Nassau County PBA Blames Police Precinct Merger For Crime Spike
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - The plan to merge police precincts was intended to save Nassau County $20 million, but the PBA said all it has done is increase major crimes.
PBA President James Carver told WCBS 880 reporter Sophia Hall that grand larceny and burglary is up in the areas of Great Neck, Roslyn, and Mineola with Newsday reporting the crime rate spike at 19 percent.
He said those crimes are also up in the Oceanside, East Rockaway, and Valley Stream areas, with Newsday reporting the crime rate spike at 11 percent.
Nassau PBA Blames Precinct Merger For Crime Spike
"Why crime is going up? Because you're taking busy precincts and you've merged them with mid-level precincts and they're not getting the attention that they once got in the past," Carver told Hall.
Carver said when people look to move to an area they look at the crime rate, and if the precincts remain merged, he said people will not move to Nassau County.
The Nassau County Police Department told Newsday that the numbers are misleading because the county's crime rate is at historically low levels and just a handful of incidents can make the percentages go up.
Carver said the department is trying to make excuses for the increase in crime.
"It has gone up, whether it be a significant number or any type of number, it's going up and they should be concerned," Carver said.
Nassau County First Deputy Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter disputes Carver's claims, saying major crime is down by one percent and all crime is down by eight percent.
"It is disingenuous to go through a pile of statistics and pick out anomalies in short periods of time. Public safety is not at risk as a result of the consolidation," Krumpter told 1010 WINS. "Nassau County has the lowest crime of any major municipality, it is the safest community in America. Anybody that would pick out stats within a large pile of statistics in order to sensationalize a story is problematic."
