By Jeff Lipton
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and Police Commissioner William Willett announced the redeployment of a total of 74 police officers throughout the eight precincts in Nassau County, a move designed to reduce overtime and improve police presence and public safety.
The redeployment plan will result in an annual savings of $2.4 million in overtime costs.
Seven officers have been reassigned at the Fourth Precinct, which takes in the Five Towns, Atlantic Beach, Oceanside, Island Park, East Rockaway, Lido Beach and Point Lookout. The officers who have been reassigned include one parking enforcement cop, two uniform general enforcement officers, one time schedule officer, a command-level trainer and two vehicle and traffic enforcement cops.
The First Precinct reassigned the most officers with 16; the Third Precinct was second with 14, the Sixth and Eighth Precincts, with 11 each; the Fifth Precinct, with nine; the Seventh Precinct, with four; and the Second Precinct, with two.
You can thank Tom Suozzi for that, said one officer who was not too happy with his reassignment.
Capt. James O'Leary of the Fourth Precinct said it is normal to have officers displeased with the changes because it could mean a total adjustment in their lifestyle. They were comfortable and now their hours are changing, the captain said. Anytime that they go through a transition like this it's tough.
We lost our command level trainer who's back on the streets, O'Leary said.
The officers were pulled off of different non-patrol duties and placed on patrol duties. Command-level trainers, parking enforcement officers, radar cops and vehicle and traffic law enforcement police, as well as special patrols such as youth officers and precinct plainclothes patrols were reassigned. The first moves were made on Jan. 15. Their former tasks will be handled by those officers remaining in similar assignments or by those on general patrol.
The bottom line is by taking this action we will save money and put more police officers on the street, Willett said.
No officers were laid off, county officials said.
Reassigning 74 officers will save $1.8 million, cutting down on overtime for 40 Problem Oriented Policing (POP) officers will save $400,000 and another $200,000 will be saved on supervisor reassignment and travel.
This initiative will not only allow the county to save money, but allow police management to be more efficient and effective through the redeployment of their personnel, Suozzi said.
Leg. Joseph Scannell (D-Baldwin), chairman of the legislature's Public Safety Commission, applauded the move, saying it will make the department as a whole more efficient.
He said 115 officers are anticipated to retire this year, which is way above average, and the redeployment will help cover for the loss through attrition. In addition, a class of police recruits is not expected to graduate this year, in another effort to save the county money.
The idea by Suozzi is a good one, in an attempt to make everyone more efficient, Scannell said. This is Suozzi hitting the ground running.
Gary DelaRaba, president of the Nassau County Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, said he does not think the redeployment is such a good idea. He said the ranks of police officers have diminished by 350 over the past 18 months.
We are constantly being asked to do more with less, DelaRaba said. This is not a new concept. This is not a foreign concept.
He called it multi-tasking, asking officers to perform two, three and sometimes four duties. He said the county is doing away with officers who perform a special function such as youth patrols and radar units and traffic ticket writers and requiring officers on general patrol to perform those tasks. If this is such a great idea, why didn't they do it years ago? DelaRaba said.
Suozzi officials said in the past a certain number of officers were responsible for writing tickets for driving while intoxicated, one of the specialty units that will be done away with and handed over to general patrol officers. But DelaRaba argues that all patrol officers are on the lookout for drunken drivers and do not turn their backs when they see a motorist weaving in and out of traffic.
Insp. Pete Matuza, a police spokesperson, said it is too early to tell what the potential fallout of the moves will be, but most officers being reassigned are not viewing it in a negative light. He said some would be unhappy initially because they have grown into their jobs and are comfortable doing it.
We fully understand the county's fiscal situation and that everybody is trying to do more with less, Matuza said.
He said the department is losing so many officers to retirement because 30 to 40 years ago thousands of officers were hired and they are reaching their retirement age now. We have a hiring freeze now and we all have to pull a little more weight, he said. We all have to do a little bit more.
