Riverhead's new police chief, Edward Frost, aims to modernize department, focus on community 

Riverhead Town's first new police chief in two decades wants to modernize the department using technology and strengthen relationships with the community.

The town board convened for a special meeting Wednesday, voting 3-0 to appoint Edward Frost to the top law enforcement post while also approving the retirement of chief David Hegermiller.

Frost, 54, who started in his new role Thursday, joined the department as a police officer in 1994 and rose through the ranks until he was promoted to lieutenant in 2021. He will oversee 96 officers in the department, which serves the town’s 36,000 residents.

Dozens of those officers lined the meeting room in Town Hall, applauding Frost as he was sworn in, surrounded by his wife and three sons.

Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard, a retired town police detective, said the new police chief is a “very community-oriented” person.

Frost, who grew up in Forest Hills, moved to Wading River in 1988. He has served in the department’s community-oriented policing unit, was a union president and runs the local Police Athletic League.

“This is such a tremendous responsibility that I take very seriously,” he said after Wednesday’s ceremony. “I just want to be community-based, community-minded.”

Frost will be paid $215,000, town officials said, adding that his appointment is provisional until he takes a civil service exam.

Two key priorities are keeping up with changes in technology and shifting demographics in town. He said he is “100% in favor” of body cameras, which the department will implement  using a $1.47 million state grant.

Frost said adding more security cameras, using license plate readers and forensic software to aid investigations could be a start.

Hiring more Spanish speaking officers is another priority, Frost said, adding that the department’s bilingual officers have been “invaluable.”

Data from the 2020 U.S. Census shows that Riverhead’s Hispanic population climbed by 77.7% from 4,649 in 2010 to 8,262 in 2020.

Town police department statistics from 2021 estimate that 3.4% of the officers identified as Hispanic or Latino.

Hegermiller, 65, is a 43-year veteran of the force who became chief in 2002. 

He was the town's highest paid employee in 2023, earning $337,274. Terms of his retirement, including payouts for unused sick and vacation time, were not immediately available.

During Hegermiller's tenure, crime rates dropped as the town's population grew.

Data from the state Division of Criminal Justice Services shows a downward trend of crime since 2002, when 1,603 “index” crimes were reported. The town reported a low of 503 during the pandemic in 2020 and 807 last year. 

Index crimes include murder, rape, robbery, assault and burglary and are used by law enforcement agencies to indicate crime rates, according to the DCJS website.

Brian Higgins, a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said most sweeping institutional changes to policing happened in the last four years.

“You have a reckoning in policing and communities that don’t have the same trust,” Higgins said, emphasizing the importance of community relations.

Higgins, a former Bergen County, New Jersey, police chief, said it’s common for rural departments to promote from within, though some downsides include potentially having to discipline someone you climbed the ranks with.

“The real advantage for places like Riverhead is you know the police department, the way it operates, and the community,” Higgins said. “The good, the bad and the ugly.”

Frost plans to introduce himself to residents at meet-and-greets on Sept. 7 at the Riverhead Senior Center at 11 a.m., Sept. 12 at Town Hall at 6 p.m., and Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. at Riley Avenue Elementary School.