Nassau cops probe traffic ticket drop-off

The Nassau County Police Department has launched an inquiry to determine why officers wrote thousands fewer tickets for moving violations in the first eight months of the year, officials said.

In an interview, interim Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said that from January through August, patrol officers wrote approximately 110,000 tickets -- compared with nearly 140,300 during the same period in 2010. The average for the period in 2007, 2008 and 2009 was about 135,000, police data show.

Krumpter cited a number of possible reasons for the decline, including last winter's severe weather, the effectiveness of red-light cameras, more drivers following the speed limit or the retirement of some high-output ticket writers.

He also expressed "concern" that police may have slowed their activity intentionally in the wake of heated fights over pay and benefits involving County Executive Edward Mangano and the Police Benevolent Association. A state monitoring board also froze all union wage hikes after taking over the county's finances in January.

"It's premature to say for sure," Krumpter said. "But, we are looking at everyone's summonses activity."

Krumpter said that if misconduct were discovered, officers could be fired.

PBA president James Carver dismissed the notion that his members are purposely writing fewer tickets. Rather, he pointed the finger at budget cuts imposed by Mangano.

"We have less cops and fewer patrols on the street," Carver said.

Mangano has said there are more officers on patrol because they have been moved from desk duty.

Krumpter is scheduled to appear Wednesday before the county legislature's Public Safety Committee. He will testify that the ticket output of 493 cops -- 38.5 percent of all Nassau patrol officers -- dropped by 50 percent or more during the first eight months of 2011 compared with that period in 2010, said Mangano spokesman Brian Nevin.

However, data show no significant increase in traffic accidents; during the same eight-month period in years 2007-2011, the tally hovered between about 3,000 and 3,200 per year.

Krumpter said the internal review will begin with interviews with precinct commanding officers and the chief of highway patrol. If warranted, the investigation could expand to include interviews with individual patrol officers, Krumpter said.

According to data provided to Newsday, moving summonses began to plummet last spring. In April, officers wrote nearly 6,000 fewer tickets than in April 2010. In May, the number of tickets issued dropped by almost 8,000, compared to that month the previous year.

Mangano and the PBA have been sparring all year. In the spring they battled about redeploying police officers from desks to street duty and implementing significant cuts to the Police Marine Bureau.

Mangano's 2012 proposed budget includes major cuts to the police department, including closing two precincts, overtime reform and asking officers to work additional days per year. The initiatives require union or legislative approval.