Turf wars tie up $50,000 federal grant
It was an example of how petty and destructive the conflict over law enforcement in Suffolk County has become. The Public Safety Committee of the Suffolk Legislature two weeks ago tabled accepting $50,000 in federal funds for a bomb-sniffing canine detection program for the Suffolk sheriff’s office.
Why not accept a $50,000 U.S. grant?
Because the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association (PBA) is fearful of the sheriff’s office having any additional responsibilities — concerned about any further reduction in the duties of the county police officers it represents.
And why would the Public Safety Committee of the legislature go along with what the PBA wants? The PBA, charges County Executive Steve Levy, is now “running” the Public Safety Committee. He added: “It’s a sad day for public safety when the PBA’s turf wars are more important to legislators than providing every available resource against terrorism.”
The strife over duties of the sheriff’s office and the county police has been underway for several years. It’s a conflict largely based on dollars.
It came to a climax in September 2008 when Mr. Levy ordered that deputy sheriffs rather than members of the county police department’s Highway Patrol enforce traffic laws on the Long Island Expressway and much of Sunrise Highway, also known as Route 27.
That followed an unsuccessful bid by Mr. Levy to get New York State to have state troopers patrol the two state highways or reimburse the county for doing it. The state follows both models in upstate counties. He then decided to turn to deputy sheriffs to lower county patrol costs on the LIE and Sunrise. He emphasized in an interview last week that he “was not choosing sides” between the sheriff’s office and county police but simply “considering what is the most cost-effective.”
The average salary of a Suffolk County policeman is, with benefits, $180,000 while the average yearly pay of a deputy sheriff is $42,000 less than that, noted Mr. Levy.
So the 55 county police who had patrolled the LIE and Sunrise were transferred to precinct patrol duties to be replaced by deputies. And, it turns out, said Mr. Levy, “the highways have been safer — the number of accidents on the LIE and Sunrise have gone down. I’m not saying the police hadn’t done a good job, but this certainly blows apart the hysterical myth pushed by the PBA that the transfer would lead to mass carnage on the road.”
A number of legislators — including Jack Eddington of Medford, chair of the panel’s Public Safety Committee — have been critical of Mr. Levy for this. They’ve also opposed other actions by Mr. Levy regarding the police that the county executive also maintains involve saving money.
Mr. Levy claims Mr. Eddington and other legislators are “pandering to the PBA … they have a just too cozy relationship.” Legislators are concerned about losing PBA endorsement “fearing this will make them look like they are soft on crime. But the public is more sophisticated than that,” he said.
Democrat Levy and Republican Bill Jones, who has been deputy Southampton Town supervisor and is the town’s director of human resources — and was a Suffolk County legislator between 1992 and 1994 — might not agree on many things political. But about the power of the Suffolk PBA, they’re in complete agreement.
“This vote on the grant to go to the sheriff’s department points to the power that PBAs wield,” said Mr. Jones last week. “The mission is to protect all the citizens of the county but the Suffolk PBA doesn’t want the money to go to the sheriff’s department — and that’s typical of how the tail wags the dog.”
Recalling his days as a county legislator and the endorsement clout of the Suffolk PBA, he commented: “It’s not only the contributions they make … But in a tough race they can get out a lot of workers and go door-to-door and to shopping centers and campaign.”
He said: “Steve’s been right in taking on the PBA. I commend him for being one of the few elected representatives who has ever been willing to do that.” On the LIE-Sunrise shift, “he put himself at risk politically. If it turned out to be a disaster, he would have been blamed by the PBA.”
Mr. Jones has meanwhile been challenging the power of the PBA representing Southampton Town police. A West Point graduate and conservative, he seeks sound law enforcement — but, not, he says, police pulling strings to manipulate the political process.
