Civic group takes on county policing plan

Nassau County Legislator David Denenberg and the North and Central Merrick Civic Association co-hosted a community meeting at the North Merrick Public Library on Feb. 16 to discuss the county’s plan to close four police precincts.

Under the Police Precinct Efficiency Initiative, the 1st Precinct in Baldwin, the 5th Precinct in Elmont, the 6th Precinct in Manhasset and the 8th Precinct in Levittown would be converted into “community policing centers,” and would be manned by two police officers around the clock.

The following precincts would merge: the 1st and 7th; 2nd and 8th; 3rd and 6th; and 4th and 5th.

Currently, residents north of Sunrise Highway in Merrick and Bellmore fall in the 1st Precinct, and those south of Sunrise Highway, in the 7th Precinct. If the plan passes, all Merrick and Bellmore residents would fall in the 1st Precinct, with its headquarters in Seaford.

County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale first presented the plan at a Feb. 6 public hearing. After a long, contentious meeting among Republican and Democratic legislators -- the latter of whom strongly opposed the plan -- the hearing was postponed. On Feb. 13, Dale offered a a lengthy presentation, and the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee later passed the plan in a 4-3 vote along party lines, with the four Republicans voting for it and the three Democrats against it. The full Legislature will vote on the plan on Feb. 27. It must be approved by a majority vote.

Realignment of the precincts 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, which Dale said would save the county $20 million annually. Additionally, Dale said that all 177 patrol cars would remain at their current posts.