Bill would change cop disciplinary process

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano proposed legislation Thursday that would provide the police commissioner with sole discretion to hand down punishments, including termination, to officers accused of serious disciplinary problems.

The bill would repeal a section of county administrative code allowing Police Benevolent Association members to choose binding arbitration, in which a third party determines the punishment when they face more than 10 days' discipline.

In a statement, Mangano said he supported Acting Police Commissioner Thomas Dale's request to "strengthen his ability to dispense discipline when necessary and recognize outstanding performance."

PBA president James Carver said his union would fight the change in court. "In the past, we found that discipline was not consistent or distributed fairly," Carver said. "And we are concerned that would happen again."

Although the union lobbied for the code change in 2007, binding arbitration has never been utilized, Carver said. The county and the union have settled all discipline cases through internal negotiations, he said.

The Mangano bill comes in the wake of the Jo'Anna Bird murder case. Bird was tortured and killed in 2009 by an abusive boyfriend. An investigatory report said officers ignored orders of protection and did not make mandatory arrests in the case.

Dale has said the officers in the Bird case received light punishments, though Carver said the county never proposed terminating the officers involved.