Dear Mr. Mangano,
I am writing to you as both mayor of the Village of Kensington and president of the Great Neck Village Officials Association to voice my strong opposition to your proposal which effectively eliminates the 6th police precinct, instead rebranding it as a “community policing center.”
As you know, four of the villages on the Great Neck peninsula have their own police departments, however, that cannot and must not be used as an excuse to determine that a police precinct in proximity to the community is not needed. Your proposal, which merges the 6th and the 3rd precincts, is ill conceived and dangerous. The 3rd Precinct is indisputably the busiest precinct in the county. It is imperative that we continue to obtain timely patrol and response to the residents of Great Neck, and it is unlikely to happen if our 6th Precinct is merged with the 3rd.
How will the 3rd precinct cover the doubled workload of the combined precincts, a region that now stretches from Manorhaven in Port Washington to Nassau University Medical Center on Hempstead Turnpike, including Roosevelt Field?
It can take as much as 30 minutes from Great Neck, in heavy traffic, to reach the 3rd precinct in Williston Park. That is six times as long as it does now to reach the 6th precinct. Even on paper, it doesn’t work, in reality it will be much worse. Imagine if there was a county wide emergency, how long would it take the police officers to reach our community? The answer is too long.
Minimally, you need to have this plan be examined in the light of day, and not pushed through the Legislature. Where are the public sessions where interested parties can voice their opinions? Where is the transparency, whereby all who are affected by this proposal can ask questions and get answers? Where are the details, whereby the cost savings are enumerated and the plans to man a full precinct with just two officers are explained?
We all know that providing public safety is one of the main reasons why government exists. Certainly I can appreciate budgetary constraints, but as elected officials, we must never, ever, compromise the safety and security of our residents.
Susan Lopatkin, Mayor
Village of Kensington
and President of the GNVOA
