Meet the POPs

  POP cops are back and the Nassau County Police Department and Norma Gonsalves want everyone to know it. 

Gonsalves, presiding officer of the Nassau County Legislature, hosted a forum last week to introduce residents of East Meadow to the problem-oriented police officers from the First Precinct, which also includes Baldwin, Roosevelt, Uniondale, Bellmore, Merrick and part of Wantagh. 

“I thought it important that we met the POP cops sooner, rather than later,” said Gonsalves, who represents East Meadow in the Legislature. She said that two years ago, the POP cops were lost to the county because of budget cuts. But now finances have recovered enough, and enrollment in the Police Academy is high enough, that the jobs have been restored, mostly. 

“There are two [POP cops] in each precinct,” she said. “The goal is six, but I’ll settle for four.”  

Gonsalves  noted that another class was coming into the academy in April or May. “The more that come up, the more we can get,” she said. 

Also with Gonsalves was Inspector Daniel Flanagan, commanding officer of the 1st Precinct, which is based in Baldwin, who fielded questions from the audience about crime and quality of life issues and explained what the duties of the POP cops are. 

He said there are two kinds of officers. The first type, patrol officer, respond to emergencies. The POP cops, however, respond to recurring issues, such as people running stop signs. 

“These can’t be addressed in a timely fashion if they [officers] are responding to emergencies,” Flanagan said. He said POP cops can take time to work with other county departments and the Town of Hempstead to resolve problems. 

“We’re glad to have them back,” Flanagan said. “They’re a great tool.” 

Deputy Inspector Alan Hirsch, deputy commander of the 3rd Precinct, also said he was pleased that the POP cops had been reinstituted. 

“We’re as happy as you are to have the POP cops back,” he said.  

Answering a question, Flanagan gave an example of when POP cops are used. Regular police officers respond to emergencies, he said. But POP cops work with the Department of Social Services to help homeless people who hang out at the East Meadow Home Depot. That comment engendered a series of questions and complaints about the homeless in the area.  

One man said, “The problem is they’re aggressive. I feel unsafe. I go to Home Depot. I go to Pathmark.” 

Flanagan responded that the stores are private property and it’s up to a store owner to file complaints. “If he wants them arrested, we’ll arrest them for trespassing,” he said. But in the case of stores where the property owner isn’t local, he said, officers would “try to solve it another way,” by working with the county or the town. 

But homelessness is a difficult problem to solve, the officers said. For instance, homeless people in parks can be arrested if they’re found there after hours, Hirsch said.  

But he said trying to get homeless people into shelters can be harder. He said he has been out on such calls with social services officials and he’s found that often the homeless individuals refuse to go to the shelters. 

Responding to a complaint about graffiti, Flanagan said that it’s up to property owners to maintain their property and to file complaints about graffiti. But he said individuals can call the police if they see the vandalism taking place. Then the police can contact the property owners and ask them if they’ll file the complaints. 

Another man wanted to discuss the need for a light at  Redmond Road and Bellmore Avenue. He said he saw an elderly man with a cane almost get hit by a car. Flanagan agreed that the intersection was a dangerous one and said the police would try to make the area a priority. 

To reach the 1st Precinct’s POP cops, Jesse Cooper and Todd Atkins, call 516-573-6170. To reach the POP cops of the 3rd Precinct, call 516-573-6370.