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Friday, December 2, 2022
Vol. 7, No. 48
PortWashingtonTimes Washington GUIDE TO THE HOLIDAYS
PORT POLICE COMMISH DEBATE
NICOLELLO EYES REDISTRICTING
PAGES 25-32
PAGE 2
PAGE 6
Nassau police hit with 491 complaints
QUIRKY TURKEYS!
Calls for county to show misconduct reports BY R OB E RT PE L A E Z A total of 491 complaints were filed against the Nassau County Police Department in 2021, the highest number since 507 were reported in 2016, according to statistics outlined in the department’s annual police reform report. The total included 203 improper procedure complaints, 148 for unprofessional conduct, 28 for excessive force, 17 for neglect of duty, 15 for unlawful conduct, 9 for racial/ethnic bias and 9 for false arrest. In 2017, a total of 434 complaints were reported, followed by 438 in 2018, 456 in 2019 and 291 as of October 2020. Statistics did not show how many complaints were filed from November-December 2020. Of the 491 complaints, a total of 66 were ‘founded’ by Nassau police, the statistics showed. From 2016 to 2021, 30 people won court judgments against the Nassau County Police Departments for 41 allegations of false arrest and excessive force, according to an article in the Gothamist, an online publication. For 38 of the allegations, the Nassau County Attorney’s Office funded case settlements while prohibiting the accuser to publicly speak on the allegations, the story said. No cases of false arrest and exces-
sive force were ‘founded’ from 20162021. The statistics were released by the Nassau County Police Department in its annual police reform report submitted to the county. The department is required to submit a yearly police reform report in accordance with an executive order signed into law by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2020. The order requires police agencies to devise plans to “reinvent and modernize police strategies” after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd two years ago. The New York Civil Liberties Union, in ongoing litigation against the Nassau County Police Department, has sought department misconduct records. The department has denied their requests despite the repeal of Civil Rights Law 50-a in 2020, which permitted police departments from disclosing misconduct and other personnel records. A lower court sided with the Nassau Police Department Department, a decision appealed by the New York Civil Liberties Union. The Civil Liberties Union, according to court documents, filed a Freedom of Information Law request with the Nassau County Police Department Continued on Page 47
PHOTO COURTESY OF PORT WASHINGTON SCHOOLS
Students displaying their turkeys. As part of their PEP Paper STEAM schoolwide unit, first graders at Guggenheim Elementary School worked on a paper engineering project.
Dalimonte touts oyster restoration project BY ST E V E N K E E H N E R The 1 million oysters reintroduced into Manhasset Bay in August are alive and well, North Hempstead Councilmember Mariann Dalimonte
announced. “I am so excited that the reintroduced oysters are currently flourishing in Manhasset Bay,” said Dalimonte. This summer, oysters were
planted in Manhasset Bay to help the local ecosystem by improving water quality and cleaning the bay. North Hempstead approved the pilot program resolution in May. Continued on Page 46
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