Letter: Scrap Nassau PD and start over
Multiple felony arrests, the result of a joint initiative to combat gang activity by street gangs in Hempstead and Uniondale, including narcotics trafficking, will be announced at a news conference Wednesday, July 8, 2015, Nassau County police said. This is a patrol car seen on Aug. 14, 2013. Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
To finally get its onerous police department budget under control, Nassau County should take the bold initiative of phasing out the agency and creating the Nassau County Police Department II ["$30M challenge," News, Dec. 11].
Officers in this new department would work 25 instead of 20 years to qualify for a pension, receive lower top pay and benefits, and eliminate all overtime from their retirement calculations!
The crushing expense of paying police retirees additional lifetime benefits for working one time on overtime must end! I'm a former SUNY police officer who worked in Nassau County for 27 years, and I put in no voluntary overtime to increase my pension benefits.
Also, having thousands of retirees collecting pensions for up to 40 years, after working as few as 20, cannot be financially sustained. The future solvency of Nassau County may depend on these changes!
Ronald Gendron, Smithtown
