Section 150. Establishment of town police departments

1. The town board of
  any town may establish a police department and appoint a chief of police
  and such  officers  and  patrolmen  as  may  be  needed  and  fix  their
  compensation. The compensation of such policemen shall be a town charge;
  providing  however,  no assessment on property in any village within any
  town or partially within any town shall be made for the  maintenance  or
  operation  of  a town police department established after January first,
  nineteen hundred sixty, pursuant to this section  if  any  such  village
  maintains  a  police  department  of four or more policemen on an annual
  full-time basis, established and maintained under  the  rules  of  civil
  service.  The  town  board  may,  at its option, determine that the town
  shall pay all or  part  of  the  cost  of  the  uniforms  and  necessary
  equipment  of  its policemen, and may purchase such equipment for use by
  the police department as  it  shall  deem  necessary,  including  police
  patrol  vehicles,  and  emergency  service  vehicles  for  police use in
  connection with accidents, public calamities or  other  emergencies.  No
  assessment  on  property in any village within any town in the county of
  Suffolk or in any village within the town of Fallsburgh  shall  be  made
  for  the maintenance or operation of such town police department, if any
  such village maintains a police department of two or more  policemen  on
  an  annual  basis.  In  the  event  that a town has established a police
  department prior to January first,  nineteen  hundred  sixty,  the  town
  board  of  such town may enter into an agreement with any village within
  it or partially within it which maintains a police department of four or
  more policemen on an annual full-time basis, established and  maintained
  under  the rules of civil service and determine therein what part of the
  cost thereof shall be assessed against the property in the  village  and
  what  part  thereof  shall  be assessed against the property in the town
  outside of the village.   Thereafter such portion of  the  cost  thereof
  determined  to  be  assessed  outside  of  the village shall be a charge
  against that part of the town  outside  of  the  village  and  assessed,
  levied  and collected from the taxable property of that part of the town
  outside of the village. When appointed, such policemen shall  be  police
  officers  and shall have all the powers and be subject to all the duties
  and liabilities  of  a  police  officer  in  all  criminal  actions  and
  proceedings and special proceedings of a criminal nature.
    2. The town board of a town in which such a police department has been
  established  at  any  time by resolution may establish a board of police
  commissioners  for  such  town  and  appoint   one   or   three   police
  commissioners  who shall at the time of their appointment and throughout
  their term of office be electors of  such  town,  and  who  shall  serve
  without compensation, and at the pleasure of the town board. If the town
  board  shall  appoint  only  one  such  police commissioner, it shall in
  addition designate two members of the town board to serve as members  of
  such  police commission. The town board may also by resolution designate
  the supervisor to serve as police commissioner, and when so  designated,
  such  supervisor  shall have all the powers of and perform the duties of
  such board of police commissioners. When either of such boards of police
  commissioners shall have been established or  supervisor  designated  as
  police  commissioner,  such  board  of  police  commissioners  or police
  commissioner shall have and exercise all the powers relative  to  police
  matters conferred upon the town board pursuant to this article. The town
  board  may  by  resolution at any time abolish such police commission or
  revoke the designation of such supervisor  as  police  commissioner  and
  thereupon  the  town board only shall exercise the powers conferred upon
  it by this article.

    3. The town board of a town, upon establishing or abolishing a  police
  department,  shall  notify  the commissioner of the division of criminal
  justice services of such action within thirty days thereafter.
    4. Any local law which seeks to abolish a town police department shall
  be  subject  to  a permissive referendum as provided in article seven of
  this chapter.