Letter: Nassau police cuts will hurt safety
Acting Commissioner Thomas Dale is confirmed as Nassau Police commissioner and answers questions about precinct closures to the Nassau Legislature in Mineola. (March 5, 2012) Credit: Howard Schnapp
Cutting 100 police officers and half of the county's precincts is going to compromise public safety ["Questions remain," News, March 7]. If a community does not have a private police force, people will get the idea that they can go out and cause havoc without being caught.
Reducing the number of police officers is not the way to save money. The county legislature needs to figure out a more intelligent way to save money, because cutting the very people who protect us is definitely not the best way to go.
Nassau County is trying too hard to make its police force like that of New York City. Nassau County has many different neighborhoods, and four precincts cannot cover all of the distance.
Long Island recently witnessed a double-digit drop in the crime rate. Instead of cutting precincts and officers, we need more officers in the field to reduce the crime rate even more and increase public safety.
John Chiulli, Lynbrook
