Keeping it cool between school and the police

To help forge better relations between the Lawrence School District and the police officers who serve its communities of Atlantic Beach, Cedarhurst, Lawrence, Inwood, North Woodmere and Woodmere, local leaders organized a basketball game on Monday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m. in the Lawrence High School gymnasium.

The hoops contest matches up Golden Tornado football players and police officers from Nassau County’s 4th Precinct in Hewlett. The event takes place seven days after National Peace Officers Memorial Day, which is May 15, and at the end of National Police Week.

On Monday, Town of Hempstead Supervisor Anthony Santino raised the Thin Blue Line Flag outside of Town Hall in Hempstead to honor the everyday heroes who protect and serve, and memorialize those who perished in the line of duty.

“The idea behind [the game] is to build a strong relationship between the police department and members of the community,” said Joe Martillotti, who serves as Lawrence School District’s coordinator of athletics and the head football coach.

Board of Education Trustee Heshy Blachorsky said that in the aftermath of several highly publicized incidents in the past three years, the ongoing national discussion about a perceived mistrust between civilians and the police also sparked a local conversation.

Incidents such as the chokehold death of Eric Garner, an African-American, on Staten Island in July 2014 that involved NYPD officers; the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, a black man, by white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., less than a month later; and the death of Freddie Gray, also a black man, in April 2015 in Baltimore while in police custody, ignited a firestorm of debate set against the backdrop of a divisive presidential campaign.

Blachorsky believes that a “safe and friendly community” exists in the Five Towns and police are both respected and respectful of residents. As a way of helping to ensure that this environment continues and improves, he said that an event involving Lawrence students and the police would be “terrific.”

“The idea of a basketball game was warmly received by both the district and the precinct,” he said. “Hopefully, this event will serve as a model to our community, and all of our neighbors.”

Spreading the credit around, Blachorsky said that Lawrence Superintendent Gary Schall, Martillotti and 4th Precinct officer John Zanni of the Problem-Oriented Policing unit deserved the kudos for coordinating the event.

“His commitment to the kids in his precinct is unparalleled,” Blachorsky said about Zanni. “When we brought him the opportunity, and we weren’t certain he’d be receptive to it, he just took the ball — no pun intended — and ran with it.”

Schall has been a strong proponent of positive communication between the diverse groups in the district throughout his nearly six years as Lawrence’s educational leader.

“It is important for communities throughout the nation to help the heroes in local police departments in their efforts to foster positive relationships with our youth,” he said.