Community Policing Plan makes fiscal sense

Balancing safety with fiscal reality

The plan put forth by Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano to consolidate County Police operations makes sense when considering the fiscal reality facing Nassau taxpayers and the use of new technology. The consolidation plan calls for half of the county's eight Police Precincts to become community policing centers. This will be accomplished by reducing the level of staffing from thirty eight Police officers per precinct down to two officers per community policing center which will remain open twenty four hours a day. The officers from the four effected precincts will be re-assigned to the remaining four precincts and or Police headquarters. The redeployment of resources will add forty eight additional officers to patrol. Several civilian positions would be eliminated.

The plan which is estimated to save $20 million dollars annually is necessary to close a projected $300 million budget deficit. As Nassau taxpayers pay the highest property taxes in America, the County Executive has made it clear that he understands that increasing taxes are not an option. Based on the suburban character of the county and new technology, residents seldom visit their local precinct and rely on the 911 system when Police assistance is needed. Police vehicles now equipped with state of the art technology operate as mobile command centers integrated with live streaming data. The fact that shift changes occur at local firehouses and not at the precinct level support the County Executive's assertion that the current concept of Precinct staffing is antiquated.

The Nassau County Police department accounts for one third of the entire county budget costing taxpayers $710 million dollars. The projected 2012 police pension costs of $80 million dollars account for fifty two percent of public employee pension costs for the entire county workforce. In January, Newsday published a report which found that almost half of the county's 2400 member Police force earned more then $150,000 in salary which included base pay, overtime, shift differential and holiday pay. The report went onto state that the average base salary for a Nassau County Police Officer is $116,361, the highest in the nation. Those who chose to retire, approximately 130, left with an average payout of a quarter of a million dollars and three high ranking chiefs averaged three quarters of a million dollars each. It's fair to say that the current system is unsustainable given the current tax burden, the projected long term costs and the given upward trajectory of police salaries. 

PBA President Carver and union officials have every right to make the case that the Mangano plan is ill advised and offer alternatives. While the unions have a responsibility to advocate for their membership, our elected officials have a responsibility to advocate for the people that pay the bills, Nassau County taxpayers. According to U.S. Census data from 2005-2009, the average median individual income for a Nassau County resident is $42,356 and the median household income is $92,450. The numbers don't lie, just look to the job market. When ever a test is given for the opportunity to become a Nassau County Police Officer, tens of thousands take the test. Both political parties have contributed to the problem by giving away the store. Anything less was portrayed as  anti-police. One can be supportive of the police by standing behind their efforts to fight crime but at the same time draw the line as to what is a fair salary and what taxpayers can afford.

The time has come for real leadership. Talk is cheap. Unless opponents come up with a viable alternative for plugging the projected budget deficit and a good reason to oppose adding forty eight officers to patrol, the current plan makes fiscal sense and should be enacted by the legislature.