Great Neck mayors and police officials were nearly unanimous this week in voicing strong opposition to Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano’s plan to replace the 6th Precinct in Manhasset with a “community policing center” – turning over many police functions to the 3rd Precinct in Williston Park.
The 6th Precinct, which serves all of Great Neck’s nine villages in some capacity, was one of four precincts tabbed for the “community policing center” status in a plan that Mangano said at a press conference last week would save the county $20 million this year as it tries to eliminate a projected $300-million deficit.
“I’m very negative, very upset about it,” Village of Kings Point Mayor Michael Kalnick said of Mangano’s plan. “Kings Point has it’s own patrol, but there are a lot of areas … in the Great Neck peninsula that do not have their own police departments and I’m very concerned about a reduction in manpower.”
“Even though it’s been alleged that manpower will not be reduced,” the mayor added, “the existing manpower is not exactly exceptional to begin with.”
Along with Kings Point, Kensington, Great Neck Estates and Lake Success are the four Great Neck villages that operate their own police departments.
“We have our own police department and we handle the patrol function,” Village of Great Neck Estates Police Department Chief John Garbedian said. “What we use the county for is basically the detectives, for investigation purposes.”
All Great Neck villages pay a headquarters tax to have the 6th Precinct located on Community Drive in Manhasset. Along with patrol functions for villages without polices department, the 6th Precinct supplies services such as the Nassau County Crime Lab and Bureau of Special Operations, Kalnick said.
Garbedian said the county police also contribute K-9 and helicopter details, along with detention center services to augment the services provided by village police departments.
“Those services, we feel, will be reduced,” Kalnick said. “Now we have to wait, if at all, to get them from Syosset? Obviously our forces, if an event occurs, will have to hypothetically maintain a crime scene until they show up, which is much longer.”
In addition to the 3rd Precinct expanding its patrols to the 6th Precinct from its Hillside Avenue location, Mangano’s plan calls for the 4th Precinct in Hewlett to cover the 5th Precinct in Elmont. The 7th Precinct in Seaford will cover the 1st Precinct in Baldwin and the 2nd Precinct in Woodbury will handle the 8th Precinct in Levittown.
Nassau County Republicans recessed a meeting to discuss the proposal this week due to criticism from Democrats and protests from the Police Benevolent Association, which is the union serving county police officers.
The Nassau County Legislature is scheduled to hold a public safety committee meeting at which it will discuss the county police reorganization plan on Monday at 11 a.m. at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola.
Representatives of 22 villages were briefed on the plan by Nassau County Police Department First Deputy Commissioner Thomas C. Krumpter and Deputy County Executive Robert Walker at the Town of North Hempstead Town Hall on Wednesday morning.
Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Jon Kaiman said the officials’ questions focused on concerns about public safety. He said Krumpter and Walker indicated that details of the precinct realignment plan were still to be worked out.
“The key concern for every mayor and every town official is impact. We want to be sure the police are available to us,” Kaiman said. “The Nassau County Police Department is an extraordinary police department and we don’t want to lose that. That’s where our concern lies.”
The community policing centers in the 1st, 5th, 6th and 8th precincts would remain open and house community rooms where residents could visit and police could hold public meetings, according to Mangano.
At his press conference last week, Mangano said the county would realize savings of up to $20 million through the elimination of 100 of the approximately 150 administrative jobs in the precincts county wide. He said 48 officers would be reassigned to special duty and Problem Oriented Police positions, which focus on community-related issues. The 100 positions, he said, would be cut through attrition and early retirement incentives.
“Basically, he gave an overview of the plan, but the nuts and bolts haven’t been really put out there yet,” Garbedian said. “I’m sure that’s something they’re putting together. It’s still kind of new. It’s a little premature to have any kind of opinion.”
While Village of Lake Success Mayor Ronald Cooper said he also hopes to learn more about the plan, he is not supporting Mangano’s proposal at this time.
“I’m opposed to it because I believe that it will result in a diminution of service to the Great Neck peninsula,” Cooper said.
An “extraordinarily high crime rate” experienced by the 3rd will be too big to handle when the 6th Precinct’s crime is added onto it, Cooper said.
“They actually respond to 500 crimes reports a year,” he said of the 3rd Precinct. “The 6th Precinct does not report to more than 100 or so. My concern is that unless they are beefing up the number of people, which under this plan it certainly does not appear that they are increasing any personnel, that there will be a time lag in terms of ability to service our needs.”
Village of Kensington Mayor Susan Lopatkin, who is also president of the Great Neck Village Officials Association, agreed with Cooper’s assessment. She sent a letter to Mangano “to voice her strong opposition” to the plan this week.
“We all know that providing public safety is one of the main reasons why government exists,” Lopatkin’s letter read. “Certainly I can appreciate budgetary constraints, but as elected officials, we must never, ever, compromise the safety and security of our residents.”
Village of Great Neck Mayor Ralph Kreitzman said the loss of the familiarity that 6th Precinct officers have with the local area and residents would be detrimental to village safety. He also penned a letter to Mangano in opposition of his plan.
“Technology is an aid and can replace certain functions, but it cannot replace people with knowledge,” said Kreitzman, who is the president of the Nassau County Village Officials Association, in the letter. “Yes, we also had lower taxes, but they have not gone down as critical services were cut and will not go down as more critical services are cut.”
The county’s precinct reorganization plan was also a topic of conversation at the Village of Great Neck Plaza Board of Trustees meeting last Wednesday.
Although Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender expressed opposition to the plan, she said she will try to get more information about it as soon as possible.
“We will rally everybody to stay informed,” Celender said. “I think we do need to review it. I just don’t know the details.”
Added Great Neck Plaza Deputy Mayor Ted Rosen, “I went to a meeting with the police commissioner, its got to be a year and a half ago, the point they were making then was that there would be no reduction in police patrol services. I think we just have to see what they’re saying.”
The lone Great Neck Mayor who is supporting Mangano’s plan as of this week is Village of Thomaston Mayor Robert Stern.
“I read the plan,” Stern said. “I’ve spoken to some of the people that I know in the 6th Precinct and I feel assured that Thomaston’s interest and Great Neck’s, in general, interest are going to be protected by the police department as they have in the past. I have confidence in them.”
Although he acknowledged that the county police department will have a difficult task in maintaining its previous level of service under Mangano’s proposal, Stern said he thinks the department will be up to the task.
“I think the police in general have done a terrific job around here, certainly for the Village of Thomaston,” Stern said. “All my dealings with them have been reasonable and decent. They’ve gone a long way out of their way for us. I can’t work up any steam because I think they’re good.”
“I hate to say it because I like being fiery,” the mayor added,” but in this case the fire’s out.”
But for many of Great Neck’s mayors, the issue over Mangano’s proposal has also proved controversial because what Cooper described as a lack of transparency.
“This certainly is not a transparent transaction here,” Cooper said. “The manner in which they put this on the docket on a Friday afternoon, for a Monday afternoon, is outrageous.”
Cooper said he would like to see Mangano reach out to residents to receive their input on the issue of reorganizing the police precincts.
“I’d like to see this thing slowed down,” Cooper said. “I’d like to see a formal plan put out to the residents. I would like to see a public hearing on this issue and then we would have to see how this all plays out.”
“Without basically having public input, I don’t know how the county administration would just push through a plan like this,” he added. “It effects public safety. That’s the basic priority of any administration.”
While a majority of Great Neck’s mayors expressed trepidation over Mangano’s plan, the village officials currently serviced by the 3rd Precinct did not hold the same opposition.
Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss, who formerly served as an officer in special services for the New York Police Department, said he’s “relieved” that the 3rd Precinct isn’t being closed.
“They won’t be cutting cars, otherwise I’d be screaming,” Strauss said. “As long as the community’s not going to suffer, it is what it is.”
Although he is pleased the 3rd Precinct will remain open, Strauss said that he did see reason for concern due to increased administrative functions within the precinct.
“The span of control and the oversight could be stretched,” he said.
Strauss said he expects to maintain a good working relationship with the commanding officers of the 3rd Precinct, Chief Inspector Kevin Canavan and Deputy Inspector Sean McCarthy.
New Hyde Park Mayor Daniel Petruccio said he sympathized with the difficult financial decisions the county is confronting and added that he’s satisfied with the realignment plan as it’s been presented.
“It sounds like, on the surface, that there are going to be the same amount of cars policing our streets,” Petruccio said. “If the number of cars remains the same and they can make that work, I would like to see them make that happen.”
Williston Park Mayor Paul Ehrbar said he wasn’t sure what all the implications of the plan are at this point.
“I think it’s a little too early in the game to determine how it’s going to affect things. Obviously we don’t want to lose services and we’d like to gain some services,” he said, noting the plan included more Problem Oriented Police officers in service.
East Williston Mayor David Tanner said, “I’m just keeping an open mind right now until I have more information.”
Blank Slate Media Reporter Richard Tedesco contributed to this story.
