Nassau County’s 3rd Police Precinct absorbed the 6th Precinct in 2012. This week, county legislators voted unanimously in favor of partly reopening the 6th Precinct next year. In the years in between, Munsey Park resident Sue Auriemma has been a local advocate at the forefront of an effort to regain the 6th.
She has testified at the Legislature, helped coordinate petitions and collaborated with political allies and other community members.
Before the 6th Precinct closed, Auriemma helped coordinate a petition with the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association against the elimination. It gained 5,299 signatures, she said.
She launched another in May 2016 with the Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Associations, asking for the precinct’s reinstitution, she said.
When County Executive Laura Curran was running for office, Auriemma met her and the 6th Precinct was the “No. 1 topic” they discussed, Auriemma said.
Curran then came out publicly in support of the reopening, she said.
On Oct. 12, Auriemma spoke at the county Legislature when the police budget was being presented, she said.
The steady persistence comes from a passion for public safety and an understanding of how the Police Department works, Auriemma said.
She became an advocate for pedestrian safety after becoming a parent more than 20 years ago, Auriemma said, concerned about a lack of crosswalks on Plandome Road. Then, when her youngest daughter was 3, Auriemma backed into her while leaving the driveway. That led to advocacy on a national scale, which resulted in a national regulation requiring all new cars sold in the U.S. to have rearview cameras, according to KidsAndCars.org, an organization for which Auriemma is the vice president.
Auriemma’s civic involvement also led her to a position as a Munsey Park village trustee.
But her passion for public safety did not intersect with policing until 2006.
“This is a really dorky thing about me, but I am a graduate of the Civilian Police Academy,” Auriemma said.
The academy is a 14-week program with “the purpose of opening up lines of communication and building trust between the police and the community,” according to the Nassau County Police Department Foundation’s website.
Auriemma said it taught her how the Police Department operates and what it can reasonably be expected to do. While you can’t have a traffic officer at every stop sign, she said, a 6th Precinct always seemed like a reasonable request.
“That’s why I have always advocated for this – because I know how it works and how the requests come down,” she said. “That’s why I’ve sort of never gone away, in hopes that it would eventually happen.”
She is optimistic that a phase-in of the precinct will begin next year because of the bipartisan support of the entire Legislature, she said.
And that, she said, is “very gratifying.”
“I’ve become quiet on the issue for months or even years at a time, but I’ve never given up,” Auriemma said.
