New cops to help Nassau keep crime rate down

Standing before 50 new Nassau police recruits before they were sworn in Tuesday, County Executive Thomas Suozzi said that crime in the county is at a 41-year low -- and the new officers are expected to help continue the trend.

"You have a tremendous responsibility going forward from here," Suozzi said in an auditorium at the county's police academy in Massapequa Park, where the officers have just begun six months of training.

The new hires bring the department up to 2,720 officers. Additional classes expected to begin this year should boost it well above the department's goal of 2,750, officials said.

While the current number of officers is above the 2,522 of 2005 and 2,610 of mid-2007, it is well below the 3,132 officers the department had in 2000.

Tuesday's event was underscored by an announcement that major crime in Nassau dropped 12.6 percent last year while overall crime was down 5.88 percent between 2007 and 2006, officials said.

Earlier Tuesday, facing reporters in the county's lead development center -- where employees work cooperatively with other departments to share leads and information -- Suozzi touted Nassau as one of the safest places to live right now in America.

"That's what we've proved to be good at ... Putting the bad guys in handcuffs and behind bars," he said.

Suozzi has attributed the recent drop, in part, to an increasingly older population, which also is one that boasts a higher-than-average income. Lower crime rates in the city have led to less "spillover" crime in the suburbs, he said.

Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey, in addition, attributed the drop to the department's analysis of crime statistics, which guides enhanced enforcement to targeted areas, and resources such as the lead development center

By STEVE RITEA (Newsday)
Posted Tuesday, January 8, 2008

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