Rye’s top cop will be installed as the head of the Westchester County Chiefs of Police Association (WCCOPA). The group is a nonprofit professional organization of law enforcement leaders from Westchester and Putnam counties focused on enhancing public safety, training, and community partnership.
Public Safety Commissioner Mike Kopy will be installed as the president of the WCCOPA at an event later this month. Kopy, who has held positions with the group for many years, will be taking the reins from Village of Tarrytown Police Department Chief John Barbelet.
“Michael Kopy is exactly the kind of law enforcement professional every community hopes to have — steady, thoughtful, and deeply committed to public safety,” former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told MyRye.com.
I was proud to have him on my team, first in State Police command and later leading our emergency management operations, where he handled hurricanes, floods, snowstorms, and other emergencies in every corner of this great state. New York is better and safer because of his service, and he brings a wealth of real-world operational experience to local government. That experience – along with his professionalism and sound judgment – makes him the right leader for the Westchester County Chiefs of Police Association. Congratulations to Mike on becoming President, and I wish him great success.”
Kopy, a lifelong Rye Neck resident, came to run the City’s police and fire in 2021, after a nearly 32-year run with the New York State Police. In Rye, he has worked to hire more professional fire fighter staff, build a swift water rescue team across the police and fire departments and revamp the technology used by public safety including the deployment of drones to increase situational awareness for both police and fire.
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“Leadership, bringing us up to the new age of policing and then safety,” said Rye PBA President and Rye PD Detective Gabe Caputo when describing what Kopy has brought to Rye. “And those are the three things that I would say that he’s done very well for us.”
Caputo mentioned a myriad of technology and safety upgrades – including body armor, ballistic shields, modernizing department body cameras, a regular refresh of the vehicle fleet (a police car can run 30,000 miles in a year) and more.
“He keeps pushing us to be the leading edge of what policing is supposed to be,” said Caputo.
Peers on Kopy
“He’s been a tremendous partner to all law enforcement in the County. As he made his way up to the ranks with the State Police, then becoming head of emergency management for the New York State, and now in his new position with the City of Rye, he’s just been a tremendous partner for the last 23 years,” said John Costanzo, who met Kopy back in 2003 when he was the new Chief of Police in the Village of Tuckahoe and Kopy was the new Captain for Troop K at the New York State Police.
He’s probably one of the most respected members of our association. He brings a wealth of knowledge, not only in law enforcement, but emergency management. He even has some fire background. If I was a resident of Rye, I’d feel fortunate to have somebody like Mike running public safety because of his background and experiences and basically his personality. He’s just an easy, approachable person, friendly and [a] great sense of humor as well.”
“One of the things that makes Mike such a great leader is that he has a wealth of experience from his career with the State Police and then the work that he did under the Governor [when he was] in charge of emergency services for all of New York State,” said Mt. Pleasant Chief of Police and President of The New York State Association of Chiefs of Police Paul Oliva.
To have Mike as the head of the Association is a huge benefit for us, and it’s a huge benefit for Rye.”
Installation Dinner
Kopy will be recognized for his new role at the annual WCCOPA installation of officers event and dinner on Friday, March 27, 2026 at the Beach Point Club in Mamaroneck. Tickets and program ads are available.
