Kevin McCarroll takes helm of Port Washington Police District after Robert Del Muro retires

Late last month, the Port Washington Police District broke ground on its long planned $32 million headquarters. Three days later, Robert Del Muro, the district chief who guided the department through a contentious approval process, retired after a decades-long career on the force.

Del Muro, who took over the district in 2019, said in an interview that he considers the future 25,000-square-foot facility one of his greatest accomplishments. It will replace the cramped, 9,322-square-foot building that has served as the district's headquarters since 1958. The new complex will be built on land the district bought for $8.8 million. The plot was formerly home to a funeral home and six houses that have since been demolished.

“It’s not like buying a house,” Del Muro said. “There were so many steps, and so many hurdles. It took so much time to get where we are today.”

The job of seeing the headquarters to completion will now fall to Kevin McCarroll, a former assistant chief. Del Muro said he believes the force is in good hands with his successor.

“Him, and my deputy chief, Bill Zwerlein, kind of grew with me into our positions. We all learned new positions together,” Del Muro said. “You really have to have somebody who has experience, and of course, Kevin … has experience.”

The department covers the unincorporated part of Port Washington, as well as the villages of Baxter Estates and Port Washington North, and serves about 30,000 residents. 

The district reported 187 index crimes — a total of property and violent crimes — in 2024, up from 112 in 2023 and the most since 217 in 2003, according to state data. There were 162 burglaries. McCarroll said that increase was driven "primarily by organized retail theft" and was not "associated with street level crime." There was a drop from 2024 to 2025 in reported incidents of larceny, robbery and motor vehicle theft, a department spokesman said. 

McCarroll, a former NYPD officer, rose through the ranks of the Port Washington Police District after joining in 2002. He served in a number of roles before becoming assistant chief. A district spokesman did not respond to requests for the chief's new salary.

McCaroll, 51, spoke with Newsday last week before he was sworn in. The answers have been edited for length and clarity.

How long have you been with the department, and what other roles have you held?

I got here in April 2002, and I did six years with the New York City Police Department before that. I’ve held basically every role here, except investigator. I got directly involved with forming the firearms and tactics unit here. We're responsible for all firearms and defensive tactics and ancillary training with the agency. I was in charge of the bike unit for a while. I got promoted to patrol supervisor in 2010, and I got promoted to lieutenant in 2015. I assumed the role of assistant chief in 2018.

What are some of your priorities as chief?

We're going to seek state accreditation through the [New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services]. It invites an auditing entity in to analyze every aspect of the department from top to bottom — every policy, best practices — to make sure we're meeting the state's standards. 

The most front-facing thing is the new headquarters. We broke ground the other day, and we're excited to see that to completion, and guide the process of growing into it when we do move in.

What's the most important thing you've learned from Del Muro?

The importance of bolstering a great team that you can train up, and rely on, so you can feel the agency's in a better place than it was when you got here. Ensure the line of succession is correct, trust your people, and give them the resources they'll need to thrive once your time is done. He did that. 

In terms of public safety, what areas would you like to focus on?

We really have a good thing going in terms of the way we analyze data, the way we take a data-driven approach to crime and traffic safety. We're always looking to new technology, to streamline processes and improve effectiveness of response. We've made a ton of advancement in recent years in adapting a computer-aided dispatch system that ties into the Nassau County Police Department. That's improved accountability response time and sharing information with other agencies.

Critics of the new headquarters say it is too big and too expensive. What is your plan to put those residents' concerns at ease?

The feedback we've gotten is by and large, overwhelmingly positive. I would invite the opportunity to meet with anyone who has questions or concerns with the project. We have a very well though-out basis for why we've done what we've done with a lot of public input. But we're here to listen as well. 

There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the area, and the counterresponse from activists. Is there anything you'd like to say about that situation?

Port Washington Police District has a longstanding policy not to inquire about immigration status in any of our interactions with members of the public. We do not enforce federal immigration law. We encourage any crime victim or anyone seeking police service to be comfortable in reaching out to us. 

By Joshua Needelman

joshua.needelman@newsday.com

Joshua Needelman covers the Town of North Hempstead for Newsday. A Long Island native and University of Maryland graduate, his work has appeared in publications including The New York Times and The Washington Post.