The Suffolk County Police Department is getting ready to celebrate 60 years of service.

The county department officially formed on January 1, 1960. Police Chief Stuart Cameron says the county has come a long way since then. He says everything has changed from the uniform, police cars and they way officers communicate. 

Law enforcement in Suffolk County was the responsibility of local towns and villages prior to 1960. At one point, there were a total of 33 separate law enforcement agencies in the county.

Cameron says a referendum was held in 1958 to create a county department, in which five western towns participated, including Babylon, Huntington, Islip, Smithtown and Brookhaven.

“Between the technology, the philosophy of policing, I like to think it’s become much kinder and gentler. We’ve become much more community oriented,” says Cameron.

Anyone who would like to glimpse back in time at the beginning of the Suffolk County Police Department can visit its museum in Yaphank.