The New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police, also known as DEP Police, and formerly known as the Bureau of Water Supply Police and the Aqueduct Police, is a law enforcement agency in New York City whose duties are to protect and preserve the New York City water supply system maintained by the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the nation's largest single source water supply. The department has protected and preserved the water supply system for over 100 years. History The Bureau of Water Supply (BWS) Police was created through legislation enacted in the 1906 Water Supply Act. It was not until 1907 that the first provisional appointees were hired and assigned. On July 9, 1908, the first permanent police officers were appointed and assigned to the precincts in Peekskill, Garrison, Browns Station, and High Falls. The Bureau of Water Supply Police was the first police agency in upstate New York with a multiple county police jurisdiction. In 1908, Rhinelander Waldo was appointed as Chief of the Board of the Aqueduct Police. At this time, there were approximately 60 men assigned to the force. After a few months of service, Rhinelander was appointed Fire Commissioner of the City of New York. He was succeeded by Captain Douglas I. McKay. Captain McKay selected a number of qualified individuals from the civil service list with the intention of making them Aqueduct Police Sergeants. He created stringent requirements, including that all members must be qualified horseman, and have experience as an officer or non-commissioned officer in the United States Army or the National Guard (with a preference for Spanish–American War Veterans). Approximately two hundred men passed these rigid qualifications and were appointed as sergeants. At this time, the newly formed Aqueduct Police, a force of 350 officers (300 of these being mounted units) were tasked with ensuring order in the unruly construction site work camps. The first Board of Water Supply Police Precinct was built in Spout Brook, approximately two miles from Peekskill, New York. Other Precincts were built shortly after, each being manned by five sergeants and thirty officers and horses. During World War One, American involvement in the war brought the historic DEP Police to duties protecting the NYC water supply. As of the current today 2019, the DEP Police today still has the same mission guarding the water supply, and is a participant of the annual First