Report: Nassau police missing several portable officers' radios, Ryder says

Several portable officers' radios disappeared from the Nassau County Police Department in the middle of last year, and investigators have been trying to track them down, authorities said.

The department's Internal Affairs section has started a probe, Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told News 12 Long Island, and the district attorney's office will also join if "corruption issues" crop up.

"There are current ongoing investigations to recover them, and we think we're going to get them all back," Ryder said in the interview.

Nassau police uses a radio frequency that can no longer be heard on scanners available to the public.

The commissioner said the portable radios are encrypted and can be disabled. "We can physically shut them down, but we need the radio back," he said. "That's a $4,000 radio."

The head of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association told News 12 he is "very, very concerned" about active radios falling into the hands of criminals.

"They can know where we are and where we aren't," PBA president James McDermott said. "Not a good situation at all."