Steven Skrynecki 'did a lot of good' as Southampton police chief and in his many years with Nassau County police

Standing outside St. Martin of Tours Church in Amityville on Thursday morning, Steven Skrynecki’s impact on law enforcement across Long Island was clear to all.

Even from the windows of a second-story classroom of St. Martin of Tours School across the street, students peeked down at the spectacle.

Several hundred police officers from across Long Island stood two rows deep across the north side of Union Avenue, spanning a full block. To the west of the church were mostly officers with the Southampton Police Department, where Skrynecki served as chief for the past five years. To the east, were cops from Nassau County, where he spent the bulk of his 48-year career, rising through the ranks to serve as the department’s highest-ranking uniformed officer.

“He did a lot of good,” Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said of Chief Skrynecki’s impact on the two departments. “A lot of people came out for a good man.”

Skrynecki, 69, of Hicksville, had been sick with myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of cancer, for the past seven months. He died Oct. 6.

Speaking at his father’s funeral, Nassau Police Det. Sgt. Scott Skrynecki, 44, said his dad was mostly quiet about his illness, determined to fight it.

“It had to be stronger than him and my father was the strongest man on the face of the Earth,” his son said during a 20-minute eulogy.

The younger Skrynecki said his dad also had a strong sense of public service.

Shortly after high school, Skrynecki took a job with the U.S. Postal Service, but left it for a career in law enforcement after he was advised he could retire sooner as a cop.

“So much for the early exit,” his son said, adding that doing “whatever needed to be done” was the theme of his dad’s life. After losing his first wife, Jean, to cancer at age 27, Steven was left to raise their 2-year-old son, Scott.

Skrynecki married his second wife, Patricia, and they had a child, Kathryn Vaccaro, before divorcing. For the past 25 years, he shared time with Marianne Hassan, his significant other. Together they helped raise her son, Kevin Hassan.

Commissioner Ryder said Skrynecki’s legacy in law enforcement was as a leader who brought about change through “progressive thinking.” He joined the Nassau department in 1974 as a patrol officer. He later oversaw robbery, vice, narcotics, internal affairs and detective units before becoming chief of the department.

In 2017, Skrynecki took over the 100-member Southampton force. He unveiled plans for a departmentwide bodycam program, sought to increase diversity among the ranks, and issued a new policy directing officers to formally notify him in writing of secondary off-duty employment.

Skrynecki was a founding member of the Nassau County Police Pipe Band, which greeted mourners as they arrived at the church Thursday. In early adulthood, Skrynecki played in a local rock band whose members sang to him in the final moments of his life, his son said.

Nassau Police Chaplain Father Joseph D’Angelo said Skrynecki was a consummate law enforcement professional.

“He was not shy facing difficult issues and decisions, but he sought equitable and peaceful resolutions,” he said.