Sgt. Ernie Thompson

Amityville Police Sergeant Ernie Thompson retires

    Amityville Police Sgt. Ernie Thompson is retiring effective Jan. 20 after 30 years of service in the Amityville Police Department. He spent some time talking about his retirement recently and said he is leaving the department and community that has become like a family to him, with a host of mixed emotions.     “When I was growing up I dreamed, like a lot of kids, of being a major league baseball player,” said Thompson. “But being a cop is all about helping people and over the years I can honestly say that I never lost sight of that.”     Like most people looking back on three decades, Thompson recalled some of the difficult times, particularly the calls he got that involved children who were killed or injured. He came on to the force May 28, 1979, five years after the De Feo murders, one of Amityville’s most tragic events, but he was on duty when an Amityville woman drowned her children. “I will never forget that,” said Thompson. “Those are the kind of things that stay with you forever.” Read the full story in this week's Amityville Record