Freeport's Bermudez’s final walk as chief of the FPD

Freeport Chief of Police Miguel Bermudez got rousing cheers on Sept. 26 as he walked out of the Freeport Police Department Headquarters for one last time. Bermudez retired from the FPD after 33 years of service.

In keeping the tradition, Bermudez was “walked out” for the final time as Freeport Police officer by his family and colleagues and was greeted by officers from FPD along with Nassau County, New York State and other local police department officers, detectives and chiefs. Village officials and residents also joined Bermudez.

Under his leadership, crime has dropped by a whopping 54 percent. According to Mayor Robert Kennedy, Bermudez also implemented several crime-stopping programs, like the License Plate Reader Program, which continues to be used as models for villages and towns throughout Long Island and the state. The LPR program read 50 million license plates in 2017. Kennedy also noted that the Freeport Police Department was the first in New York State to outfit all patrol officers with body cameras, trained and equipped all patrol officers with tasers to reduce the need for deadly force, especially with emotionally disturbed persons.

“He will be missed,” Kennedy said.

Bermudez said retiring now is “a good time.”

“Things are going very well,” Bermudez shared. “We’ve made a lot of changes, and put it all together to drive down crime to the lowest level.”

Kennedy said Assistant Chief Ray Horton, now the highest-ranking officer of FPD, would take on all of the responsibilities of chief until further notice. Kennedy explained that the police chief civil service tests are administered next year, the job will be offered to one of the top three scorers after interviews. After the interviews, a new chief will be announced.