Daily poll: Public safety departments

With a $4.5 million budget, Oyster Bay's public safety force has almost doubled in size and cost in the five years since it was created. A Newsday analysis of Oyster Bay's Public Safety Department budget documents found that Oyster Bay spends more per capita on guard and bay constable salaries than any of the other seven Long Island towns without their own police departments. The payroll for guards and constables is larger than all but one of those seven towns, Hempstead, which has 2-1/2 times the population of Oyster Bay.