Riverhead Town made history today.
The Town Board this afternoon appointed the first female police captain in the history of the Riverhead Police Department.
Lt. Danielle Willsey was promoted to the rank of captain by Town Board resolution and was sworn into the new position by Riverhead Police Chief Ed Frost.
Willsey, of Manorville, is an 18-year veteran of the Riverhead police force, having joined its ranks in September 2006. She was promoted to the rank of sergeant in July 2018 and to the rank of lieutenant in November 2021.
“She is the first female captain in the Riverhead Police Department. We’re making history right here today,” said Supervisor Tim Hubbard, a retired Riverhead Police detective. “I had the pleasure of working with her for a number of years before I retired,” he said.
Willsey was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the department’s history.
Only about 3% of women in law enforcement are in leadership roles nationwide, thought they comprise about 13% of all sworn officers, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
WIllsey’s husband Don and their children, Evelyn, Nick, Clare and Allie were on hand to witness the historic moment.
Sgt. Dino Isgro was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, filling the vacancy created by the elevation of Willsey to the captain’s post.
Isgro, of Wading River, joined the Riverhead Police Department in August 2005. He was promoted to the rank of sergeant in April 2019.
“An awesome fella, a really, really good cop,” Hubbard said of the new lieutenant. “Our department is in such good hands right now.”
Isgro’s wife Jennifer and their children Mariella, Aviana and Alessandra attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Today’s ceremonies were witnessed by a packed house, with more than two dozen of Riverhead’s rank-and-file police officers lined up around the perimeter of the Town Hall meeting room and seats filled with friends and family members of the newest top brass in the department.
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