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Politics & Government

PBA Reps Discuss Precinct Closures

Representatives from the Nassau County PBA spoke during Tuesday evening's Merrick Avenue Civic Association meeting.

Following a public meeting , R-East Meadow, in the beginning of February on the proposed Nassau County Police Department , representatives from the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association (PBA) answered additional resident questions and concerns at February's Merrick Avenue Civic Association meeting.

Pete Paterson, first vice president of the PBA, along with two other police and PBA representatives, spoke at the meeting about the restructuring proposal. Paterson said that the PBA’s issue is that the county claims this plan will put more cops out on the street, but that is not the case.

“They are trying to say that there are going to be 48 more cops out there after they do the math on the street. That is not going to happen,” he continued. “What they are saying is they are not going to cut any patrols. That may be true – the patrols are broken down into each precinct, they are broken down into sectors and the sectors are not going to diminish, but the cops that are doing the burglaries, the anti-crime, they have already diminished.”

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The plan calls for four of Nassau County’s eight precincts to be closed and turned into community policing centers, including the First Precinct, which covers a large portion of the East Meadow community. The First Precinct is proposed to be consolidated into the Seventh Precinct, located in Seaford.

No representatives from the county were asked to attend the meeting, according to Merrick Avenue Civic Association President Pat Maher. Paterson said that the county has been running their own meetings.

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“We’ve attended any meeting that we’ve been invited to,” he added.

“What this administration wants to do is close four precincts, one of them being arguably the busiest precinct in the county,” Paterson said.

He added that an independent budget review are “already down to a $12 or $10 million savings” from the proposed $20 million.

“One of the things that frustrates us it that, obviously we are concerned for our members, but we also patrol these neighborhoods,” Paterson said. “We are concerned for the residents, too.”

One resident questioned what would happen to police response times if the restructuring plan does go through. Paterson said that in his opinion, “it will increase.”

"I believe there are going to be enormous amounts of overtime," Maher added.

Paterson said that there is a petition available for residents to sign protesting the closures on the PBA’s website at NassauPBA.org.

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