In an effort to cut back on spending, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and Police Commissioner Thomas Dale announced Monday that four of the county's eight police precincts will be restructured.
Four precincts will remain intact while the remaining four will be transformed into new Community Policing Centers, Mangano said.
According to a release from the county, the in Seaford, Second Precinct in Woodbury, Third Precinct in Williston Park and Fourth Precinct in Hewlett will continue to operate as regular precincts, while the First Precinct in Baldwin, Fifth Precinct in Elmont, Sixth Precinct in Manhasset and Eighth Precinct in Levittown will become community policing centers.
The plan also eliminates more than 100 desk jobs and slashes "costly" built-in overtime benefits, Mangano said. A total of 48 police officers will be reassigned from desk jobs to Problem Oriented Police (POP) positions.
While the number of precincts and desk jobs will shrink, Mangano said the number of patrol cars will remain the same.
"Keeping residents safe is my number one priority," Mangano said. "This plan keeps all 177 patrols cars in their current neighborhoods, assigns more cops to POP and opens four new Community Policing Centers throughout the county while increasing efficiencies."
According to Nassau County Communications Director Brian Nevin, the timeline to complete the entire process will take approximately six months.
The majority of the Wantagh-Seaford area is covered by the Seventh Precinct but some portions are also covered by the First and Eighth Precincts.
(WSHA) president Ella Stevens expressed relief that the Seventh Precinct would remain open under Mangano’s plan.
“There is way too much activity in the Seventh Precinct for it to not remain open,” Stevens said.
The WSHA is holding a Wednesday night that will feature representatives from the Seventh Precinct addressing recent criminal activities in the area and Stevens is hoping they also can provide information on how Mangano’s plan will impact local residents who reside in the First and Eighth precincts.
“With the recent increase of crime in communities surrounding Wantagh and Seaford of course I am concerned that we have the necessary police force to protect our residents,” she said.
Mangano’s plan also corrects a workload imbalance that had been seen throughout the eight precincts, as three police precincts presently perform twice the workload of the remaining five precincts.
"This plan saves taxpayers significant dollars while streamlining duplicative work, redistributing workload and assigning more officers to POP and special patrol," Dale said. "... Residents should know that response time will not be impacted as police officers will remain in their current neighborhoods and additional officers will be assigned to our neighborhoods."
James Carver, president of the Nassau PBA, told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera that he is going to fight the plan.
"We currently have eight police precincts and they're trying to tell everybody that having four police precincts is a better way to police Nassau County, well they're dead wrong on this," Carver said.
Andrew Coen contributed to this report.
btw it will be blantantly clear when i am disrespectful, rude, bitchy or plain ol nasty .. it is never implied ..
Thats the post I was referring to.
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.
Joe isn't absolutely correct in who gets Union money. It's not cut and dried here in Nassau.
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.
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
Perhaps maybe if they took a pay cut like the rest of the world maybe just maybe these steps would not have to be taken. The funny thing is that it is all up to the bean counters the unions hire. The Unions get a percentage of the cops salaries. This is why they will not allow them to take a step back words. They use the money they collect to bribe politicians. If you increase our salaries we will give you money for your campaign. The police do a great job. If they really care about the public they would take a step back like all the rest of us had to do.
All i am saying is to take a step backswords with the rest of the world. I did so i am no longer going to movies or sporting events. You want me to pay more taxes to cover the police salary and benefits. that means that i will have to give up something else. We are all suffering except the Police.
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
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 !
IF you are an officer in Nass. county then please say so, while i agree with some of your remarks my position still holds, that seaford &wantagh are not a hot bed of violent crime it is in no comparision to some of the other areas in Nassau that need an INCREASE in partol cars and possibly foot patrol. If you disagree with that then pls explain why. Are you just fixated on keeping the 7th open? again why? . My whole argument is that IF this is a fait accompli then the HUBS should be in HIGHER crime areas OTHER then SEAFORD/the 7th. While we appreciate their presence , in MY viewpoint it is not the wisest use of resources. DO i WANT them to leave -NO.... IF they are going forward with this and there are no other viable alternatives then put these HUBS in HIGHER crime areas for the safety of the residents, AND the officers themselves. NOthing that i have stated has been false to my knowledge if you can give me varifiable proof/statistics that what i am stating is incorrect then go for. ..
Cops almost never need a vest on LI where the vast majority of cops are actually killed in traffic accidents, not from being shot. They're some of the highest paid cops in the country for dealing with mostly petty crime. That is why NYC cops dream of getting to work on LI. NYC cops start at like 32k a year for all they deal with and after 5 years might make it to 50K. LI cops are close to six figures in the same time frame and make 107k after 9 years.. LI cops make nearly as much or more than Beverly Hills cops for doing relatively little to nothing, except handing out tons of tickets to pay for their own salaries, tickets that are essentially an illegal driving tax, etc.