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Shift change looks more likely than substation in H'ton Sta.
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Legislator Jon Cooper has also tabled a bill proposing a police substation near the Jack Abrams Intermediate School in Huntington Station, saying he hasn't gotten enough support for it.
A police substation is a small annex to the police department's main precinct, which is typically manned by one or two police officers. The Huntington Station annex, located on New York Avenue and Pulaski Road, was closed, along with all of the other annexes in other precincts, soon after Richard Dormer took over as police commissioner in 2004.
"The county executive is strongly opposed," Cooper said. "The police commissioner is opposed. I have some legislative support but until I get the majority support, it doesn't make sense to move the bill, so it's tabled in the public safety committee."
Whenever there is enough legislative support, Cooper said he will bring it to a vote. "Bringing a bill to a vote and then having it defeated doesn't serve any purpose," he said. "Hopefully I'll be able to get enough support by the next committee meeting. But if not, I'm just going to keep plugging."
For starters, Cooper said he has secured the support of fellow legislators Lou D'Amaro (D-North Babylon) and Steve Stern (D-Dix Hills).
D'Amaro would support Cooper's bill but only if the police department staffs it full time, he said, "because we already had in Huntington Station an annex or substation that was nominally staffed and that proved to be ineffective," D'Amaro said.
At the time, D'Amaro voted to close the substation in favor of foot patrol. "For people living in the neighborhoods, having a substation staffed five hours a week on New York Avenue with a cop behind a desk did not help people fight property crimes in their homes," he said. "But if we staff it properly, especially in light of the uptick in certain crime in Huntington Station, I think it could be an effective tool and I will support the bill to look for a location."
Stern also supports Cooper's initiative.
"I strongly believe that we have to be as aggressive as possible and use every tool in the box, and this is a way to do that," Stern said.
Cost is one of the arguments that Levy and Police Commissioner Richard Dormer have made against putting a substation in the Abrams school. "I think they're concerned that if they approved a police annex for me," Cooper said, "then they're going to get a run on other legislators who likewise will want substations back."
Another argument from both Dormer and Levy is that bike and foot patrols make for better crime prevention and crime fighting, but Cooper argues that a substation is a stabilizing force in the community and would ensure a perpetual police presence in Huntington Station.
"Whereas it's foot or bike patrol, [Dormer] could always reallocate them to another area, if he feels there's a greater need there," Cooper said.
Levy's spokesman Dan Aug agreed, saying, "It's been shown in other locations that taking police from behind desks and onto patrol results in a net gain in effectiveness of the particular law enforcement unit." Aug added that both Levy and Dormer have consistently maintained this position and have turned down other community groups' requests to reinstate a substation, namely in Mastic and Shirley.
"We've been able to keep crime under control in those areas," Aug said.
In the meantime, Cooper said that both Levy and the Huntington school board have agreed to the idea of a Second Precinct shift change at the Jack Abrams School. They are awaiting an agreement between the town and Huntington Community First Aid Squad, where the police now do their change. Meanwhile, Cooper said he is gearing up to fight for the substation.
"I'm going to try to have Huntington Station and Huntington residents reach out to the county executive to urge him to support the legislation," Cooper said. "I've just got to begin to build legislative support … but it's going to be an uphill battle."
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