Homegrown police chief takes the reins

For Justin Foley, becoming Yorktown’s police chief in June was the next step in a nearly three-decade law enforcement career. It also meant taking the reins of the department in the community where he was born and raised — and where he chose to build a family.

Foley, 50, is a graduate of Yorktown High School and has spent most of his life in town. His mother still lives there, as do some of his siblings.

His wife, Toniann, along with their five children and extended family, regularly gather for barbecues, birthdays and other occasions. Now grandparents themselves, Foley said that kind of close-knit family life feels familiar to him, having grown up with three brothers and two sisters.

“This has been my home,” he said during an August interview in his office, adding that family and faith have remained central to him.

“I’m a man of faith,” he said. “Jesus Christ, I think, guided me in my life and I’m fortunate to be here because of him.”

Foley’s law enforcement career began in 1998, when he joined the New York City Police Department. He was assigned to Police Service Area 7 in the Bronx and worked there until transferring to the Yorktown Police Department in 2002.

His time in the NYPD included the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Foley assisted with rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site and later at Staten Island landfill.

Back in Yorktown, Foley worked in the Patrol Division as a patrol officer, desk officer and field training officer.

In 2006, he joined the department’s K-9 Unit, where he worked with his partner, Moose, until 2014. He later served as the department’s traffic safety officer before being promoted to sergeant in 2016.

Foley became a lieutenant in 2020 and served as the Patrol Division commander. He also oversaw the School Resource Unit, the department’s Honor Guard and its accreditation program.

His responsibilities continued to expand. In 2025, he served as Operations Commander and later Staff Division Commander before being promoted to captain in June 2025. He returned to the Operations Commander role before being promoted to chief this June.

Foley said former Chief Robert Noble also played an important role in preparing him for leadership, describing him as a “hell of a mentor.”

Noble worked with Foley for nearly a quarter-century and said it was a “pleasure” to recommend him for promotions to sergeant, lieutenant, captain and chief.

“Justin is honest, decisive, resourceful, trustworthy, determined, empathetic, community minded, and loyal,” Noble told Yorktown News. “He is more than ready for this challenge and will excel as chief of police. The Town of Yorktown will find that Chief Foley will be easy to find in times of uncertainty and will be decisive in his actions.”

Foley is what Noble calls “a homegrown Yorktowner,” and he said his goal is to keep “his community safe.”

Foley attended multiple FBI-LEEDA leadership courses and earned the organization’s Leadership Trilogy Award.

“Stripes, bars and stars only give you permission to lead,” Foley said. “It does not make any of us leaders.”

Foley said he views integrity, fairness and accountability as the foundation of good leadership.

“I know I'm rough on the outer edges—you see me get choked up when I talk about the guys and stuff like that—but I treat people fair,” Foley said.

He also credits his father, who was a funeral director, with teaching him the importance of hard work and empathy. Foley was 18 when he lost one of his brothers to suicide, a loss that he said shaped how he viewed his father and the way he carried himself through difficult times.

“He worked long hours, raised us ... the way he carried himself and never complained,” Foley said of his father. “He held me and everybody else accountable — hard work and do the right thing. You don’t always have to show somebody sympathy, but you better have empathy for that person and treat them fair.”

Those lessons have shaped how he approaches both his officers and the community.

“Growing up in this town, I want you to be treated just so my mom's going to be treated,” Foley said. “Most of your officers that we hired here, probably 99 percent of them either grew up here, still live here, used to live here, want to live here or have family and friends here. They all have a vested interest in this town.”

As chief, Foley said he wants to maintain the department’s current direction —focusing on community policing—while continuing to strengthen partnerships, youth outreach and quality-of-life initiatives.

“I can be the face of the department, but it’s the guys on the road that are actually day in and day out, proving what this department is,” he said.

Officer wellness and mental health is another priority. Foley pointed to the department’s peer support program, which provides officers with support following traumatic incidents.

“The better officer is better for his family,” Foley said. “It’s better for here. It’s better for the community.”

For Foley, leading Yorktown’s police department is ultimately inseparable from being part of Yorktown itself.

“My proud moments are being a husband, a father,” Foley said.

And after nearly 30 years in law enforcement, he plans to keep doing both in the community he has always called home.