Suffolk talks with union on highway patrol

Suffolk County and its police unions are in negotiations over whether to allow county police to again investigate fatal and serious accidents on the Long Island Expressway and Sunrise Highway, officials said Thursday.

In what he billed as a cost-saving move, County Executive Steve Levy in 2008 shifted responsibility for the investigations to the sheriff's department, which later turned it over to State Police. Union officials said they believed they'd reached a tentative settlement. But Levy said Thursday that county lawyers are still evaluating the issue.

The talks would settle a case unions representing Suffolk police officers, detectives and supervisors brought with the New York State Public Employment Relations Board; they claimed such probes are in their purview.

Lt. Jerry Gilmore, president of the Superior Officers Association, said he believed a settlement had been reached after a judge advised the parties to find a solution. County police would begin investigating the serious accidents 30 days after the agreement is finalized, he said.

The Suffolk Sheriff's department had no comment.