DONALD FERRARO ‘74 

Director of Public Safety 

Scarsdale 

To Donald Ferraro, police work is about more than mere law enforcement - it's about being of service to the people of the community, shepherding the local youths down the right path, and preserving everyone's safety.

Ferraro became Scarsdale's first director of Public Safety in 1991, which means he oversees the town's 65-member police department and the fire department's 43 firefighters and 130 volunteers. He started his career in law enforcement in 1965 when he accepted a position with the city of White Plains. He took a job with the town of Eastchester in 1967, and in a year later, with Scarsdale. Ferraro quickly moved through the ranks and was appointed chief of that department in 1983.

But from 1973-79, he served as the department's youth officer. When the town offered to send him to Hunter College to get a master's degree in Social Work to improve his skills as a youth officer, he readily accepted. He had earned a bachelor's degree in Social Science from Mercy College in 1974, and went on to receive a master's degree in Social Work in 1977 from the City University of New York.

Armed with the knowledge he gained in school, Ferraro founded an Employee Assistance Program for the town, but soon had to choose between his social service duties and those of being a youth officer. He chose the latter.

Under Ferraro's leadership, the Scarsdale Police Department has been awarded national accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, and state accreditation by the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation program. He has served as an assessor and team leader for the Commission on Law Enforcement Accreditation, and has been an accreditation consultant for the Ann Arbor, Michigan; New York City Transit; Suffolk County, and New York City Housing Authority police departments.

Ferraro is active in the New York State Chiefs of Police, the Westchester County Police Chiefs' Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Scarsdale Rotary Club, of which he is a past president.