Levittown is consistenly getting the short end of the stick here. The water tower and now the 8th precinct is closing. Is Wantagh Woods too good for an unsightly water tower? What makes thia community better than any other? Nothing.

It figures, I move out here from Queens and Nassau County is hitting the skids.

Ed Mangano Rules!! Finally a real fiscal conservative in office.

Mangano will be the Ruination of Nassau County, it will be totally and completely destroyed fiscally, Infrastructure wise and total breakdown of governmental services from Police to schools to social services!!!! The Absolute Worst County Executive Ever!!!!!

Not sure how you can say that, he was handed this mess. I guess he could of raised your taxes 19.9 percent like Suzzy did when he came in and hoped in four years your would have forgotten about it (which residents did). I've seen "services reduced" for 30 years in the county and I can tell you this, the police force does zero traffic enforcement and basically sits in cars waiting for the call. Parks departments and Public Works Departments have not stepped up to help the issues, where are those screaming doing innovative thinks to provided a better product, or do they use their union rep as a mouth piece.

A) Seaford Wantagh Massapequa et al are NOT high volume violent hot beds of crime areas, by their own accounts the 7th precint responds mostly to criminal mischief, drunk drivers and a few errant burglaries and petty larceny over at the mall. One would think by looking at the rezoning map that Nass county execs would INCREASE police presence in areas that need it the most. Ironically the 7th is NOT one of those yet remains open. It would seem more advantageous to decrease the # of officers doing clerical, redistributte and re assign personnel from HQ in Mineola, and take cops OFF the desks @100k per annum in HQ and in the precintcts, replace them with civilans have one centralized detective squad and leave all the precincts remain open as is. I mean really this isnt the bronx ,queens or brooklyn. do we actually NEED 4 cop cars responding to a traffic accident? Its like a bad joke-One to take the flares out of the trunk, one to figure out where to place them, one to light the match & the other to wave traffic around? No disrespect because we ALL appreciate them when called and needed, it doesnt mean that a plethura of officers need to descend on a scene or respond to a petty larceny or criminal mischief call especially since specialized units respond to other more serious crimes.why do we have SO many officers waiting for that one traffic accident to happen for all to converge en mass? Reassign some of them to more "in need " areas,and leave the precincts as is

To Lorraine, I find that complaining about police presence is done in ignorance. First, when a major incident happens, you will be glad a cop does not have to show up alone and get there 10 minutes late. And one reason. The cops respond to the accidents with so many cars is because 1, maybe 2 cops are needed to direct traffic at large intersections , one to do the report, and one driver for each ambulance that needs to go to the hospital. Or, you could hire full time, 24 hour ambulance operators with benefits and pensions, and have one cop fully shut down sunrise highway or Hempstead Turnpike for a half hour while he fills out the report. As police officer (not Nassau) I know that accidents breed accidents. Safety is the issue. When a major event occurs, you will be thankful to have them.

To Lorraine.......You have no idea whats coming in this County !

Chris, oh i have a very good idea about whats coming to this county we all do. Pensions, overtime, overpaid employees are killing the countys economy, I DO NOT BLAME the people receiving them, i blame the people who doled out to the unions the future of the county. THAT is why i am eyeing North and South Carolina because quite frankly not only do I doubt that this is going to turn around very soon, i strongly doubt that anyone of us who pay through the nose for declining services can make any sort of difference. While we can VENT we cant actually change anything because regardless of what idiots we vote into office they have decided we the taxpayer dont matter as long as their pockets get lined and their own personal agendas are addressed. Atleast down south the idiots in office there arent on par with the ones up here. their pockets arent as deep , patronage isnt as rampant and the good ol boys are satisfied with less. . To all nassau county officers, most of you do work hard, we do appreciate it and we thank you , unfortunately bottom line and the reality is we just cant afford you and your pensions ..

Lorraine I sincerely hope that you dont get into an accident or anything that may involve the presence of the police in North or South Carolina. You will be waiting a very very long time for someone to respond.
I am glad that the precinct is able to send a few cars my way, God Forbid, I ever get in an accident. What if it was YOUR vehicle on the side of the road that needed assistance? What if it was YOUR home broken into? You can make all the disrespectful comments in the world. I sleep better knowing in Nassau County the police will be here in minutes if you need them, no matter how many cars they send.

Zee, apparently you dont seem to comprehend my angst, frustration and anger is at the polititicans NOT the cops..also when 4 cop cars respond to an accident its becasue someone SENT them they dont willy nilly prowl the area they are assigned.. the problem is not the cops themselves its the politicians and the management and the unions .So.before you jump on me READ what i am saying and dont read between the lines or misconstrue or misunderstand . BTW in SC where i DO have another home the cops DO come asap. Now if it was Maine where i also had a lake house then you counted on the bears responding before the police because the bears outnumbered the police 10-1.with one officer patroling 100sq miles alone.

Let’s not get into what ifs. We all know NCPD does an awesome job, they are not cutting street patrol's, or cars, they are cutting administration levels from reduced buildings, and given today’s technology should need less of them. The union heads have one agenda and only one; get union dues, less officers, less dues. Dem's get campaign money from unions so they will always side with the union regardless of what is good for Nassau on a whole (hear that David D). We all know the drill!!

And don't get me wrong Peter Schmit is nothing great for this county either!

did you forget to mention ALL county politicians, not just the few you named. They all have their own agendas and the public be damned. I would love to know WHO receives how much and WHAt from special interest groups, unions and lobbyists. Perhaps a breakdown publicly posted would serve us well come election time.

Lorraine....I agree. Where the heck is all the tax money going?! Nassau is the one of the highest taxed counties in the country. Yes the cops make $100,000 a year, so do the teachers. How else can you live here. But, there must be something else going on here. The corruption is rampant. As people wake up the anger will increase in years to come. But it will be too late. This County will never recover. Voting no longer makes a difference. The Republicrats are all the same. To blame the cops or teachers is what the politicians want us to do. Class warfare takes the attention off them.
When and if the revolution comes, I can only hope that it is peaceful.

zee i responded to James' scenario amd said nothing in THAT post about "no disrespect"- you need to stop taking things out of context.. perhaps you are confused...pls re read each post as a separate entity.
btw it will be blantantly clear when i am disrespectful, rude, bitchy or plain ol nasty .. it is never implied ..

Its like a bad joke-One to take the flares out of the trunk, one to figure out where to place them, one to light the match & the other to wave traffic around? No disrespect because we ALL appreciate them when called and needed, it doesnt mean that a plethura of officers need to descend on a scene or respond to a petty larceny or criminal mischief call especially since specialized units respond to other more serious crimes

Thats the post I was referring to.

Zee-the rest reads - why do we have SO many officers waiting for that one traffic accident to happen for all to converge en mass? Reassign some of them to more "in need " areas,and leave the precincts as is."
Officers do NOT respond to my knowledge arbitrarily- they are SENT - my point was why the HECK are the powers at rule the roost sending 4 officers to respond to a minor fender bender. it underlines the point that it is a waste of the officers tme, the taxpayers money and poor management of resources. Typically again to my knowledge the responding officer will call in if assistance is needed .. They are a valuable resource that should be redeployed into areas where they are needed most. If you read the beginnning of my post i stated Seaford wantagh et al are NOT hot beds of crime nor are we on the verge of an insurgence of violent crimes. There are other areas of this county where a consistent OBVIOUS police presence is needed . THAT was and IS the point. As to the "one to open the trunk ".. it is a running joke pertaining to the fact that this area has more cops then we have robbers. Again a waste of resources and money and certainly NOT the officers fault.

Interesting...she calls for a "scratch " to her bumper with "no injuries"... So concerned about Officers doing more productive things..Why not be more productive yourself and drive to the Precinct to report it instead of taking Officers away from potentially more important issues...In the future, she can go to one of these great "community precincts" for the report. The 7th is not closing... how convenient for Shmit.

I did'nt call, the person who hit my car did - after ANY car accident serious or not, because of the way the insurance policies are constructed it behooves everyone to call to facilitate a proper handling of a claim, (of which i did not process) Insurance companies want and in some cases require a police report. Do i believe it is a productive use of time and resources ? well that depends on the severity of the incident and/ OR the people involved.
If everyone reads the article it remians to be seen whether or not the # of patrol cars will be reduced, currently they are stating it it wont, but is aimed at increasing technology to support in house efficiencies and to reduce non patroling manhours and consolidate and centralize clerical functions by officers. If thats the case then there isnt a problem of WHERE the hubs are as the officers dont typically change shifts at the precinct , here in Seaford they change shifts in parking lots, one being the firehouse on Southard. So if this is the case where these HUB precintcs are located shouldnt effect the quality. DO I beleive this is being done to stream line effciencies. lmao- NO but their proposed premise has some logic, it remains to be seen whether or not the premise is the actual reason for doing this, how they execute it & if they actually think we are dumb enough to believe everything they tell us. IF there are flaws they will be evident very quickly..time will tell.

MY personal belief is IF you are going to go through with this then the Major HUBs should be in areas with higher crime rates. And to the individuals who would not want to venture into a higher crimne rate area to pick up a police report the alternative should be that you can go to Mineola to pick it up or access it on line. Put cops and their "houses" where they are most needed.. Seaford is not a hot bed of crime.. and the presence of the 7th has not Decreased the types of crime/incidents we do have. In fact THOSE are on the rise.

Well, we do agree some things need to change. Having the police do the work of an insurance company (investigating non criminal/ non injury accidents) is ridiculous. If a 911 operator is told that this is the case, the persons involved should be instructed to got to a "hub" and report it if they allow themselves to be bullied by an insurance company. There are rules regarding when it is mandatory such as value of damage and/or injury. I really can't see how this great savings will be realized. This poorly thought out, manipulative plan will fail and will end up costing more than it allegedly will save. Manning a "hub" with two officers 24/7? Continuting to pay utilities etc... ? Are the other precincts equipped to handle the extra workload if they plan on doing away with administrative personnel? Too many what if's. A place to hold community meetings? Most Civic groups don't and shouldn't be relying on the Police Department to host and provide a place for them to meet. There are libraries, fire houses, schools etc...It was a bad idea when they spoke of closing two precincts. It's a worse idea now.

There has been some confusion between my position on this subject and those expressed by another poster with the screen name, Chris. We are two different people. His or her views, in the above posts, are not my views.

I do not have a public position about this plan, nor do I have enough information to form a strong private opinion, either way.

I do know that the Wantagh School District is presently split between the First and Seventh Precincts, a fact which has not always been conducive to a seamless (or consistent) interface between the schools and the police department.

Chris Wendt

Lorraine = false statements against the Police Officers. You have to pass over her unintelligent posts.

Robert, explain to me whats false in my statements about police officers, all along I have stated the OFFICERS ARENT the issue its the people making the decisons. They are just doing their jobs.- if you cant explain to me what i have said thats false then dont make FALSE statements about me.THAT is unintelligent

Yes, police EARN a decent salary out here. Why else would they risk their lives for strangers? How much do you think they should make? Granted they aren't worth the money the "real heroes" are making... ridiculously paid athletes, actors or musicians. How much would you expect for the nature of police work? Police don't get that $50,000 bonus when they close a trade deal or an all inclusive vacation for being the top salesperson in the firm...Ask someone who has had their life saved by an Officer if their life is worth the salary they get..

Here are some Nassau County Police Salaries. Note the first two are desk jobs. My heros
Turk Robert M POL CAPT-CHF OF DIST salary $185,045.06 overtime $24,346.30
Ocallaghan Karen E POL CAPT-CHF OF OPTS Salary $193,820.58 Overtime $18,135.02
Pappas Douglas A POLICE OFFICER Salary $116,873.52 Overtime $50,692.71

Let pay the Police minimum wage. Lower pay will bring lower standards. Lower standards will bring corruption and more crime. The NCPD is understaffed. The cops that are making lots of OT is the fault of the administration. Police cars have to be manned either by a cop working a regular tour of a cop on OT. It is the way it is.
While we are at it, why don't we pay teachers minimum wage? Think of how low all our taxes would be. But, at what price to society as a whole.
It is easy to point our fingers and blame the Cops or Teachers for our fiscal mess. The Politicians love that. It takes the blame off of them for years of mismanagement and kickbacks and corruption.
The small minded citizens of this County deserve what they get ! Let the class warfare continue, While Rome burns !

A quote from you Lorraine "Seaford Wantagh Massapequa et al are NOT high volume violent hot beds of crime areas, by their own accounts the 7th precint responds mostly to criminal mischief, drunk drivers and a few errant burglaries and petty larceny over at the mall." tell this to the Police Officers from the 7th pct who responded to an auto accident on Bellmore Rd . They were confronted by a male who was ready for war . He had numerous firearms and assault rifles in his vehicle. The responding officers were met with a laser pointed at them and gun fire from this subject. The officers were out gunned in regards to the type of high powered weapons the subject had. A volunteer fireman who was first on the scene was shot. A Nassau County Police Officer was able to make his way to the passenger side of the vehicle ,thru the shots being fired from the subjects vehicle . He was able to return fire ending this situation that could of been a lot worse . And yes Lorraine that happened in the Seventh Pct. There are plenty more serious incidents that happen in the 7th that the public is unaware of.

Bottom line the Pct's handle many functions and the tax payers deserve to have these Pct's in there communities . To hear they only give out accidents reports is pretty funny , it shows the person making these statements has no clue on what they are talking about . Doing more with less when it comes to policing is a gamble with public safety.

John Q The Unions have given more than their share . You can't keep coming back to them each time the County finds its self in trouble. Don't be fooled by his increase in pop officers. Here's some facts the County has cut special patrols there are no more Police officers assigned to DWI patrols , no mall patrol cars , no enforcement cars to each precinct (which take care of pct conditions such as stolen rims and tires) narcotics burea is down to a few officers for the whole county . With prescription drug abuse running rapid . The 8 pcts are there for a reason and they too are down in staff. Don't be surprised if you call your local pct which won't be so local after this restructuring and you don't get the service your used to. Putting the work load of two pcts into one means quality of life issues will go to the waste side. Closing the pcts is not the answer. I wonder how many New York City Police Pcts were closed when the new Commissioner Dale was in the City. I can tell you NONE.

The County workers are currently in a wage freeze. I feel bad for the new worker frozen at the low rate and not able to get the pay steps they were promised. Many of these workers especially Police Officers who left other departments to work in Nassau are now making much less then they did in the city. They have a contract that was extended to 2015, because the county came to them for give backs . The unions stepped up to the plate and gave the county give backs saving the county money. Ed Mangano approved these contracts when he was a legislator. The county once again is coming to the workers. The unions once again are willing to sit down with the county to help out again but Ed Mangano is not being reasonable with his demands. The workers don't have to open the contracts because they are good to 2015. Ed Mangano should sit down and come to a fair agreement with the unions. The union leaders are not as bad as most of the public makes them out to be.

Lorraine I don't disagree with you that the 7th is not the hot bed of crime but it has it's fair share of serious incidents . Like I explained in the Bellmore shooting which was in the news and Newsday gave a detailed story on the events of that incident, I agree the higher crime areas need more special patrols like plain clothes officers etc. But you also have to keep pcts and regular patrols in all areas of the County. Otherwise they too will eventually turn into higher crime areas. The bottom line the special patrols have been cut down which need to return and that would take hiring new officers. The inside officers are down to a minimum and there are certain jobs inside that can only be handled by a sworn officer. Day tour 7am to 7pm 5 officers man the pct. The night tour 7pm to 7am is manned by 3 Police officers. The force was once 4200 strong now it's down to a bare minimum of around 2100. If you live in the Wantagh Seaford area you deserve to have a local pct . I've explained the pct functions in past posts. They are a necessary tool in the police dept. taking the work loads of two Pct's and jamming them into one is a big mistake ( and yes there are things that go on every day in every pct that the public has no clue , it's not just handing out accident reports) . These 8 Pct's manage the crimes of the communities they serve.

The public should not let this administration go thru with this . I truly believe its a bad move. Ed Mangano should look else where for his savings . The police dept can't suffer any more cuts.

John Q if you were able to look at the police contract that was opened when Tom Suozzi was in office you would see the give backs the officers gave. They didn't have to open their contract because it was not expired but did to help out the County. Ed Mangano was a Legislator at this time and he approved it. It was a fair negotiated contract that helped save the county money. The workers are once again asked to help out the County. The unions are willing to again sit down with Ed Mangano and try to help out. But Ed Mangano is being unreasonable with his demands. It's no negotiation his way or nothing. The contracts don't expire til 2015. I think Ed Mangano would be smart to sit down with the unions who are offering to help save the county money once again. Talk to the Officers with under 8 years in the department who have given back thousands of dollars in not reaching their pay steps. Thats half of the force . NIFA has frozen their pay and all officers pay with no end in sight . In regards to the vacant stores that you think is the responsibility of the Nassau County Work Force, did you ever think the towns are letting too many developers put up strip stores in every open lot in this county. How many stores do we need. Over development of stores will give you the vacancies . It's time to stop blaming the workers. They are willing to help.

The post was about restructuring of the Pct's which meant closing 4 of the 8 Pct's . When people can't talk about the subject at hand because they have no knowledge on pct function , they go off topic and attack the workers . Still not having any information on contracts. Some people will always be anti police . All police officers know this , guess it's created from the job they do. When you have to enforce laws giving out tickets and making arrest you won't have a big fan base. I support the Police and think they deserve the salary they get for the job they do. How people have a job that requires them to wear a bullet proof vest at work. You'll never be rich as a Police Officer but you will make a fair salary .

JOhn Q, last time I checked, Police Officers were not exempt from paying tax so they do contribute to their salary. Everyone pays taxes (exept of course the illegals, who also utilize Police service your (our) taxes pay for). Why not complain about your school taxes while you are at it...