When going to college, Adam Renwick didn’t know what he wanted to do other than play football. It wasn’t until he took criminal justice classes that he found his calling in serving the public as a police officer.

The 16-year veteran of law enforcement, appointed chief of police of the Peekskill Police Department on Dec. 9, 2025, sat down with the Peekskill Herald on Friday, Jan. 30, and laid out his most important goals. He replaces Leo Dylewski, who retired from the city position on Dec. 12.

“My top priorities are keeping the community safe, maintaining a professional and accountable police department, and continuing to strengthen the trust between officers and the people that we serve,” Renwick said. “That means being very focused on crime prevention, especially quality-of-life issues, officer training, and transparency whenever possible.”

Renwick, a 39-year-old Rockland County resident who has worked in Peekskill for 12 years, said that although he does not live within city limits, he considers Peekskill a second home.

“I spend more time here keeping this community safe than I spend with my family,” Renwick said. “I have four young kids at home and a wife. They’re the most important things in my life, and I spend more time here committed to the safety of Peekskill than I do with my family. And I think that’s a reflection of my dedication to this community.”

Renwick said he believes it is important to invest in community policing as a long-term way to prevent crimes, such as utilizing officers in a traditional walking-post capacity downtown.

“My favorite part of the job is the same as it was when I was first a police officer,” Renwick said. “It’s helping people, making a difference in their lives. When people come to you with a problem in the community and you’re able to do something to actually solve that problem and those people come to thank you, that’s my favorite part of the job, that feeling of knowing that you made a difference in someone’s life.”

From Football Player on Offense to Police Officer on Defense

Renwick grew up in Middletown, New York. He graduated from Valley Central High School in Montgomery in 2004, then attended Pace University, where, as a football player on the offensive line, he met his future wife, who was a soccer and basketball player. 

Upon taking criminal justice classes at Pace, Renwick saw a path toward law school but ultimately decided his calling was policing. While in college, he worked as a summer special officer for the Town of Nantucket [Mass.] Police Department and the Westchester County Police at Playland for one summer each. Currently, Renwick is enrolled at Marist University in Poughkeepsie to obtain a master’s of public administration.

Renwick graduated from Pace at the peak of the economic recession in 2008. After taking every police exam he could, Renwick said he found a job market that was very thin. Before getting hired at his first police department, he worked loss prevention and security jobs for about two years.

His first police role was with the Town of Wallkill Police Department. Four years later, in 2014, Renwick joined the Peekskill force as an officer assigned to the patrol division. He maintained that role until he was promoted to the rank of sergeant, then served as a patrol lieutenant for two years.

Over the past two years, Renwick served as a detective lieutenant, supervising the detective bureau in major crimes and investigations, and was in charge of internal affairs and as a spokesperson for the police department. 

Asked if there was a specific memory that sticks out in his 16 years with law enforcement, Renwick referenced several high-profile violent crimes that he supervised, including the murder investigation of Westchester County social worker Maria Coto by Hasseem Jenkins in the City of Peekskill in 2024.

“I was in my office when that call came in,” Renwick recalled of that day. “I was one of the first people on scene up there, and I actually helped to provide her immediate medical attention. That’s a case that will stick with me forever. I’m really proud of the work that our officers, our detectives did in that case and being able to give some form of justice for the family.”

Addressing Community Trust, Immigration Enforcement, Policing

One of his first tests at the helm of the department has been community trust. A week before Renwick was appointed, community outrage erupted over a violent arrest at the Peekskill Riverfront on Dec. 3, which led to one officer being placed on paid administrative leave. 

While the district attorney declined to pursue charges for any officers involved in the incident, Renwick has told the public the department’s internal investigation into the incident remains pending and he is committed to accountability, professionalism, and maintaining community trust.

Asked how he promotes trust amid such incidents, Renwick said he believes it’s important to make himself available to answer questions that he legally can and to explain the process for administering potential discipline.

“Accountability is essential to public trust,” Renwick said. “When issues arise, they’re handled professionally, fairly, and in accordance with department policy and the law. Officers are held to a high standard, and when those standards aren’t met, we take appropriate action.”

Officers receive 40 hours minimum of in-service training every year, which includes the curriculum from the Department of Criminal Justice Services, in addition to training surrounding de-escalation and proper restraint techniques.

The topic of federal immigration enforcement has remained a burning issue among residents in the City of Peekskill. The morning of the Herald interview, Jan. 30, Renwick responded to a report from a caller who mistook a parent dropping off their student at school as a federal immigration officer.

Renwick, who has previously said the department does not conduct any type of immigration enforcement, told the Herald the department has not been notified of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) being in Peekskill recently, but will occasionally receive notification from ICE regarding their presence in the area.

Asked what was one thing the public may not know about what goes into being a police officer, Renwick said that people tend to forget sometimes the commitment that police officers make. He thanked all members of the department for their hard work every single day.

“During the [recent] state of emergency, every single police officer scheduled to work showed up for work, and they showed up on time,” Renwick said of the January snowstorm. “They answered their calls, they did their job. They were here to serve the community, and they did so honorably and respectfully.”

Renwick said the most immediate need for the department is filling its current vacancies. The department is currently conducting background investigations on several potential new hires and has several promotional interviews scheduled in order to fill vacant supervisor positions. Long-term needs and goals include potential technological improvements to enhance public safety, such as expanding the department’s drone program and exploring upgraded camera surveillance systems.

Renwick said the department is planning several events for the community to interact with and get to know police officers, which includes a “Dine and Dialogue” community event on Feb. 24 with the Peekskill National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and several community stakeholders.

“I just want Peekskill residents to know that I’m here for them,” Renwick said. “I am always available. I encourage anybody who would like to speak with me to reach out and make an appointment.” Renwick can be reached by phone at (914) 862-1410 or email at [email protected].