said. "The great results on the fitness test verify that SRT members are prepared for the physical challenges that come with serving on an elite tactical team.”

Payne joined the County Police in July 2016 after several years of prior law enforcement experience. He is currently assigned to the Westchester County Police Academy, where he is an instructor in defensive tactics, physical fitness and other topics. He was recently selected to begin training to become a member of the Hazardous Devices Unit, known more informally as the Bomb Squad.

The WCPD Special Response Team is a group of highly trained, specially equipped police officers who are deployed for tactical operations that involve armed-active violence situations, high-risk warrant service, dignitary protection and escorts, hostage rescue situations, armed barricaded subjects and other incidents requiring specialized weapons, tactics or equipment, according to a county spokesman. As with all services offered by the County Police, the team is available to assist and support all law enforcement agencies in Westchester County.

In addition to Officer Payne, the members of the Special Response Team who participated in the fitness qualification test are: Captain James Luciano, Lt. Paul Cusano, Lt. Vincent Antonecchia, Sgt. Michael DeMaio, Sgt. Jeffrey Slotoroff, Sgt. David Minet, Sgt. Michael Ritell, Det. Anthony DelPriore, Det. Marc Moskalik, PO Paul Cianelli (now retired from WCPD), Det. Jonathan Gould, Det. Scott McMahon, PO Toby Ricozzi, PO Fabian Yearwood, PO Evan Murtaugh, PO Brian Tierney, PO Michael Huffman, PO Paul DeSousa, PO Daniel Dumser and PO David Byrnes.

The association’s Physical Fitness Qualification Test requires an 800-meter run, a 400-meter run, burpees, squats and pull-ups. Only a three-minute recovery period is allowed between each event. Participants are scored based on their completion time or successful number of repetitions within a prescribed time limit. Payne achieved the highest score of any individual participant, and the team score was the result of the cumulative performance of all SRT members.

The Special Response Team has a long-standing record of accomplishment and success. In 2013, it became the first SWAT unit in New York to be certified by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. The certification was granted after the SRT demonstrated that it was in compliance with numerous critical standards that cover team capabilities and operations, training, equipment and administration.