Carver: Public safety in Nassau threatened

James Carver is president of the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, which represents 1,700 officers.

Last week, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano released details of his 2012 budget. It included the elimination of two of the eight police precincts, a contract-violating change in the minimum-manning safety patrols, and removing what he termed cops "seats," putting them back on patrol.

He's also called for layoffs of more than 700 employees, including from the police department. This, while he continues to fill patronage positions on the county payroll, most of which are not vital to public safety.

Governments have a responsibility to provide education, protect citizens and provide for those who cannot provide for themselves. On Long Island, the school system is separated from county government, leaving two major responsibilities.

The police department has 350 fewer police officers today than it had three years ago, causing overtime to increase. There have already been many cuts to great community services: the Problem Orientated Police Program (POP), anti-crime patrols, the Gang Related Education Program for our children, DWI enforcement patrols and the Motor Carrier Unit, which inspects trucks and removes dangerous ones from our roadways. In addition, all the dedicated traffic enforcement patrols have been eliminated, and the once-heralded Heroin Task Force has been eliminated, even as Long Island struggles with rising opiate abuse.

Nassau County residents have enjoyed a wonderful quality of life, but it cannot be maintained if the police department sustains further cuts. With every cut, we get closer to losing the streets. And once you lose the streets, it's difficult to get them back.

The county executive's budget would have a negative impact on how services are delivered to Nassau residents. If there are fewer patrol cars to cover the same areas, that would result in a slower response to emergency needs. No one can predict when crime will happen. Who will decide which neighborhood doesn't deserve the patrol coverage it has always relied on?

Minimum manning, which mandates the number of precinct cars on specific shifts, ensures that all residents get the fastest possible response to their emergency. When former Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey retired earlier this year, he told Newsday columnist Joye Brown that minimum manning "keeps politics out of policing. It's why we have a low crime rate and quick response times."

But instead of drawing from within each precinct to fill these staffing mandates, Mangano wants to shift officers from other precincts. This is unsafe for both the public and the police. It will slow response times and hinder crime-fighting if officers are patrolling unfamiliar neighborhoods.

Nassau police officers do more than just respond to criminal activity during the course of their workday. We are called to accidents with injuries, house alarms and medical emergencies, to name a few. Each officer is a trained first responder, and at each 911 call are the first at the scene, rendering aid until the medical technicians arrive to take over. In any medical emergency, the faster you begin aid the less likely a serious problem will develop.

That safe feeling you have each and every day is due to the presence of Nassau police officers, 24 hours a day. Residents may not readily see the impact that Nassau police officers have in keeping their communities safe, but the potential criminals do. It would be dangerous to alter that successful formula. We can all rest comfortably at night, knowing that the police are doing their job.

For everyone's safety we need Mangano to do his job: reinstate these patrols and stop the cuts to public safety.