Jeffrey Erickson was officially appointed chief of the East Hampton Village Police Department at Friday’s village board meeting, after a resolution to do so was unanimously passed by the board. He is the ninth chief of police since the position was created in 1920.
The Emergency Services Building was packed with blue, as chiefs from adjacent towns and villages watched Mayor Jerry Larsen present Mr. Erickson with the chief’s badge. “It’s a little overwhelming to have this support,” he told the assembled crowd after receiving his badge. “I’m honored and humbled to do this.”
It didn’t come easy. After he took the Suffolk County Civil Service’s police chief exam in March, a reporting delay held up his results until September. “It was a long road to get here.”
From the podium he spoke of his early days in the department, 33 years ago. “I was an UpIsland carpetbagger in 1991,” he said. Steadily he worked his way through the ranks, first as a police officer, then as a sergeant, and then a lieutenant. In 2023, he was promoted to
captain. Acknowledging the chiefs who came before him and who watched his ceremony, he said, “To be where I am now, at the top of the game and joining an elite group in the back of the room, I appreciate the guidance and support they’ve given me in this last year.”
He grew emotional as he thanked his family and remembered his late father-in-law, Frederick (Rocky) Notel. “Rocky was a sergeant in the town for 40 years,” Chief Erickson later said in a phone call. “He was always supportive but passed away a year ago. I’m sure he would have loved to be there.”
After some pressure from Mayor Larsen, who described Chief Erickson as a “very good personal friend,” he told the story of how he first took the job of police officer. Having grown up in Stony Brook, he was looking for a job UpIsland, but was scouted by then-village police chief Glen Stonemetz, who offered to take him for a ride around the village.
“We were driving around, looking at some of the big, beautiful places, the houses over on Lily Pond. We came to a traffic light. I wasn’t really paying attention; I was kind of in awe,” said Chief Erickson. “All of a sudden, Chief Stonemetz goes through the traffic light and blew through a stop sign. We got T- boned. It was an interesting start to my career here.”
He’ll be taking over a department with a $6 million budget and 24 officers. He hopes to hire three more soon to bring it up to 27. His annual salary before overtime and benefits is $207,066. “I look forward to keeping up the standards and the quality of life that res- idents expect out here. They expect a two-minute response if they call us. It’s a small-town feeling, and we can offer those services,” he said by phone.
