GOSHEN, N.Y. -- The Orange County Sheriff's Office has graduated its latest class of SWAT team members.
In total, 13 law enforcement officers from around the region were put through their final paces Friday at the county training facility in Goshen, before receiving their diplomas.
They've been attending school for the past four weeks.
Sheriff Carl DuBois says the training has been hard on these recruits because of the cold weather. But he says whatever the difficulty; the importance of their work makes it worth it.
"You always have to train for something you hope never happens. WE hope there's never a Columbine; we hope there's never a Newtown. But it's like an insurance policy. You never think you're going to get into a car accident, but you do, and you gotta have insurance. This is the insurance we can offer the public when an incident like that happens,” said Orange County Sheriff Carl DuBois.
The officers come from departments in Orange, Sullivan, Dutchess, Ulster, Rockland and Westchester counties.