Nassau’s police commissioner, Thomas Krumpter, is retiring

Stephen Romano
Thomas Krumpter, Nassau County's acting police commissioner, speaks at a 2014 news conference.

Acting Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter, who joined the department in 1992, is retiring.

Krumpter’s retirement will take effect on July 20.

Last month, he was hospitalized for a heart condition, which required doctors to perform a stent procedure to open his arteries.

A news release from the county did not say whether Krumpter was retiring for health reasons.

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said he will appoint Deputy Commissioner Patrick Ryder as acting commissioner.

“Commissioner Krumpter has led the Nassau County Police Department with honor and distinction during a challenging time for law enforcement — not only here in Nassau County but throughout the nation,” Mangano said. “From the fiscal constraints demanded by homeowners to balancing public safety and the war on heroin and terror, Commissioner Krumpter has streamlined back office operations to protect taxpayers while maintaining the number of police officers assigned to patrol and bolstering special units.”

Efforts to reach Krumpter were unavailing.

Krumpter, 50, a Huntington native, was named acting commissioner in 2014 after serving as a deputy chief in the office of the commissioner and as the department’s legislative liaison. He was named first deputy commissioner in 2011 and served as acting commissioner from February 2011 to December 2011.

In 2015, Mangano said he would nominate Krumpter to officially be the county’s top police official, but never formally nominated him.

He earned $237,000 a year, but his salary would have dropped to $175,000 if he was the official commissioner.

Krumpter has faced criticism as commissioner for backing the merger of the 6th and 3rd Precincts, saying the consolidation has saved money for the department as major crime has dropped 27 percent since 2009.

Both Democratic and Republican candidates for county executive have said they would undo the merger if elected.

Krumpter told Newsday that although he has been in talks to become the chief of the Lloyd Harbor Village Police Department, he is still considering job opportunities in government and the private sector.

He has five job offers, three in the private sector, one in law enforcement and one in government, according to Newsday.

As a patrol officer and a supervisor, Krumpter worked in the 5th and 6th Precincts, and served as the deputy commanding officer of the Legal Bureau and the commanding officer of the Personnel and Accounting Bureau.

Before joining the Nassau County Police Department, Krumpter was a police officer in the New York City Housing Authority Police Department for three years starting in 1989.

He served in the Marine Corps Reserve from 1985 to 2003 after graduating from Saint Anthony’s High School in South Huntington.

He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from SUNY Old Westbury in 2005 and a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Cincinnati in 2013.

“I am grateful for Commissioner Tom Krumpter’s dedicated leadership of our outstanding police force and it’s been a great privilege to work with him to keep the people of Nassau County safe,” Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement. “All of us in the District Attorney’s office wish him the very best in his retirement.”

In a news release, Mangano said, “Acting Commissioner Ryder will continue to pave the way for a bolstered police force that includes 150 additional police officers, 911 operators, ambulance medical technicians and the formation of special units.”

He said many of the department’s recent initiatives, including reducing the crime rate by using intelligence-led policing methods, computers in patrol vehicles, license plate readers and the Shot Spotter system, have been led by Ryder.

Ryder, who joined the department in 1986, was a police officer in New York City for two years.

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