Beacon Mayor Lee Kyriacou, confirmed the recommendation of a diverse community search committee and appointed Acting Police Chief Sands Frost to become chief of police. The search committee, chaired by City Councilmember Terry Nelson, made the recommendation after extensive community involvement and deliberations. The appointment is subject to public input and the approval of the full Beacon City Council in January.
Frost has served in the Beacon Police Department since 1983. While serving as acting chief, he re-established community policing on Main Street, implemented Hope Not Handcuffs to help assist Beacon residents struggling with addiction and fostered a productive relationship with organizers of Beacon 4 Black Lives.
Kyriacou said, “I”™d like to thank Chairman Nelson and the search committee. Through you there has been unprecedented community input and involvement in the selection of our new chief, which lays the groundwork for the work ahead. I have full confidence that Sands will continue to focus on increasing transparency, improving trust with the community and maintaining professionalism.”
Beacon is located on the eastern shore of the Hudson River 60 miles north of New York City, with a population of 15,000. Originally a Native American settlement, the area was purchased from the Wappinger Tribe in 1683 and settled by Dutch and other Europeans, leading to the riverfront community of Fishkill Landing on the Hudson, and the mill community of Matteawan on Fishkill Creek. The two communities were incorporated together as the city of Beacon in 1913, named for the Revolutionary War signal fires on Mount Beacon.
