The Village of Mineola Board of Trustees is holding a public hearing tonight on the proposal for the village to have its own police department. Tonight's hearing is the first of the three that will be held before the Dec. 5 referendum. The main topic of conversation at these three hearings will be the operational report, which was recently completed by the Mineola Police Task force and is available on the village's website.

The task force, a group of village residents with law enforcement background, has previously released a feasibility study that concluded that it was both economically feasible and legally possible. The board of trustees held a series of hearings based on the feasibility study.

The task force, headed by resident and former New York City Police Detective John Curry, has put together an operational report that outlines what a village police department may look like.

According to the report, a Village of Mineola Police Department could be comprised of:

Twenty-eight police officers; six sergeants; two lieutenants; one commissioner/chief; five dispatchers; two clerical personnel; two custodial personnel and 12 crossing guards.

The Mineola Police Task Force estimates that the cost for the first year of the police department would be $6,512,787.54 including the financing of start-up costs. Curry said the estimate is on the high side since the task force wanted to give taxpayers an idea of the maximum amount they would pay for the force. "The key to the whole thing is we didn't want anyone to get burned. We would rather come in with a figure that's high and have it cost people less," Curry said.

The taxpayers of Mineola paid the county $6,730,886.10 in taxes for patrol from the Nassau County 3rd Precinct in 2006. The operational report also concluded that the county tax would grow at a higher rate than a tax to fund a village police department in the coming years.

Not only does the task force's operational report claim the village can fund its own police department with less money than taxpayers are currently paying the county, but the report also claims a village police department can provide more coverage than the village currently receives from the county.

The 3rd Precinct current gives the village coverage that amounts to 2.92 officers from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 1.92 to 2.92 officers from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. The operational report claims that a village police department can provide six to seven officers from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

More coverage for less money - so what's the catch? Well, some may not believe the accuracy of the figures in the report. Resident Jim Bartscherer was critical of the task force's original feasibility study and is also critical of the operational report. Although Bartscherer commends the task force for the work they put in to the report and believes its members are well-intentioned, he doesn't feel comfortable with the information that is included in the report and feels there are a lot of inaccurate facts in the report. "I'm very concerned that the residents of Mineola are going to be able to vote on false facts that are in that report," he said.

One piece of misinformation Bartscherer feels is in the report is the statement that "at any given time Mineola could be without a single police patrol car in its borders." The operational report points out that in 2005, the patrol cars assigned by the county to Mineola were assigned 10,805 calls. Of those calls, 20 percent were outside the borders of Mineola.

Bartscherer said that if the cars that are assigned to Mineola are pulled out for some reason, other patrol cars would come into the village to take their place.

Bartscherer also doesn't believe the village can put together a department that offers the kind of services that are included in the report for the amount of money the report states. "Can they put together a department and provide all those services? No," he said.

Bartscherer also feels that a key component missing from the operational report is a needs assessment that addresses whether the village needs its own police department. "The few times that I have called the police, they're there right away. I feel safe walking around the community. My children are safe walking around the community. Are people feeling unsafe?" he said.

However, the Nassau Police's own union, the Nassau Police Benevolent Association (PBA), has been outspoken about having more community policing. PBA members held a rally on Nov. 1 in front of One West Street, the building that houses Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi's office, to address the issue of policing in the communities of Nassau County.

According to Nassau PBA President Gary DelaRaba, 1,500 people attended the rally in concern for the number of officers the county currently has. According to DelaRaba, the county currently has 2,631 members and should be closer to 2,900 to 3,000. "We're getting away from community policing," he said.

Mineola Mayor Jack M. Martins put forth the idea of Mineola establishing its own police force to address quality of life issues in the village that he felt the Nassau Police didn't have the manpower to handle. He put together a task force to study whether having a village police force was possible. However, Trustees Linda Fairgrieve and Paul Cusato felt an independent consultant should be brought in to issue a report. Bartscherer also agrees with trustees Fairgrieve and Cusato that the village should have hired an independent consultant to review the issue. "To explore is fine but then why are we opposed to getting a professional to analyze the information?" he asked.

The village did solicit proposals from firms to do a study but received only one viable proposal from the Center for Governmental Research, which proposed to do the study for $112,000. However, the majority of the village board of trustees rejected the proposal because Mayor Martins, Deputy Mayor Larry Werther and Trustee John DaVanzo felt the firm lacked personnel with police experience whereas the Mineola Police Task Force is comprised of people with a wealth of police experience.

One member of the task force, retired Police Officer Tom Rudolph, said when he was first asked to be on the task force, he was against the village starting its own force because he thought it would be too expensive. However, Rudolph said he went in with an open mind and now stands behind the task force's findings.

The operational report is available on the village's website at www.mineola-ny.gov and is expected to be mailed to residents.

On Monday, Nov. 13 from 6-10 p.m., there will be a fundraiser at Flowerfield, 199 Mills Pond Road, St. James, NY 11780 in honor of Debbie Gino.

On June 30, 2006, Debbie and Darren Gino were finally blessed with a son; a beautiful boy named Joseph. Their road to becoming parents wasn't easy, and it just got a little bumpier. Diagnosed with Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma, Deb is in the fight of her life. Please help to raise funds to make the road a little brighter for the Gino Family. There will be dining, dancing, chinese auction, raffles, and much more. The cost $30 per person. All proceeds to benefit the Gino family. You may register for this event and make your payment through paypal to: thedebbieginofund@cfl.rr.com. Debbie is the niece of longtime Mineola residents Cathy and Bob Cichocki. For more information, go to lifamilies.com and click on the link at the top of the page.