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Partly Cloudy with Haze Police commissioner proposes revised precincts
The Nassau County Legislature’s Public Safety Committee approved the Police Department’s revamped Police Precinct Efficiency Initiative along party lines, 4-3, at a Feb. 13 public hearing. The full Legislature will vote on the plan on Monday, Feb. 27. It must pass with a majority vote.
The hearing came a week after county Police Commissioner Thomas Dale proposed the plan during a legislative hearing, which was postponed when shouting broke out among legislators, some of whom wanted more details.
“This plan has evolved over the past seven days since it was introduced to the Legislature,” said Chief Deputy County Executive Rob Walker. “And we believe that input that we received from the community has made this a better plan.”
The plan would realign the command structure from eight to four precincts, merging the 1st and 7th precincts, the 2nd and 8th precincts, the 3rd and 6th precincts, and the 4th and 5th precincts.
Under the realignment, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th precincts would remain, and the 1st, 5th, 6th and 8th precincts would be converted into policing centers.
“After a thorough evaluation of emergency calls for service, current staffing levels and other factors, the department has deemed that four precincts, as opposed to the current eight precincts, are necessary to effectively address public safety while meeting the needs of the department and the community at the same level that we’ve always had,” Dale said.
The plan would eliminate 148 administrative positions, 48 of which would be reassigned to special patrols working out of the newly created policing centers, according to Dale. The other 100 positions would be eliminated through attrition, saving the county $20 million annually, he said. All 177 patrol cars would remain at their current posts.
According to Dale, the plan comes as a result of an extensive analysis of public and officer safety, the county’s 911 system, workload analysis, building conditions, geography and services. If approved by the Legislature, the realignment would begin in March and take eight months to implement.
