Let's really set the record straight. The Mineola Police Task Force was comprised of members of the community, all of whom live and pay taxes in the Village of Mineola. Many of the members of the Task Force are retired police officers with vast experience in policing. The Task Force brings more than 160 years of law enforcement experience to this report. Two of the Members of the Task Force have risen to the rank of chief in their respective departments. One member was the 1st Deputy Police Commissioner of the Nassau County Police Department and ran the day-to-day operations of the department. Two members are former chiefs of the Mineola Fire Department; one member is the current chief of the Mineola Auxiliary Police and the Nassau County Auxiliary Police. We have extensive ties to this community - we have been coaches in baseball, basketball, hockey, and involved with the Boy Scouts. We know this village and see the changes and are aware of changes to come. None of the members of the Task Force are eligible to be police officers of any rank in the Mineola Police Department should it be formed. New York State law prohibits retired police officers from being police officers in any municipal police department in New York State once they retire. The members of the Task Force took the responsibility of this report very seriously. Our task was to determine if a village police department was cost-effective in light of what we are paying the county. It is.

After reviewing actual costs from the county and other villages, we concluded that not only could we support a village department, but that the proposed department would be larger than the contingent we currently have from the county and provide a level of community policing that we simply cannot get from the county.

We concluded that Mineola residents are paying much more than their fair share. Mineola residents are supplementing other communities policing costs. Mineola taxpayers pay approximately the same amount in police patrol tax to Nassau County as the villages of East Williston, Williston Park, Westbury and New Cassel pay combined - approximately $6.7 million. We receive less than half the coverage those areas receive.

If the Village of Mineola has its own police department residents will not pay more in taxes. Mineola residents will no longer supplement other villages' police costs. Costs will be less; therefore taxes will not be more. Mineola residents will only pay for the cost of patrolling Mineola, and the patrol stays in Mineola.

Villages which have their own police department do not pay the Police District Tax. This is clearly stated in the Nassau County Budget issued by Nassau County and also in the Nassau County Legislatures review of the Nassau County Budget (Oct. 06, 2005 top of Page 10). No villages pay twice. If Mineola has its own police department they will no longer pay the Police District Tax to Nassau County.

In 2005, the Nassau County Police Department responded to 8,636 calls for service in Mineola. This breaks down to 23.66 calls per day, 12 calls per tour or 4 calls per car per tour. This is about one call every 3 hours per car. A Police Department like the one proposed for the Village of Mineola can more than adequately handle this amount of calls. At the Nov. 21, 2006 village police meeting the Commanding Officer of the Third Precinct stated that the villages of Floral Park, Lynbrook and Garden City all had less calls and less major crimes than Mineola in 2005. This is exactly the point of a local village-oriented police department. The constant patrol of these villages and the presence of the police officers in the villages keep crime lower and criminals away.

The members of the task force, who prepared this Operational Report, prepared it knowing full well the impact it can have on the Village. We gathered the facts from many places; villages with their own police departments, publications and state agencies. Many of the facts come from the county itself. We have presented the facts. Nassau County has stated that it does not have the manpower to give the village more coverage even though we as a village pay much more in taxes for police coverage than we receive. That is not acceptable. To date, no one has refuted the figures or conclusions of this report. This report and the original study have been out for a long time. It has been studied by Nassau County, the Nassau County Police Department, the PBA and other groups. The numbers are correct. The conclusions we reach in the report are also correct. We have the opportunity to have a local police department, who will respond to the needs of the Village of Mineola. They will remain in the village and patrol here daily. They will know the people, the businesses and the places around the village. They will know when something is unusual or out of place, they will be able to correct problems before they can get out of hand, they will watch out for our children and keep them out of trouble. They will truly be a community police department. We were asked to do this for our village, we live here and our loyalty is to our fellow residents, to our families, our neighbors and friends. We would not betray that trust. Read the report, decide for yourselves. We believe it presents the village and the residents with a great opportunity to control taxes, provide for our safety, increase our police coverage, and protect the future of our village.

Members of the Mineola

Police Task Force