Vote to close precincts passes, 10-9

Legislators voted along party lines at Monday night’s meeting.Pictured is Leg. Francis X. Becker.

Susan Grieco/Herald

Legislator Carrié Solages (D-Elmont) has long been opposed to the county's precinct plan.

Susan Grieco/Herald

County Legislators debated the Police Precinct Efficiency Initiative for nearly four hours on Monday.

Susan Grieco/Herald

• 
• 
• 

    In a contentious meeting on Monday, the Nassau County Legislature voted 10 to 9 along party lines to implement a new Community Policing Plan, in which four of the county’s eight police precincts will be closed over the next seven months and replaced with “community policing centers.”
    According to County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale, whose appointment was approved at the meeting, the first precinct to close will be the 8th Precinct, a month from now.
    The vote had originally been scheduled for Feb. 27, but was postponed while County Executive Mangano negotiated with the police unions in an effort to make the plan more acceptable. The negotiations continued even as the legislators voted on the plan, and though the Democratic minority leader, Kevan Abrahams, who represents the 1st District, made a motion to table the vote in order to allow the negotiations to continue, the motion failed.
    All 10 of the Republicans in the Legislature’s majority voted for the plan, and all nine Democrats voted against it. The Democrats made it clear that one of the main reasons they opposed it is because the details of the plan have not yet been finalized.
    Legislator Francis Becker, a Republican who represents the 6th District, which includes Lynbrook and parts of East Rockaway, voted in favor of the plan.
     “After studying it and listening to everybody,” Becker said, “I strongly feel that the safety will not be jeopardized with the closing of the precincts, primarily because we’re going to continue to have policing centers.”