While with the Suffolk County Police, Farber was decorated with the Exceptional Meritorious Award for saving a victim pinned under a boat trailer. In Aug. 1996, Farber’s patrol car was struck by 60,000-pound garbage truck. The accident lacerated his liver, and he spent four weeks in a medically induced coma, where he received 250 pints of blood products. After a year in rehabilitation, Farber returned to work in Sept. 1997, and earned the Theodore Roosevelt Award, which is given to officers who have returned to duty after protracted injury or illness.

“Emergency medical calls have become a bulk of the workload that we do here in East Meadow,” said Farber. “With the number of senior housing, assisted living, and nursing facilities we cover, that workload continues to increase. As a paramedic, I am the first commissioner in the history of our Department who possesses that level of expertise. This, combined with my knowledge as a firefighter, my experience in budget and finance and the many years of proven leadership and dedication, I feel makes me the ideal candidate for this position. I hope the residents of East Meadow agree.”

Glenn Carpentier, challenger

Age: 56

Lifelong East Meadow resident

Education: East Meadow High School class of 1974; Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice form Long Island University; Master’s Degree from C.W. Post University in 1979.

Employment: Following graduation, Carpentier worked for the Nassau County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, writing and monitoring federal and state grants. He became a New York City police officer in 1982, and after five years became an investigator with the Public Morals Division of the Organize Crime Control Bureau. Since 1987, Carpentier has served as a Nassau County police officer.

Biography: As a child growing up in East Meadow, Carpentier was a member of the East Meadow Boy Scouts, where he attained Eagle rank. He was a captain on the EMFD Junior Fire Company, and in 1974, he joined the East Meadow Fire Department, and has remained an active volunteer for 38 years.