More cops, code officers coming to Huntington Station

Suffolk police and Huntington code enforcement officers will increase their presence in Huntington Station, part of a multipoint plan announced Friday by county and town officials in response to weeks of complaints about continuing violence and quality-of-life issues in the area.

The centerpiece of the plan is a town community outreach center on Lowndes Avenue, a street officials call an "area of interest." A Suffolk police officer will be based at the center, which the town is in the process of establishing, at least one shift per day, and four of the town's 10 code enforcement personnel also will be stationed there.

Specialized police units that normally patrol until 2 a.m. five days a week will now patrol past 2 a.m. seven days a week. Suffolk officers also will park and then patrol area strip mall parking lots by foot.

"We want the community to know that the heightened presence that was there will not only remain but it's going to be strengthened further," County Executive Steve Levy said Friday.

The center will also serve as a place where residents can lodge complaints about quality-of-life issues.

Huntington Supervisor Frank Petrone said a hotline is being established to encourage residents to file complaints and anonymously report issues that might be useful in criminal or code enforcement investigations. "We'll be right there in the community now; the police are going to be there, too," he said. "Now the community has to work with us to take back the neighborhood. This is just the government component. What we're hoping to see now is the community component jumping in."

Neighborhood safety has been a source of anxiety for at least a year. In July, after months of parental protest, the local school board closed the Jack Abrams School after a teenage girl was shot in the leg near a school parking lot late one night. Earlier this week, two people were shot on Church Street.

Gloria Wilson, who has lived in Whitman Village across the street from Jack Abrams for more than two decades, said she applauded the plan.

"It's good news . . . I just hope that when things settle down police coverage doesn't go down with it," she said. "It's true it's a community thing, too. We need to get together to take back our streets and not just leave it to outside people to clean it up."

Both Levy and Petrone identified the streets near the school - Lowndes Avenue, Academy Place, Tower and Church streets, and Alison Court - as areas of particular interest and the focus of increased attention.

Levy said the officers who will extend their overnight patrol hours will be paid on overtime. County officials said $177,914 in overtime has been spent on Huntington Station initiatives since October. "The reason we use overtime is that you can target the money to a specific area," Levy said.

Suffolk Legis. Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor), who offered a bill Thursday to reopen a police annex in Huntington Station, said the plan released by Levy and Petrone is a step in the right direction but noted he still will push for the annex.

Levy and Petrone said the plan should be in place within two weeks.

THE PLAN

POLICE PRESENCE AT THE OUTREACH CENTER. One Suffolk police officer and four town code enforcement personnel will be based at the town's Community Outreach Center, on Lowndes Avenue.

EXPANDED POLICE PATROLS in Huntington Station. Specialized police units now patrolling until 2 a.m. only on certain days will extend those patrols past 2 a.m. seven days a week.

"PARK AND WALK" PATROLS at strip shopping centers. Officers will patrol on foot at area shopping centers.

ESTABLISHMENT OF A HOTLINE. People will be encouraged to call with information that might be useful in criminal or code enforcement investigations. The information can be reported anonymously.

INCREASED POLICE ATTENTION to known hot spots of gang, gun and drug activity.

INCREASED USE OF SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS placed around the area, largely by local businesses.