Suffolk police launch advisory boards at precincts as final major step in police reform adopted in 2021

Suffolk officials announced the launch of community advisory boards for each of the police department’s seven precincts on Monday, hailing it as a final major step in the implementation of the reform plan adopted in 2021.

County Executive Steve Bellone also provided an update on other parts of the 1,000-page plus document, which he called “the most comprehensive of any suburban county in the state of New York,” during a news conference in Hauppauge.

Body-worn cameras have been provided to 1,635 sworn officers and 50 car cameras have been installed in police vehicles, said Bellone, whose 12-year tenure as county executive ends on Jan. 1.

The Suffolk County Police Department’s Behavioral Health unit, which works with mental experts to ensure residents suffering from emotional crises receive assistance, has been expanded. Social workers will join 911 operators in 2024 to triage mental health calls.

“We delivered landmark initiatives that focus on transparency, modernizing and professionalizing our police department, and most importantly, rebuilding and maintaining trust within our communities,” Bellone said, referring to the monthslong and sometimes contentious process that resulted in the police reform plan. “As any of our officers here will tell you, that is essential to good policing.”

The reform plan recommended the creation of advisory boards — called Precinct Level Advisory Boards, or PLAB — that will serve as liaisons between the community and precincts.

The boards will communicate community concerns, advise precinct leaders on the effectiveness of programs and services and solicit public input regarding policing. They will also promote crime prevention, domestic violence intervention and other programs.

Bellone called them “an organized approach to cultivate long-lasting, problem-solving partnerships between Suffolk County police and the public.”

“I think this will build the relationship between the community and the police department,” said LGBT Network president David Kilmnick, a member of the task force that developed the reform plan. “It’s important to get input from all the different constituencies in Suffolk County."

Each board will have up to 12 members and are expected to meet quarterly, although they could meet more frequently. Board members should have a high level of concern for their communities, a commitment to work collaboratively, and have strong networks in their communities. There are openings for the 4th, 5th and 7th precinct PLABs, officials said. Applications are available at SuffolkPD.org.

Acting Police Commissioner Risco Mention-Lewis said the members of the advisory boards already had relationships with police and community networks.

“They come from all walks of life,” Mention-Lewis said. “They represent the entire breadth and scope of Suffolk County. That is sometimes what this department needs. It needs that input, and we are going to be better for it.”

Ben Harper of Bellport, a member of the 5th Precinct PLAN, said communication between police and his community has not been good. “We are trying to make that better,” he said. “We want to find out what it takes to make it better.”

The county legislature approved the Suffolk County Police Reform and Reinvention Task Force Report in 2021, a year after then-Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ordered law-enforcement agencies statewide to submit reform plans for passage by local lawmakers or risk losing state funding. The mandate followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer while in custody, a death that sparked months of nationwide protests over police violence.

The reform plan was developed by a 37-member task force appointed by Bellone in September 2020 and led by deputy county executives Vanessa Baird-Streeter and Jon Kaiman. The panel included law-enforcement officials, police union representatives, lawmakers, civil rights advocates and religious leaders. Task force members had different and sometimes clashing opinions about what should be included in the plan. Bellone said their willingness to exchange ideas and compromise helped forge a plan that brings transparency and accountability to policing.

“If you want the change you are seeking to put in place, if you want that change to last, and perhaps even lead to more change down the line, then you better do it together,” Bellone said.

Bellone said a telehealth program that allows police in the field to confer with mental health specialists has referred about 400 people to counseling services since last year. The result has been an 84% drop in hospital transports, he said.