Bellport raising money for shot-detection system

In an unusual step, a coalition of civic leaders in Bellport has taken on the job of raising $300,000 to bring in technology that uses acoustics to detect and locate gunfire.

"We want it," said Anthony Gazzola, a member of the South Country Community Conference. "We have money that we're willing to put toward it, money that we could be using for parks or plants or other beautification."

Suffolk police say that violent crime is down in Bellport. But there's been a spate of shootings, mostly in the North Bellport and East Patchogue neighborhoods, where residents complain of gang activity and gunfire.

"I am a big supporter of long-range planning," said John Rogers, chairman of the Greater Bellport Coalition, which includes clergy, civic associations, the local library, fire and ambulance districts, not-for-profit and other local and government groups. "But the community has made it clear that the short-range goal of making the neighborhoods safe is important, too."

Residents in Huntington Station, Brentwood, Central Islip, Amityville and Wyandanch want the system, called ShotSpotter, too. But Bellport appears to be the first local community willing to put its own money toward the effort - beginning with $85,000 Bellport received in beautification funds from a utility company.

"There are other money out there," said Gazzola. "We're going to work on identifying and getting some grants, on getting whatever we need to get this in and get this working."

It's a quest that Gazzola, 70, a retired New York City police detective, takes personally. He said he has had family members who have been caught up in the cycle of crime and drugs, including a namesake grandson, 21, a former Town of Brookhaven employee who's been accused of burglary and selling a controlled substance. He has pleaded not guilty.

"My family, like too many other families, has been touched by this," the grandfather said. "We're losing too many of our children and grandchildren."

Last week, Gazzola and Rogers joined county legislators Kate Browning and Jack Eddington at the Royal Oak Diner in Bellport for a ShotSpotter demonstration. Jack Pontious, a company representative, opened up a laptop to show how it works, using examples from other municipalities.

Nassau County has been using ShotSpotter for more than a year, in Roosevelt and Uniondale. The department, said Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey, is considering extending the system to other areas.

"The technology works," said Mulvey, pointing out that it recently located a gun battle in the village of Freeport, about a quarter-mile away from the county's sensors. "But it isn't just the technology that's important; it's the police manpower as well. Officers have terminals in the cars and know immediately when there's a shot fired. We respond in 30 to 40 seconds."

In Nassau, police are paying for the system - and the $45,000 a year it takes to maintain it - from the department's drug forfeiture fund.

"We don't have an argument with the technology," said Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer. "We have to make sure that the cost is justified and that it is going to result in arrests. If there's a choice between technology and putting more officers on the street, I am always in favor of more officers."

One issue is that ShotSpotters cost $300,000 - for a fixed or portable system - to cover one square mile. Nassau is smaller than Suffolk, where there have been complaints of gang-fueled gunfire in five of the county's seven precincts. "We are willing to work with any community that wants to raise the money on their own," Dormer said.

In Bellport, there have been more police patrols. And County Executive Steve Levy has made several visits. But that hasn't stopped local gang members from posting videos of themselves on the Internet, throwing gang signs from a local strip mall and a park.

Gazzola and Rogers, along with other civic leaders, are slated to sit down with Levy on Wednesday. And ShotSpotter, they said, is going to be on the agenda. When would the community leaders like to get the system in Bellport?

"Yesterday," Rogers said.