Residents rally to 'save 5th Precinct'

Delphine Godbolt, left, and Bryan Rivera held signs in opposition to the county's 5th Precinct plan on Feb. 11.

Jon Premosch/Herald

Congressman Carrié Solages (D-Elmont), front, stood with protesters during a rally held on Feb. 11, at the 5th Precinct in Elmont, in opposition of Mangano's precinct plan.

Jon Premosch/Herald

Regina Adolphus, left, of West Hempstead, and Tommi Smith, of Elmont, showed their disapproval of the police department’s realignment plan.

David Weingrad/Herald

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Local residents attended a rally on Feb. 11, at the 5th Precinct building in Elmont, against Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano’s Police Precinct Efficiency Initiative, which would transform the 5th Precinct building into a “community policing center,” along with the 1st Precinct, in Baldwin; the 6th, in Manhasset; and the 8th, in Levittown.

The protest was one of a several held throughout the county, attended by hundreds of county residents, over the past few weeks.

Mangano announced the proposal on Jan. 30, diverging from his announcement in October that two precincts would be closed and the boundaries of the remaining six realigned, and backed up the new plan by saying it would save the county $20 million annually.

Despite protesters’ efforts, the precinct realignment became one step closer to passing on Feb. 13, during a county hearing of the county’s Public Safety Committee, when four of seven legislators passed an amended version of the plan out of the committee.

Republican legislators Denise Ford, Joseph Belisi, Dennis Dunne Sr. and Norma Gonsalves voted to move the plan. Democrat legislators Dave Denenberg, Wayne Wink and Joseph Scannell voted against it.

During the hearing, Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale announced the revised precinct plan, which would realign the command structure from eight precincts to four precincts, merging the 1st and 7th precincts, the 2nd and8 the precincts, the 3rd and 6th precincts, and the 4th and 5th precincts.

“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 hearing came a week after the police commissioner initially proposed the plan during a legislative hearing on Feb. 6, but was postponed when shouting broke out between legislators.