Nassau police kick off their open house at 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and Suffolk police opened their doors Monday and will continue hosting demonstrations starting at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday, which draws the biggest crowds.

“The point of this is to educate children as to what the police department does and what they can do for you,” said Det. Lt. Robert Donahue, who leads Suffolk police Crime Stoppers. “It’s a day of fun.”

He said the 45-minute demonstration includes Highway Patrol, Emergency Services Unit (ESU), K-9, Aviation and Emergency Vehicle Operator Course (EVOC). Crime Scene and ESU investigators will also have educational displays set up.

Nassau police exhibits and demonstrations include the Arson/Bomb Squad, Bureau of Special Operations, Mounted Unit, Highway Patrol K-9, Crime Scene, Aviation and Marine Bureau officers and detectives.

Police Week is usually accompanied by memorial services for fallen officers. Suffolk police are hosting their memorial service on Friday. Nassau are hosting theirs on Wednesday, May 22.

Congresswoman Pelosi commemorates the LGBT victims of the Holocaust at the “Friends of the Pink Triangle” ceremony at the Twin Peaks Vista Overlook, Calif. (Courtesy of Nancy Pelosi’s office).

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, is accepting an award from the Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth at the nonprofit group’s 20th Anniversary Gala on Friday evening.

Also being honored are Edie Windsor, whose lawsuit challenging the Defense of Marriage Act was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in March, and Andrew Stern, the chief operating officer of NARAL Pro-Choice NY.

“We are thrilled to be honoring Congresswoman Pelosi for her decades of heroic leadership and advocacy on behalf of the GLBT community and people living with HIV/AIDS,” said David Kilmnick, chief executive officer of LIGALY. “This year’s honorees represent some of the most important voices in the movement for GLBT equality.”

Pelosi’s district office is in San Francisco, a leading city in the modern gay rights movement and the first in then nation to elect an openly gay politician—Bay Shore native Harvey Milk.

Pelosi, Windsor and Stern will receive the honors before a crowd of more than 400 local civic, political and business leaders at Carlyle on the Green at Bethpage State Park.

Democratic members of LI’s congressional delegation—including Reps. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) and Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola)—will be on hand to show their leader around.

A Nassau County jury found Jerod Plowden guilty Friday of second-degree murder and robbery. He was acquitted of first degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges.

Prosecutors said the 25-year-old St. Albans man and Nolan Gaugler, 21, of Mineola, met with the victim, Moez Hassan of Queens, on Stevens Street under the guise of buying Xanax pills from him on April 12, 2011.

But, Plowden and Gaugler robbed the victim of 75 Xanax pills and $30 at gunpoint before the drug deal went down.

Hassan was then shot five times—once in the head, chest, and left arm, and twice in the abdomen.

Police caught Gaugler within minutes several blocks from the scene. He was found to be in possession of the stolen drugs and cash. He pleaded guilty to robbery in a plea deal in which he’s facing 16 years in prison.

Plowden was apprehended 16 days later in Suffolk County during a routine traffic stop.

He faces up to 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced June 6.

James Pope, 35, of the Bronx, was charged with two counts of robbery.

Police said Pope robbed the TD Bank on Franklin Avenue in Garden City on Jan. 30 and the TD Bank on Great Neck Road in Great Neck Plaza on Feb. 4.

Robbery Squad detectives said Pope threatened to shoot a teller in one case, but a gun was not seen.

Pope will be arraigned Friday at Nassau County Court in Mineola.

This surveillance photo released by prosecutors shows Shawdale Frederick, left, and Joshua Galbert carrying bag of handguns from Georgia.

Suffolk County authorities say they’ve busted a Middle Island couple and a Georgia man who allegedly ran an interstate gun-trafficking ring that supplied Long Island criminals with illegal firearms.

Shawdale Frederick, 32, and 33-year-old Janet Lewis were arrested last week along with Joshua Galbert, 31, of Marietta, Ga. They were ordered held without bail at Suffolk County jail until they’re arraigned Monday before Judge James Hudson.

“Criminal interstate firearms trafficking is a widespread and expanding plague,” said District Attorney Tom Spota, noting that 90 percent of guns seized by New York State investigators are smuggled from Georgia, Virginia, Florida, North and South Carolina.

Frederick, Lewis and Galbert were charged with criminal sale and possession of firearms after the 6-month investigation involved wiretaps, surveillance and undercover Gun Suppression Team detectives making 11 purchases from the suspects, prosecutors said.

Investigators bought more than 50 illegal handguns, bulletproof vests and a silencer from the suspects, authorities said. The weapons seized include a .50-caliber Desert Eagle, .45-caliber Llama, .40-caliber Smith & Wesson, a .357 Magnum and a half dozen 9mm pistols.

Spota announced the bust the same day that Hofstra University’s Center for Civic Engagement and the Insight Campaign to End Gun Violence hosted discussion featuring pro-gun-control lawmakers Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) and state Assemb. Michelle Schimel (D-Great Neck) on the topic “How Can We Prevent Gun Violence in Our Communities?”

The victim was struck and killed by a train at about 8:45 a.m., according to an LIRR spokesman. The victim’s identity was not immediately available.

The LIRR temporarily suspended service between Jamaica and Hicksville during the Tuesday morning rush hour commute while investigators were on the scene. Trains were running up to 15 minutes late two hours after the incident.

MTA Police are continuing the investigation.

The incident sparked a string a train delays on top of lingering disruptions caused by a train derailment that damaged tracks in Jamaica on Monday night.

Nassau County Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove), left, ex-lawmaker Dave Mejias, center, and others announce their opposition to building a casino on Long Island on Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013.

About a dozen members of a new anti-gambling group declared their opposition Thursday to any proposals to build a casino in Nassau County, citing quality of life concerns and worries that a deal to bring Atlantic City-style gaming to Long Island could be in the works.

The group dubbed themselves Nassau Residents Against Gambling Enterprise Development, or N-RAGED for short, during their debut press conference on the steps of the Supreme Court building in Mineola. Members of various neighborhood civic organizations as well as current and former local Democratic lawmakers round out its ranks.

“We are afraid that our suburban quality of life will be torn apart by some backroom deal in Albany,” said Dave Mejias, an attorney, a former Nassau legislator and the chairman of N-RAGED. “We want to make sure that Long Island is not going to be sold out to those special interests.”

He was referring to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposal to legalize casino gambling in New York State, a plan that requires a second consecutive vote of approval in the State Legislature before voters ultimately decide its fate in a referendum. The Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton has been scouting for a location to build a gaming facility since winning federal recognition in 2010.

Despite the timing of the rally about an hour after fellow Democratic former Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi held a press conference announcing his intentions to reclaim his old position, Mejias maintained that the group was “a-political.” Nevertheless, participants praised Suozzi’s agenda and criticized the Republican who unseated him, Ed Mangano, for proposing a casino at Nassau Coliseum. Also speaking at the anti-casino rally was Nassau Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, another Democrat from Suozzi’s hometown of Glen Cove.

“It’s a question of whether or not we really want to push gambling,” said DeRiggi-Whitton, adding that she prefers alternative proposals to build sports or research centers that have been floated for Uniondale and Elmont. She and others also expressed concerns that bringing casino gambling to LI would further strain social services because there might be an increase of gambling addicts losing their homes after betting on cards and other games of chance and tearing their families apart.

Cuomo had said during his State of the State address last month that he thinks whatever casinos New York builds should be located upstate, drawing tourists from LI and New York City. When reminded of the governor’s idea, Mejias said it’s still possible LI could be dealt a gaming facility while negotiations continue.

Shinnecock Trustee Chairman Randy King told the Press in a statement that if and when the tribe settles on a potential location to open a casino, they are required by federal law to ask the community for input.

“There has not been any recent activity regarding Shinnecock gaming in Nassau County,” the statement read in part.

Aside from the aging coliseum in Uniondale, there have also been proposals in recent years to build a casino at the Belmont Racetrack in Elmont, where the latest development pitch is for a soccer stadium for the New York Cosmos.

A spokesman for State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), the co-leader of the chamber who has been instrumental in Belmont redevelopment talks, did not return a call for comment. Neither did a spokeswoman for Mangano.

“We spend a lot of money sending our kids away to college,” said Mejias. ”They’re not going to be able to live here if they come back to be cocktail waitresses and blackjack dealers.”

Gary Parker (Middle) walking into courtroom on Monday.

A police benefactor testified Wednesday at an alleged police cover up trial that an ex-Nassau County police chief told him that he would ensure investigators would not arrest his son for burglarizing a school.

Gary Parker, whose son Zachary later landed in prison for the burglary, was referring to emails between himself and former Chief of Department John Hunter, who is slated to be tried separately from the defendant in this case, William Flanagan, the ex-second deputy commissioner.

“My attorney thinks if the PD lays low, he can have it wrapped up soon,” Parker testified he wrote in an email to Hunter after Zachary was linked to stealing $11,000 in electronics from John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore in May 2009.

“I will make sure that is done,” Parker testified that Hunter replied in the email. Parker said he “hoped” that meant detectives would ultimately not arrest his son, which they never did. Zachary was indicted after the Press exposed the cover-up and he pleaded guilty last year.

The exchange occurred a few weeks before Parker asked for help from Flanagan, who’s pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and misconduct along with Hunter and retired Det. Sgt. Alan Sharpe, the supervisor who directly oversaw the investigation.

“Did you ask [Hunter] to use his position in the police department to help your son?” asked Flanagan’s attorney, Bruce Barket. Parker replied that he specifically asked Hunter not to tell anyone about the case because he was embarrassed.

Parker said he and Hunter were good friends and that the ex-chief had spoken with Zachary about his “emotional problems” at one point.

The accountant from Merrick who became a board member of a Nassau police nonprofit also testified that when he gave Flanagan tickets to a Yankees game shortly before the burglary, it wasn’t to curry favors in anticipation over ever having to cover up a crime.

Parker, who’s represented by Steven Scaring although isn’t charged in connection with the allegations, is expected to take the stand again Thursday for his fourth day of testimony in the three-week-long trial at Nassau County court in Mineola.

A Suffolk County police officer pulled over a driver at the Long Island Expressway exit 49 Park and Ride when the suspect, Robert Stein, drove off, dragging the officer 200 feet after his gun belt got caught on the side-view mirror at 10 a.m. Friday, authorities said.

“We had two prior incidents of this individual getting away from police,” Second Squad Det. Sgt. Steven Bluethgen said, noting that the 54-year-old suspect was wanted for repeatedly stealing fuel from gas stations.

Stein fled into Nassau County, where he was eventually apprehended after driving down a dead end, East 2nd Street in Mineola, police said.

A New York State Trooper who had joined the pursuit crashed during the chase at the corner of Jericho Turnpike and Nassau Boulevard in Garden City Park, police said.

The Trooper was taken to Winthrop Hospital where he was treated and released for a head injury. The Suffolk officer was treated at Huntington Hospital for lacerations and contusions.

Stein was charged with assault of a police officer, reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of an incident with injury, petit larceny and unlawfully fleeing a police officer. He will be arraigned Saturday at First District Court in Central Islip.

Surge Protector IPA, a Sandy Relief Ale with all proceeds going to charity, debuts Tuesday (Niko Krommydas).

Giving back never tasted so good.

Eight craft breweries on Long Island joined forces on a collaborative beer specially made for all the proceeds to help Superstorm Sandy survivors. Their limited-edition creation, a Sandy Relief Ale dubbed Surge Protector IPA, begins flowing this week with the proceeds split between the nonprofit Long Island Cares and Barrier Brewing Co. in Oceanside, which was destroyed by the storm.

“The brewers reached out to help us in our time of need,” said Craig Frymark, co-founder of Barrier Brewing, where brewing operations resumed 10 weeks after four feet of Sandy floodwaters wrecked their new digs. “We also kind of want to come together for the greater good of Long Island.”

A half dozen launch parties for the charity beer are being held Tuesday evening across New York City and LI, including The Black Sheep Ale House in Mineola and The Tap Room in Patchogue.

Beer, Here: Long Island’s Craft Beer Explosion

Collaborators who donated time and ingredients for the benevolent brew include Blind Bat Brewery, Great South Bay Brewery, Greenport Harbor Brewing Co., Long Island Beer Co., Port Jeff Brewing Co., Spider Bite Beer Co., Barrier Brewing and Blue Point Brewing Co.

Blue Point brewed and bottled the beer that will be distributed by Clare Rose Inc. to participating bars and restaurants across the Island and the city. Surge Protector will be available on tap and in 22-ounce bottles for a limited time only.

It’s not the only Sandy relief beer, either. Flying Fish Brewing Co. in New Jersey has brewed up 50 kegs of F.U. Sandy with 100 percent of proceeds—estimated at $50,000—going to charity as well. That is slated to hit bars in The Garden State and Philadelphia next month.

LI brewers reportedly made about 50 kegs and 2,000 bottles of Surge Protector. The bottles can be found at participating retailers starting Wednesday.