MTA, Rockville Centre cops team up at LIRR station

Officers from the Rockville Centre Police Department, in conjunction with Metropolitan Transportation Authority police officers, have begun conducting expanded enforcement around the Long Island Rail Road Station in the village, according to Lt. Christopher Romance of the Rockville Centre Police Department.

“We wanted to target quality of life violations within the village,” Romance said, and through the arrangement, the two agencies have been able to field additional officers to patrol. Romance said they are looking to continue the collaboration.

The expanded enforcement started two weeks after a June 10 incident on the Rockville Centre Long Island Rail Road platform. At that time six officers from the Rockville Centre Police Department joined Nassau County detectives in responding to a request from MTA police to aid in ending a melee involving about 150 people. Five were arrested and a dozen summonses were issued. An MTA police officer broke a finger during the disturbance and a Rockville Centre officer was punched in the face.

During the period of June 24 to July 3, the two departments issued 27 village court appearance tickets for public urination, 12 tickets for open container violations, and one ticket for endangering safety/fighting.

Comments about this story? AAxelson@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 282.