If a sheriff, to whom a mandate is directed and delivered, finds, or has reason to apprehend, that resistance will be made to the execution thereof, he may command all persons in his county, or as many as he thinks proper, and with such arms as he directs, to assist him in overcoming the resistance and, if necessary, in arresting and confining the resisters, their aiders and abettors, to be dealt with according to law.
New York Legal Code