Muttontown's new police force almost ready

Muttontown leaders left no doubt they'll have their new police department ready by June 1 when a contract expires with the outside force that has protected the village for 62 years.

Mayor Julianne Beckerman and Police Chief William McHale assured wary residents at a meeting Tuesday that nine of the new department's 12 officers will immediately be street-ready.

Those nine officers, whom officials would not identify, accepted offers to leave other area law enforcement agencies, which officials also would not identify.

"We will be on the road June 1," said McHale, a former Nassau police chief of patrol.

Muttontown in March withdrew from a seven-village pact with the Old Brookville Police Department amid concerns about the cost of participation, which last year totaled $2.85 million.

Many in the standing-room-only meeting asked for a return to Old Brookville police. But Muttontown officials said the village would receive more dedicated coverage with its own department. Each Muttontown police shift will have two patrol cars for the 6-square-mile village, with a third available every other day, officials said.

While Old Brookville police employs a sworn staff of 40, McHale said only 26 are patrol officers -- meaning that six cars cover seven villages per shift. He said Muttontown's volume of police activity warrants a "two-car model."

Last year, the village reported 829 alarm calls, 180 calls for medical assistance, 133 crime reports (many for stolen property), 75 vehicle collisions and 26 arrests, McHale said. A mutual-aid agreement requires Nassau police to provide detectives, dispatchers, jail space and on-call backup.

One Old Brookville police officer at Tuesday's meeting cited the benefits of his department's training and village-specific knowledge gathered over decades.

"I don't think people really realize what's going to be lost," said Mike Colello, a 28-year department veteran.

Beckerman said her village's decision was about financial equity. She said Muttontown could hold its police budget at $2.85 million for at least three years, while keeping a $200,000 contingency.

Under fees based on Nassau's assessments, Muttontown would have paid $3.05 million to Old Brookville police next year, more than a quarter of the department's budget, while other villages had their smaller contributions further reduced.

The other six villages -- Brookville, Old Brookville, Upper Brookville, Matinecock, Mill Neck and Cove Neck -- last week reached an agreement to maintain the current budget for another year. But Muttontown's departure may still lead to 10 to 13 officers being laid off, police union leaders said.