This letter was reprinted by request of the Greater Council of Manhasset Civic Associations, Inc.
To County Executive Mangano, Police Commissioner Krumpter, and Legislator Nicolello,
The Nassau County Executive, County Legislature, and the Nassau County Police Department are hereby called upon to take the appropriate actions necessary to:
1. Reopen the Sixth Precinct in Manhasset to serve as a fully operational precinct including reinstituing plain clothes officers, full administrative staffing and the 6th Squad exactly as it was prior to the merge.
2. Reinstate the full five officer POP Unit in the Sixth Precinct.
The merging of the precincts in Nassau County was touted in 2012 as being a huge cost saver for taxpayers with no reduction in services. The reality is a failure in the objectives upon which it was based; Cost savings have not been realized, and services have been reduced. The financials no longer support the merging of precincts, as evidenced in the decision to reinstate the Fourth and Fifth to their original locations as separate precincts and to abandon the plan to merge the First and the Seventh.
While the Third Precinct leadership has done its best to be responsive to the needs of Three North, the reality is these high level officers and their staff have been asked to do more with less, which due to Three North and Three South serving different populations with different types of concerns, the needs of Three North are sacrificed, losing its resources to the higher crime areas in Three South. While sector cars still patrol the areas they have in the past, 911 calls and acute needs in neighborhoods in Three South routinely deplete the resources of Three North. Residents are being told that service has not been reduced but in reality, Three North HAS lost its four plain clothes officers upon the merge while Three South retains its plain clothes officers.
Furthermore, the removal of the Problem Oriented Police (POP) Unit has dramatically affected Three North. The lack of targeted patrol within the fabric of the community that address crime, safety and quality of life issues in Three North have negatively affected the safety and security of residents, motorists and pedestrians. Sector cars must respond efficiently to radio calls and therefore do not have the resources to address concerns being brought up by residents, schools, elected officials and local civic leaders and ultimately prevent crime. This critical part of community policing is a program that must be reinstated as was promised when those officers were “temporarily” moved to other duties to cover a shortage in police officers, and I am pleased to hear that a partial reinstatement is already underway. With the swearing in of the newest and largest class of officers in twenty years, the POP officers must be moved back to their positions to address the issues faced by each community of the precinct.
It is totally and completely unacceptable to the communities in the former Sixth Precinct to have an insufficient POP Unit, no plainclothes officers and to remain fully absorbed by the Third Precinct. The Council of Greater Manhasset Civic Associations unanimously hereby demands the full reinstatement of the Sixth Precinct on Community Drive, reinstatement of the full POP Unit of five officers, its plainclothes officers, administration and detectives.
Richard J Bentley, President
Council of Greater Manhasset
Civic Associations, Inc.
