Elmont meeting to focus on police unit cuts

Nassau County Legis. Carrié Solages (D-Elmont) plans to host an emergency districtwide meeting Tuesday regarding cuts to Nassau County Police Department’s Public Oriented Policing Unit.

The meeting is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Elmont Memorial Library, 700 Hempstead Tpke.

Topics to be discussed include worries over potential high crime, higher taxes and less safety. Residents from Elmont, Valley Stream, South Floral Park, North Woodmere and Inwood are encouraged to attend, organizers said.

Solages and other Nassau County Democratic legislators called last month for the police department to tap into a $4 million asset forfeiture fund -- money seized in criminal investigations -- to reverse the transfer of 45 plainclothes police officers to patrol duty. Police said the move is a temporary cost-saving measure designed to save $4.4 million in overtime.