Krumpter speaks to Island Park Civic Association

Acting Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter visited the Island Park Civic Association on Nov. 8 and answered questions focusing on Island Park issues as well as the future of the 4th Precinct.

Krumpter spoke to a small group of residents at the Island Park Library. Among the statistics he cited: Nassau County has 230 police officers on the streets at any given time (not including villages with police departments), while Suffolk County, which has 75 percent more crime, has 140. Nassau County has the 13th largest police force in the country.

“You live, without a doubt, in the safest place in the country,” Krumpter told the association members.

He also noted some of the improvements that will be coming to the NCPD. The main reason people visit precincts, he said, is to pick up accident reports. Starting next year, residents will be able to find them online.

One major concern residents mentioned was the possible closure of the 4th Precinct. The County Legislature voted recently to reconfigure the Police Department from eight precincts to six, and residents were concerned that the 4th Precinct, which covers all of Oceanside and Island Park, could be closed.

But Krumpter assured residents that, even if the 4th Precinct building closed, they would not see any difference in policing. NCPD officers change shifts in their assigned areas rather than changing at a precinct and driving to their assignments. So even if the new precinct that covered Island Park were, for example, in Baldwin, he explained, it wouldn’t affect the police coverage in the area.

Another big issue Krumpter addressed was the policing of Austin Boulevard. “One of the problems we have, and I agree with you, is Austin Boulevard,” he said. “Next summer you’re going to see a big difference on Austin Boulevard.”

He explained why the NCPD did away with the dedicated DWI patrol. The four officers on the patrol made about 400 arrests per year, but it cost the county $600,000 to operate. And about 95 percent of the arrests were made between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., even though the officers were being paid to work from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. So it wasn’t economically feasible for the department to continue to operate the patrol when it had to make cuts.

Thanks to a grant, however, the department will be able to reinstate the DWI patrols. “We’re going to be using that [grant] money next summer, and we’re going to be on Austin Boulevard during those high accident times when DWIs are happening,” Krumpter said.

He also spoke at length about the Club Detail that monitors the Barnum Island clubs during the summer. He said that while the detail has been run by the 4th Precinct, it will become a centralized detail next year, run by the Bureau of Special Operations.

“The Bureau of Special Operations is probably one of the most elite units in the department,” Krumpter said. “People who go to the Bureau of Special Operations are among the most active and aggressive police officers in the department, and the supervisors are the same.”

Residents have long complained about noise from the clubs, but have never received much of a response from authorities, including the county Police Department and the Town of Hempstead. Krumpter promised that things were going to change.

“[Officers are] going to be standing there at 11,” he said. “If music, loud noise, people are heard at the border — anything — there will be a strict degree of enforcement at those places.”

He said that officers would be much more proactive in patrolling the club area next summer, issuing tickets for all noise infractions. And supervisors will be on hand to make sure that, with every ticket given, a citation is sent to the New York State Liquor Authority. If the authority receives enough citations for a single business, that business can lose its liquor license.

“Every time a person gets arrested in a club, or every time we connect an arrest to a club, there will be a referral made,” Krump-ter said. “Every single time there will be a referral made to the State Liquor Authority.”

He said he hopes the new policing model will encourage cooperation with the clubs in the area. He added that he is also planning on stepping up DWI enforcement on Austin Boulevard — on both sides of the Long Beach Bridge — on nights that the police identify as problematic.

“For 10 years, we probably spent $40,000 or $50,000 a week [in overtime] covering those clubs,” Krumpter said. “I believe that within four weeks of Memorial Day, the problem will be dealt with.”

“If I have to start writing the summons myself,” he added later, “they will be written.”