Can Suozzi, Levy pull cops from state roads?
As the Nassau and Suffolk County executives Tuesday threatened to pull county police from Long Island's state highways, other officials called the pledge a negotiating ploy and said they were unlikely to be able to follow through.
The announcement from Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy came in the wake of a proposed 2 percent cut in state aid to counties.
"This is a good negotiating position, but I don't think it's ever going to happen," he said. "We are not in the business of putting people in jeopardy."
"They are forcing us to take action to cut back as well or we simply have to shift that cost from the state onto our property taxpayers," Levy said. "We have no choice."
But Gary DelaRaba, the Nassau Police Benevolent Association president, pronounced the threat a bluff.
"This is a good negotiating position, but I don't think it's ever going to happen," he said. "We are not in the business of putting people in jeopardy."
The State Police patrols state highways in every county in the state except for Nassau, Suffolk and New York City. On Long Island, state troopers patrol parkways while county police patrol the LIE, Sunrise Highway and the Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway.
Levy and Suozzi said each county pays $12 million annually to delegate 63 officers to patrol state highways. They pledged to begin withdrawing a quarter of each county's patrol officers every three months beginning May 1; at that rate, the county presence on Long Island state highways would end Feb. 1, 2009.
County police patrol of Long Island's state highways is a relic of the State Police's tiny presence here until 1980, when troopers took over parkway patrols in Nassau and Suffolk, said Trooper Frank Bandiero, a State Police spokesman.
The State Department of Transportation sends Long Island $2.8 million annually to patrol HOV lanes and construction sites, DOT spokeswoman Eileen Peters said.
Levy dismissed those funds as "relatively insignificant" and Suozzi said the state is responsible for safety on state roads. "The state is responsible for this action," he said. "state of New York, you're causing this problem."
The announcement drew a noncommittal response from Gov. David A. Paterson. His budget spokesman, Jeffrey Gordon, said maintaining LIE patrols is a state priority.
Suffolk PBA president Jeff Frayler said Levy should act "more statesmanlike" with state officials.
"He'd rather be a little bully and threaten people in an attempt to intimidate Albany," Frayler said. "It's a disgrace."
Former Suffolk County Executive Patrick Halpin, who in 1990 sought state reimbursement for LIE patrols, said he "never had the nerve" to pull police off the expressway.
"The LIE is much too important to even suggest that you're not going to provide full protection and coverage," he said. "It's like playing Russian roulette with people's safety."
Staff writer Steve Ritea contributed to this story.
Posted Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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