The Village of Mineola Mayor and Board of Trustees held its first hearing on Monday, Dec. 12 on the possibility of the village forming its own police department. The hearing was well-attended, as the issue is a complex one. Included in the members of the audience was the former commander of the Nassau County Police 3rd Precinct Lorraine Hannon.

In response to complaints of quality of life issues, Mayor Jack M. Martins formed a task force to study whether it was both legally possible and fiscally feasible for the village to form its own police department to take the place of the coverage the village receives from the Nassau County Police 3rd Precinct.

Heading the task force is resident John Curry, a former New York City Police detective who was injured in the line of duty. At the Dec. 12 meeting, Curry presented the report, which is available to all residents at the Mineola Library, village hall and on the Internet at the village's website, www.mineola-ny.gov, to the public and the board.

The task force report states that it is legal for the village to start its own police department as long as it follows the county charter. The task force also determined that it is not only financially possible, it would actually be cheaper than what taxpayers are currently paying for police coverage from the Nassau County Police 3rd Precinct.

According to the report prepared by the task force, village taxpayers pay $6,366,916 in police district taxes for patrol coverage from the 3rd Precinct. The coverage the village receives includes coverage from car #311, which covers all of Mineola; car #306, which covers a small portion of Mineola, East Williston and part of Williston Park; car #310, which covers Williston Park and Mineola, and car #312, which covers Mineola and Carle Place.

In addition to police district taxes, the village taxpayers pay $4,030,664 in police headquarters taxes. This tax is used to cover expenses such as training in the police academy, detectives, emergency services, dispatch and other special units.

If the village were to form its own police department, taxpayers will still be paying the police headquarters tax since the village would continue to receive those services. However, taxpayers would no longer pay the $6,366,916 in police district taxes to the county. Instead, taxpayers would support the village police department through the village budget. As a result, village taxes would increase but county taxes would decrease.

This, of course, is the big question. The task force studied the issue of costs very carefully and included everything from salaries and benefits of police department personnel to equipment to startup costs such as $3 million to acquire a building and renovate it into a state-of-the-art police headquarters.

Using the current contract between the Nassau Police Benevolent Association (PBA) and the county, the task force calculated the salaries and benefits of village police officers. In addition, the task force figured in debt service on the start-up costs and all the equipment needed to begin the department. The task force estimates that $5.4 to $5.9 million in the first year compared with the $6.3 village taxpayers are currently paying the county.

For the $5.4 to $5.9, the task force feels the village could have a police department consisting of a commissioner, two lieutenants, five sergeants and 20 officers. Such a department could provide the village with a patrol of five cars per day.

The task force concluded that there are several advantages to having a village police force such as all coverage will stay in the village, the village will receive more coverage, village police officers would get to know the village and can focus on trouble spots that are problems for residents and business owners and village police can focus on quality of life issues such as speeding and other traffic violations as well as graffiti.

Since public input is essential to the process, each resident who wanted to speak was invited to give his or her comments. One resident commented that there were many advantages to having a village police department in the task force report, but no disadvantages listed.

One possible disadvantage was that the village would eventually have to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the police union. A Mineola Police Department would not join the Nassau PBA, but would form its own union. Negotiations with police unions can be tough.

Another concern was liability insurance. Although the task force report included a quote for liability insurance from the village's provider and that quote was figured into the report, incidents in which the village is required to pay out as a result of a court action could cause the price of liability insurance to increase.

Some residents who spoke though, believe having a police department is a great idea. One resident, Harry Peterson, of Birchwood Court, believes it's a good idea because of the county's diminished ability to do the job because of increasing costs. Bill Urianek, the president of the Mineola Civic Association, also believes it's a good idea

Resident Joe Galante suggested the village board should have someone with a finance background review the numbers in the task force report. Mayor Martins said that if anyone wants to recommend a person to review the document at no cost to the village, they are welcomed to do so. Mayor Martins also believes, based on the experience of the members of the task force, that the numbers are accurate. However, anyone can review the report and ask questions regarding any aspect of the report including the numbers and how they were arrived at.

The most interesting comments came from Inspector Hannon, who said the 3rd Precinct is concerned about quality of life issues and takes them to heart. "We will continue to do that in Mineola," she said. "I understand the appeal of a local police department. However, I would always think that the residents of Mineola should know that they can contact this police department if they need help."

Another point Hannon brought up involved coverage. If there is an incident in Mineola that required additional police cars than are in Mineola, the Nassau Police can pull cars from other areas. By the same token, if there is an incident in another area, cars can be pulled from Mineola. However, according to Hannon, the county's uniform police department would have no obligation to respond if the village has its own police department for calls that are considered routine such as a bank robbery in progress, a serious auto accident, a burglary in progress, a violent felony disturbance or a heart attack.

The reason the idea came about to start a village police department is that there is a question as to whether the Nassau County Police is adequately staffed to effectively patrol its territories. The department, which once had over 3,400 police personnel, is down to about 2,800, although Hannon said the police department has increased in the last couple of years.

Mayor Martins said Monday, Dec. 12 was the first of many meetings concerning the village police department. There will be many more over the course of the next few months. Mayor Martins plans on inviting mayors from villages that have police departments to get their perspective during one of the meetings. When it comes time to decide, residents will have to ask themselves if the village is getting its money's worth when it comes to the coverage provided by the Nassau County Police 3rd Precinct.