POUGHKEEPSIE – Two members of the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department who started work on the same day 25 years ago retired last week, on the same day. Detective Steve Cowles and Officer Anthony “Tone Moe” Morrone both heard their final dispatch with the city on January 29, 2026, while dozens of colleagues, family, and friends waited on the apron for the men to walk out of headquarters.
Morrone began his law enforcement career with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection Police before transferring to the City of Poughkeepsie PD. Both Morrone and Cowles started their city career in the patrol division.
Cowles also served as a School Resource Officer prior to his promotion to detective in 2013. Throughout his career, Detective Cowles served as a Crime Scene Technician (CST) eventually leading the City of Poughkeepsie CST program and acting as the lead instructor at multiple CST schools in Dutchess County and beyond. In addition, he was a presenter at both the New York State Police Crime Lab and Division of Criminal Justice Services in Albany. Cowles also served as a NYS certified arson investigator, field training officer, and ballistic shield instructor. Since 2011, the detective organized and ran the John Falcone Memorial Blood Drive and previously served in the Honor Guard.
Following his time in the Patrol Division, Morrone was assigned to the Traffic Division. During the course of his career, he served as a Crime Scene Technician, Accident Reconstructionist and formerly served in the Emergency Services Unit (SWAT). While assigned to the Traffic Division, Morrone was a Certified Motor Officer and was certified at Northwestern University, in conjunction with Harley-Davidson, as an Instructor, guiding numerous officers in the pursuit of their Law Enforcement Motor Officer Certification. As a member of the PBA, Tony previously served on the Awards Committee and Honor Guard.
Cowles considers his work on the 2013 murder of 99-year-old Fanny Gumbinger, to be one of his proudest accomplishments. “The crime scene work was very in depth and took us five days to process the house,” he told Mid-Hudson News. ” All of the hard work paid off when we were able to link the suspect to the scene.”Javon Rogers, a 20-year-old suspected burglar pleaded guilty to killing Gumbinger while he was burglarizing the woman’s house. Rogers did not know the widow that he killed. “It was a true who done it,” Cowles explained. “The community really helped with this one. The combination of the public’s assistance, the interview and subsequent confession of the suspect, and the lab results from all of the crime scene work tied everything up together,” he said, calling it “A privilege to be part of this investigation and many others over the course of my career. Much of the good police work in our agency goes unnoticed because many of these cases are plead due to the overwhelming amount of evidence. This was one of those cases where it was pleaded because the difference between the maximum sentence and what the offer was is so minimal that it wasn’t worth dragging the family through a trial and exposing them to what happened to their loved one.” Rogers went to prison with a 50-year-to-life sentence on December 4, 2014 and died in prison on July 3, 2016.
Morrone is not done with public service. He has taken a part-time position with the Millbrook Police Department under the leadership of Chief Keith Dworkin.
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