Suffolk County parks, campgrounds and beaches will no longer be patrolled by Suffolk County Parks police, if a measure being pushed by the Bellone administration becomes law.
Patrols of and law enforcement in county park facilities, such as the Indian Island campground in Riverhead, will become the primary responsibility of the local police departments on the East End and the county police department in the five western Suffolk towns.
The Suffolk County executive, who is looking to merge the existing county parks police force into the Suffolk County Police Department, plans to use a staff of 40 to 45 seasonal park rangers and security guards to maintain order in county parks during the peak summer season, Suffolk County Parks Commissioner Greg Dawson told county legislators during a committee hearing last week.
The move would save the county an estimated $2 million per year, according to the a bill sponsored by State Sen. Ken LaValle to amend the state civil service law to enable the transfer of Suffolk park police officers to the SCPD. The county currently employs 29 officers, five sergeants and one lieutenant in the parks police force. The Suffolk County police union would have to sign off on a labor contract amendment.
Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter opposes the plan, which he says is an unfunded mandate that shifts a significant responsibility from the county to the town and will burden Riverhead taxpayers because Riverhead town police will now have to patrol the 275-acre Indian Island Park and campgrounds.
“Riverhead police are not currently patrolling Indian Island. They will back up the park police if necessary, but they are not on patrol there and they are not the primary responding law enforcement agency for the park and campground,” Walter said.
“It’s going to cost the residents of Riverhead money. Any officer we need to patrol that site will have to be taken away from something else,” Walter said. “With all the money Riverhead generates for the county on Route 58 in sales tax revenue, this is really a slap in the face,” the supervisor said.
Walter said he learned of the plan only yesterday from Legis. John M. Kennedy (R-Nesconset) who called him to ask if he knew about the proposal.
Kennedy said he doesn’t believe the proposal has been vetted well enough for county legislators to vote on the home rule message that’s being put before them this afternoon at the general legislative meeting in Hauppauge. A home rule message is the county’s formal request for adoption of the bill by the State Legislature.
“I would be very surprised if our East End legislators would vote for it,” Kennedy said.
In fact, both Legis. Jay Schneiderman (I-Montauk), the legislature’s deputy presiding officer, and Legis. Al Krupski (D-Cutchogue) support the measure.
“I’m not a fan of big government,” Krupski said in an interview this morning. “This is really about shrinking the size of government.”
Krupski said he has been assured by the administration that coverage in county parks “is actually going to be better.”
The freshman legislator said he did not have numbers on how many park police officers are currently on duty at the large Indian Island facility or how many part-time rangers and security guards will be stationed there under the new plan.
“The question is can you provide safe parks and serve the taxpayer,” Krupski said.
Schneiderman said in an interview last night he believes the impacts on town police will be minimal because the town police on the East End “are typically responding to the parks anyway.”
“I don’t think it will be any different for town police at all,” Schneiderman said, though he acknowledged that he had not spoken to the police chiefs or supervisors on the East End.”
Riverhead Police Chief David Hegermiller said the town police force does not currently patrol the Indian Island facility. “We’re only there now if we’re called in there,” Hegermiller said.
“If they [county parks police] are gone, there will need to be a patrol occurring in there,” Hegermiller said. “I don’t know all the details,” said the chief, who said Krupski’s office reached out to him on the issue yesterday.
“There are more questions than answers,” said Kennedy, whose legislative district includes Blydenburgh County Park, a 627-acre facility in Hauppauge that offers horseback riding, camping, picnicking, and boating.
The part-time park rangers will have peace officer status under N.Y. state law, according to county officials. It is not clear whether they will be trained and authorized by the county to carry weapons.
“Our civil service temporary job classification limits [the seasonal part-time rangers] to employment two weeks before Memorial Day to two weeks after Labor Day,” Kennedy said. “They get no benefits and will be paid $13 to $17 an hour.”
Currently camping is allowed at Indian Island seven days a week from early April to mid-November, and on Thursday to Saturday only from mid-November to early April, according to the county parks department website.
“How will that work?” Kennedy asked.
The county parks department manages more than 46,000 acres of parkland. There are 28 county parks, including 11 county campgrounds. There are four county golf courses and two county marinas.
The Riverhead supervisor said he believes the end result will be that public safety will be compromised in county park facilities, especially those on the East End, if the county parks police force is eliminated.
“This is not a prudent thing to be doing,” Walter said.
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