West Hempstead Leaders React to Police Precincts Merger

Local leaders in West Hempstead are voicing mixed reactions to a plan approved by the Nassau County Legislature Monday to merge the County's eight police precincts into four.

o realign the precincts was expectedly passed by a 10-9 final tally, with each legislator voting along party lines. Legis. Fran Becker, who represents Malverne, and Legis. Vincent Muscarella, who represents part of West Hempstead, were part of the Republican majority who approved the plan. Legis. Robert Troiano, who represents portions of West Hempstead including Lakeview, was among the nine Democrats who voted against it. 

"The action taken by the County Executive, the newly-appointed Police Commissioner and the County Legislature to close 50 percent of the county’s police precincts can only be characterized as a Rush to Judgment," Troiano told Patch. "I am disappointed that the newly-appointed Police Commissioner and the County Executive announced sweeping changes in the way the county is policed and the first precinct closure in Nassau’s history without providing substantive information or details about the planned changes."

Troiano said he found it "disturbing that the Legislature’s Republican majority hurried to pass this ever-changing plan despite pleas from residents to wait until the final plan could be reviewed."

He questioned the GOP's motives. "Surely, it’s not because of the cost savings. The savings that are being projected, which most people agree are exaggerated, equate to no more than $3 per month household. The public safety of our residents is being put at risk to achieve monthly savings of less than $3 per month. Why?"

But Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Community Support Association, said she has yet to find evidence of how the plan will compromise the safety of Nassau residents.

"I can't personally see right now, with the information that has been put out there, that we will be less safe as a community, " she told Patch. "The number of officers policing the streets will remain the same. That won't be reduced."

In fact, Norton says, she was happy to hear that through the plan, officers will be moved from their desk jobs and onto the Problem Oriented Policing, or POP, unit.

Reinstating POP officers is a "better utilization" of the police force, she says. "This will make the community safer because these are the police who know what's going on in your particular community. They are the first line of communication," she said, adding that in her role as a community leader she often uses the POP unit to address residents' concerns. 

While looking into the police precinct issue, Norton also learned that when an officer does make an arrest, that cop is typically off-duty for the next four to five hours as he or she processes the paperwork. Plus, in the case of the Fifth Precinct, which serves West Hempstead, she says they do not have enough room in their holding cells to accomodate suspects who have been arrested, so officers need to bring people over to central booking in Mineola anyway. Thus, she points out, the merger won't require officers who make arrests to be put out anymore than they already are. She adds, "It's a moot point." 

And unless they make an arrest, Norton says, most officers have no need to go to their precinct because they now have computers inside their patrol cars that enable them to do more remotely.

"When the original plans were drawn up over 25 years ago they did not have the capabilities that police officers, patrol cars and precincts have today. The Internet has changed that," she said.

Likening the situation to the movement in the 1980s to consolidate and close schools on Long Island that were being underutilized, Norton said, "There comes a time in every organization when you have to stand back and say can we do things better, is there a smarter way?" 

She said with any change like this there are always going to be "What ifs" but until you move on from the studying phase to implementation, you can never really now if a plan will work. That said, she takes comfort in knowing the precincts will be merged one by one, rather than all at once, and the commissioner will be able to tweak the plan as needed.

"Even if the plan doesn't amount to the estimated $20 million in savings, even if it's just $10 million, that's still better than keeping the status quo," she said.

At the end of the day, Norton says, "They are not getting rid of police officers who are patrolling the streets to keep us safe or to my knowledge, the detectives that investigate crime. No one has told me how it's going to make me less safe. Don't just throw at me the fear factor...tell me how I'm going to be less safe."

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