Mal Tarkin, a resident of Woodbury and Full Inspector of the Jericho Auxiliary Police, was recently named chairman of the Homeland Security Committee for the Fraternal Order of Police in New York State.

This organization is comprised of 22,000 retired police officers from all police departments, federal or local, throughout New York State. Tarkin's duties as chairman will be to train those retired police officers in specialized fields dealing with Homeland Security. "If an emergency does occur, Homeland Security from Washington D.C. or Albany, can tap into our resources and use the people that are well trained in the fields they are looking for," said Tarkin.

After people in the Fraternal Order of Police saw Tarkin's credentials, he was appointed chairman of the new Homeland Security Committee by Frank Ferreyra, president of the State of New York F.O.P.

"This is a big job that requires a lot of training and I look forward to training these people," said Tarkin, who is well qualified for the job. He is a certified police instructor and the executive director of the Long Island Association of Crime Prevention Offices, which is the largest crime prevention organization in the state of New York that trains people on the job in all police departments in the state of New York in crime prevention.

Tarkin has been with Nassau County Police Department for 30 years as head of their Jericho Auxiliary Police Program and is also a Colonel in the New York Guard and a Provost Marshall. He also was a member of the terrorism committee for the New York City Police Department for Homeland Security.

The Jericho Auxiliary Police is an arm of the Nassau County Police Department and an unpaid position. All of the volunteers must go through the police academy, in an accelerated fashion. Volunteers learn what a police officer has to face during the course of a day, but they do not do all of the work. They do the tasks of traffic control, aiding people, setting up situations where the people will be safe and allow the regular police officer to handle the task he has been trained for.

In Jericho, there are currently 11 members in the Auxiliary Police Department and they are currently looking for more members. Those interested must be between 18 - 70 years old, a United Stated citizen and a resident of Nassau County. If interested in volunteering for the Jericho Auxiliary Police, please call 681-3660.