The Nassau County Police Department dedicated a new police booth in Great Neck to one of its most distinguished of past commissioners on Thursday.
The police booth, which is located at the corner of Middle Neck Road and Steamboat Road, recognizes former NCPD Commissioner Francis Looney, who died in 2013. Looney served as a Nassau County Police officer from 1939 until 1971 and served as commissioner from 1966 until 1970.
Looney is remembered for advocating for officers to go to school and get an education, acting Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said.
Krumpter said the dedication is a fitting tribute, as he was known for raising the bar of professionalism in law enforcement.
“Looney was an iconic figure not just of Nassau County Police Department but of law enforcement in America,” Krumpter said.
Krumpter said Looney also changed the police hiring rules so that women could work as police officers.
Looney’s son, deputy chief of the Nassau County Court Bureau Daniel Looney, said his father started installing the police booths in the late 1960s.
He said the booths were his father’s attempt at making police officers more community engaged, as they were supposed to be places where residents could come and express their concerns to police.
“He focused on making a more professional and progressive police department,” Daniel said. “He wanted to provide Nassau County with an improved quality of life.”
Daniel said his father originally planned to have nearly 50 booths all over the county. Krumpter said he is not sure how many booths are currently in the county.
The new booth will replace an older booth near the new one.
Krumpter said the county is doing a survey of all the booths and is planning on renovating them soon.
