Judge limits Muttontown police hiring

A judge barred Muttontown from hiring officers who are not in the Old Brookville police union for its fledgling department in a temporary restraining order issued Tuesday.

The ruling also prevents the Old Brookville Police Department, which protects Muttontown and six other North Shore villages, from laying off officers after Muttontown's decision to create its own department.

Muttontown is expected to appeal the decision Wednesday.

State Supreme Court Justice Stephen Bucaria signed the order at the request of the Old Brookville Police Benevolent Association. Bucaria gave attorneys for the union and Muttontown until May 27 to submit papers in the case.

Muttontown's department is expected to begin operations June 1. Union officials say that the reduced need for Old Brookville patrols will lead to 10 to 13 officers being laid off.

Muttontown has refused to say from which departments it plans to hire officers.

Other than those conditions, Muttontown Village Attorney Steven G. Leventhal said, the judge's order will not stop the village from building its own department.

"We can continue with all of our other preparations," Leventhal said. "We are considering our options. We are hopeful that we will be successful in the Appellate Division."

Police union lawyer Steven R. Schlesinger said the judge "was determined to help preserve an experienced police force for the Muttontown residents rather than the pickup force the mayor [Julianne Beckerman] is patching together."

Schlesinger said that though the contract between the seven villages and the Old Brookville Police Department expires May 31, a separate contract between the villages and union runs for another year. Muttontown has disputed that claim.

Muttontown has said nine of the new department's 12 officers would be from other agencies and would be ready to work immediately. The rest must be trained.

In March, Muttontown withdrew from the seven-village pact with the Old Brookville department amid concerns about the cost, which last year totaled $2.85 million.

The other six -- Brookville, Old Brookville, Upper Brookville, Matinecock, Mill Neck and Cove Neck -- two weeks ago reached an agreement to maintain the current budget for another year.