Iron out ShotSpotter concerns
The closed Jack Abrams School in Huntington Station. The neighborhood will get Suffolk's first ShotSpotter system. Credit: James Carbone
Initially, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy and his police commissioner, Richard Dormer, had doubts about ShotSpotter, a gunshot-location system. But last week, the county announced it's going ahead in Huntington Station. Now that it's decided, the county should get it installed before the higher-crime days of summer.
ShotSpotter makes sense in areas where gunshots are so routine that people don't report them. The system's microphones immediately pick up the blasts and report location and direction to cops, helping with arrests and convictions.
Nassau County uses it, and its police commissioner, Lawrence Mulvey, is a big supporter. So Legis. Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor) explored it for his district, where crime even forced the closing of a Huntington Station school last year. The legislature directed police to study locations and costs, and the department made its report last month.
Cooper hopes it will be working in Huntington Station by March. Levy, calling this a pilot, is wary about costs and effectiveness. He wants to get results before installing it elsewhere. But lawmakers would like it for North Bellport and Wyandanch, too, and they don't want to wait.
So Levy has his hands full trying to dissuade them from amending the budget and getting started now. Together, he and the lawmakers have to decide soon. The calendar is turning, and summer is coming. hN
