Levy convinces state he would pull cops off highways

When County Executive Steve Levy's top lobbyist Ben Zwirn and police patrol chief Robert Ponzo met in Albany with state police officials last month, they carried signed transfer orders to send 13 Suffolk highway patrol officers back to local precincts.

Those orders signaled to state officials that Levy was ready to pull the trigger on his threat to take 25 percent of its highway patrol off the Long Island Expressway and Sunrise Highway as of May 1.

"When you have people in charge telling you they are taking police off your road, you have to listen," said Michael Balboni, Gov. David A. Paterson's top security adviser.

So on deadline day last week, Balboni and Levy held a hastily called news conference that seemed to defy history and the fiscal realities of the state's projected $5-billion deficit. The two men announced a tentative deal that would put troopers on Long Island's two main arteries, which now costs each county $12 million a year.

"We were serious about bringing this to a head and doing it with Nassau gave us a one-two punch," said Levy. He added having a new governor, looking to broaden his appeal, also changed the dynamic because as a former lawmaker he understands local concerns.

However, Suffolk police union boss Jeff Frayler questioned Balboni's clout to make a deal and called the announcement little more than a face-saving ploy for Levy. Frayler also said the State Police cannot match the county response time or backup resources to deal with the roads' 5,880 accidents a year. "It doesn't make any sense," he said.

Fueling Frayler's contention, the so-called deal yielded no details including when the takeover might start, the numbers to be deployed or when it will be completed. "It's not soup yet," conceded Balboni later.

However, Levy later said he hopes to see at least some troopers on the LIE and the Sunrise by August, though only in a few sectors at first. He said it could take 18 months for troopers to complete the takeover.

Balboni said he expects to do the job with no increase in overall State Police staffing. But he added some troopers, now part of a surge being used in upstate high-crime areas, could be redeployed.

He also said the counties may initially help pay for state troopers, which county officials say are less costly than their own police and could avert hiring a new police class. Local officials say that the state is also asking if the counties have space to house new operations.

Nassau Executive Thomas Suozzi, who has remained largely in the background, said, "The bottom line is that Nassau County would simply like the state to recognize the financial pressure we're under. . . . In the best of all worlds, we like our cops to continue patrolling the roads and have the state reimburse us or find some new revenue stream."

What makes the deal in the making so surprising is that Long's Island officials have tried at least six times in the last 20 years to get Albany to take over patrols on state roads or pay the counties for the work. Former Suffolk County Executive Robert Gaffney even set deadlines in 1992 and 1996, but later retreated.

While Levy has prodded the state, he also shoulders political risk should the move backfire. Levy dismissed those concerns: "Once we hand over control to the state, it's for them to determine the proper level of staffing . . . I don't tell them how many professors to put in the state university or how many people to patrol the roads."

Levy said his only worry now is that police unions will try to sink the deal. "The PBA is lobbying vociferously with state representatives," said Levy. "At this point we don't need their help, but we don't need them to get in the way."

Former Suffolk County Executive Patrick Halpin expects a war from the union but said Levy may have the edge.

"The fact that Steve is an extraordinarily popular official is not lost on the new governor," said Halpin. "And the governor has the right to deploy State Police anywhere he wants. And once it's done, it's hard to reverse it."