Suffolk adds more police officers to highways, expands street takeover force to improve road safety, officials say

Suffolk police are adding nine officers to its Highway Patrol Bureau and extending its Street Takeover Task Force, officials said on Wednesday, describing the law enforcement enhancement part of an ongoing effort to improve roadway safety in the county.

New recruits will also receive training to identify motorists who are impaired by marijuana and other drugs, according to Suffolk Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, who said the department will also crack down on distracted driving.

"Be careful, any time you pick up a phone, pick up a sandwich, whatever you are doing while you are driving, it’s not paying attention to the road," Catalina said during a news conference in Yaphank. "You’re putting everybody, including yourself, in extreme danger, so don’t do it."

Long Island is one of the deadliest regions in New York State for motorists and pedestrians, and Newsday’s ongoing "Dangerous Roads" investigation found that more than 2,100 people in Nassau and Suffolk died as a result of traffic crashes during the 10-year period that ended in 2023. More than 16,000 people have suffered severe injuries.

Traffic crashes were the leading cause of accidental death among young people ages 5 to 19 on Long Island from 2018 to 2023, and they were the second-leading cause of death among all Long Island residents under the age of 80 (fatal drug overdoses were first), according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Catalina, an NYPD veteran and a former Suffolk undersheriff who became the county’s police commissioner in February, has made improving traffic safety a top priority. Declining crime rates, he told Newsday earlier this year, will allow the department to shift staff and resources to Suffolk’s highways and roads.

Adding nine officers to the highway bureau, Catalina said, will allow the department to deploy an additional sector car to both the Long Island Expressway and Sunrise Highway.

"We are adding nine officers today to our highway patrol because you should not feel that when you are getting into the car and you have to drive that you are putting your life at risk," Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine said. "So we’re going to be out there to protect the public and to make sure that everyone is driving safely and taking care of business."

Suffolk officials in November announced the formation of the Street Takeover Task Force, which includes prosecutors and sheriff’s deputies as well as police officers, to crack down on speeding, illegal racing and car gatherings. The task force, created as a pilot program, will continue through the summer, Catalina said. Task force members have issued more than 3,300 summonses, made 21 arrests and impounded 34 vehicles since its creation last fall.

"You are going to see them out there on the roadways at night, making sure that we don’t have these individuals coming out here, taking over all the roadways," Catalina said.

Officer Brendon Gallagher, a member of the Street Takeover Task Force, was severely injured in January by a speeding motorist who ran his police vehicle off the Long Island Expressway.

"His spirits are good, but it is going to be a long recovery," Catalina said.

Lou Civello, president of the Suffolk Police Benevolent Association, praised the county for creating the task force and lawmakers for passing legislation that allows legislators to seize and crush cars involved in illegal racing. He also cheered Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney for cracking down on unsafe drivers.

Catalina said officers are also being trained to detect drivers under the influence of marijuana, which became legal for recreational use in 2021. The commissioner said it is not unusual to smell marijuana on Long Island’s roads and highways.

Officers will also crack down on motorists who text or engage in other forms of distracted driving.

"If you hurt somebody as a result of distracted driving, all right, it’s not an accident, it’s a choice," Catalina said. "And those choices have severe, severe consequences that could wind up with you going to jail and possibly prison."