At first glance the proposal by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano that would consolidate the county’s police force appears sound. Mangano says his plan will get police officers out from behind their desks and will save the county $20 million while maintaining public safety.
The controversial plan calls for the closing four of the county’s eight police precincts. The 1st Precinct in Baldwin, 5th Precinct in Elmont, 6th Precinct in Manhasset and 8th Precinct in Levittown will become community policing centers with fewer officers. It remains unclear what a community policing center is and how it will function.
The 48 officers who now have desk jobs will reassigned to special duty and Problem Oriented Police (POP) positions, which focus on community-related issues. The remaining 100 administrative positions would be eliminated through attrition and early retirement incentives.
Mangano insists “Keeping residents safe is my number one priority. 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.”
Not surprisingly the plan is drawing heated criticism from Democrat legislators. Nassau County Legislator Wayne Wink (D-Roslyn) doubts that the plan can achieve the $20 million in projected savings.
“Every time they’ve proposed savings they’ve never materialized,” he said. “So to believe that we’re going to save $20 million from this is a mistake and to do it at the potential expense of public safety is a mistake.”
Wink didn’t say where he would find the $20 million dollars that the county needs to cut to reach a balanced budget. It’s easy to say no. It’s much harder to find that kind of money. We assume that he does not want to cut that much from other budget areas. Outside of policing and already hard hit social services, choices are limited.
Village of Kensington Mayor Susan Lopatkin, who is also president of the Great Neck Village Officials Association, asks a reasonable question of how the 3rd Precinct will cover an area from Manorhaven in Port Washington to Nassau University Medical Center on Hempstead Turnpike, including Roosevelt Field? And what will happen to response time in places like Great Neck with police traveling from Williston Park.
More predictably, Nassau PBA President James Carver has vowed to fight the plan. He told CBS radio, “With less places for the public to come to and feel safe, to be able to report something, and see a detective and see all the services that they have, it does negatively impact it.”
Is that so? We wonder how many average citizens have ever been in their local police precinct. And of those, how many felt safer after they left?
The police force has long been a sacred cow in the budget process. The response by the Democrats has appeared at times knee-jerk and political. For the time being the public should take comfort in the knowledge the 177 patrol cars will continue to keep watch over their neighborhoods. In addition 48 additional police officers will be patrolling the streets of Nassau County.
What remains to be seen is the role that the community policing centers will play and what their impact will be on public safety. These are questions that the community should have the opportunity to thoroughly explore – something not always seen in county Legislature hearings.
But the bottom remains. Mangano’s back was to the wall. He had to take aggressive action. There were no easy choices but this is a creative solution that may actually work. At a minimum the idea deserves a fair hearing and a willingness to compromise on both sides.
A Blank Slate Media Editorial
