Mineola Mayor Jack M. Martins and the Village of Mineola Board of Trustees have scheduled another hearing pertaining to whether the village should establish its own police force on Saturday, March 4 at 11 a.m. in village hall, 155 Washington Avenue. The Saturday hearing provides residents who cannot attend in the evening when the other hearings have been held an opportunity to be heard on the issue.

Whether the village should establish its own police force or continue to be patrolled by the Nassau County 3rd Precinct is an issue that has been debated ever since the Mineola Police Task Force, headed by retired New York City Police Detective John Curry and including members such as Ed Curran, the first deputy police commissioner in Nassau County, released its report in December, stating that the village establishing its own police force was both economically feasible and within the village's right in accordance with the county charter.

The idea of looking into the possibility was presented by Mayor Martins in response to taxpayer complaints about quality of life issues. The mayor has maintained all along that the officers of the 3rd Precinct are quality officers who are professional and do a great job. However, Mayor Martins questions whether there are enough of them to adequately patrol the area the 3rd Precinct covers.

The idea of the village starting its own police force and the task force report has certainly gotten the attention of the county police department. At last week's meeting of the Mineola chapter of the AARP in village hall, Deputy Mayor Larry Werther and Curry answered questions from seniors on the task force's report. A Nassau Police officer was sitting in the back of the community center listening to the discussion.

Also, at the urging of Trustees Linda Fairgrieve and Paul Cusato, who wrote a letter to the Nassau Police Commissioner James Lawrence asking for a statement on the Mineola Police Task Force's report (the letter can be found in the Letters to the Editor section of this newspaper), the commissioner provided a four page analysis of the task force's report.

In his analysis, Commissioner Lawrence states that the "supervisory staffing levels indicated in the proposal do not meet Nassau County Police Department standards." The commissioner also stated that the proposal does not address personal days, personal sick leave, line-of-duty sick leave, military leave, bereavement leave, child care leave and the like that will require additional hirings or payment of overtime to cover the patrol vacancies.

Curry explained that the focus of the task force was to study whether it was legal and feasible for the village to have its own police department. Curry also explained that the task force's report sought to compare the cost of the coverage the village is currently getting from the county, which is $6.7 million per year, with the cost if the village were to provide the coverage, which was estimated to be $5.9 million.

The task force is expected to revise the report based on residents' suggestions and as more information comes to fruition.