State Police Officer Makes History in Hudson Valley

A New York State Police Officer has made history.

On Thursday Captain Reva J. Navarro of the New York State Police received special recognition for breaking an important barrier.

Impressive career

Navarro is a former member of the military. As a US Army sergeant, the Marist College graduate served for four years at Fort Hood, Texas before joining the force. Navarro has been a New York State Police officer for almost 15 years.

Promotion to Commander

In October Captain Christopher Zaba was transferred from Troop F to Troop C between Binghamton and Cooperstown in Central New York. Navarro was chosen to take over his post, becoming the very first female Zone Commander in Sullivan County. Troop F consists of three zones. Zone one covers the Sullivan County area with barracks in Liberty, Roscoe, Narrowsburg and Wurtsboro. Zone two handles Orange County, while Zone three encompasses most of Ulster.

Huge Milestone

On Thursday, a special certificate was given to Captain Navarro from the Sullivan County legislature. The award recognizes that the zone commander is the very first female in the county to be promoted to the position.

The New York State Police posted a photo of Navarro receiving the honor, eliciting congratulations from residents across the region. Many noted how important it is to finally have a female being represented at the highest local level of the New York State Police. Others noted that such representation was long overdue.

Facebook user Ludwig Alexander posted

That's great news and well done, but tragically sad it took this long for a female to gain that rank.

There were hundreds of messages of congratulations and wishes of good luck for Captain Navarro.