Final Nassau Police Precinct Merger to Take Place Friday

The First Precinct in Baldwin will be absorbed by the Seventh Precinct in Seaford on Friday, completing the final merger in Nassau and leaving the county with four police precincts.

The realignments were announced earlier in 2012 as a way to eliminate more than 100 desk jobs and cut in "costly" built-in overtime benefits, according to the county.

Maureen Beccaris, a police officer with the First Precinct, said that Friday's merger isn't something she's looking forward to.

"This is a sad event in all of our lives, one that no one ever saw coming," Beccaris said. "It makes no sense, there is no cost savings, but it is politics."

The First Precinct, which was one of the busiest in Nassau prior to the realignments according to the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association (PBA), will now become the county's fourth community policing center.

"The Fifth and First Precincts cover higher arrest locations where the station houses are utilized probably more than any other station houses," PBA President Jim Carver said.

The first realignment took place in May after the Eighth Precinct in Levittown was absorbed by the Second Precinct in Woodbury. The second realignment followed in July when the Third Precinct in Williston Park absorbed the Sixth Precinct in Manhasset.

The third realignment was originally set to take place on Sept. 1, but faced a "weeks-long delay" due to a potential overcrowding issue, according to Newsday [paid link].

... the consolidated precinct's mix of prisoners, officers and other staff is expected to be too crowded for the existing Hewlett building. So the department plans to install a modular building for added office space for supervisors, said First Deputy Commissioner Thomas Krumpter.

The merger was eventually completed on Sept. 14 after trailers were attached to the Fourth Precinct in order to accommodate the incoming officers.

Story by Matthew Hogan.