Gang officers reassigned to precincts

Suffolk County Tuesday announced a reorganization of its anti-gang efforts, launching a new strategy that will redeploy specialized units to the precincts.

Under the new initiative, 39 anti-gang officers will be based out of the department's seven precincts -- with 32 police officers, six sergeants and one lieutenant redeployed in the new push.

"We will win this fight," said County Executive Steve Bellone, flanked by elected officials, police supervisors and community leaders in Huntington Station.

"We will no longer surrender ground to gangs in Suffolk County. We are going to take the fight to the gangs," Bellone said. "The gang officers are back in the precincts where they belong, so they can fight these gangs on the streets, in the communities where the problems are occurring."

Gang activity has been a persistent challenge for Suffolk law enforcement in the past few years, combating violence in such communities as Central Islip, Brentwood and Huntington Station.

The policy shift may also mark the end of a controversial "safety zone" in Wyandanch that would bar admitted gang members from congregating within a 2-square-mile swath in the hamlet. Bellone characterized the strategy as ineffective and said the county attorney's office is reviewing it.

The redeployment initiative follows the indictments of five Brentwood-based alleged members of the MS-13 street gang on federal murder, assault and robbery charges in the shooting death of 15-year-old Christopher Hamilton in Brentwood.

Gangs like the MS-13, the Crips, the Latin Kings, the Bloods, the 18 Street and Sur 13 have been behind street violence in several Suffolk communities where they've taken root, said Suffolk Police Deputy Insp. Kevin Fallon. The department did not release an estimate on the number of such gangs, but Acting Suffolk County Police Commissioner Edward Webber said they are "like a cancer" for the county.

Webber said the department will engage in "intelligence-led policing" that will include real-time and accurate reporting of gang offenses. That information will be shared with precinct commanders so they can sustain "a relentless follow-up" against gang activity.

"There are many benefits to this decentralization," Webber said. "It gives precinct commanders more resources and flexibility to address local crimes."

In 2009, former County Executive Steve Levy's administration consolidated the Patrol Special Operations Team out of the Yaphank police headquarters.

Town of Huntington Supervisor Frank P. Petrone praised the new approach, saying that under the centralized system police "are there for the initial incident and then are gone to another community."

Bellone and Webber cited a Justice Department report issued in September 2011 that recommended decentralizing the gang unit because its structure limited the department's "ability to develop relationships with the community or to create preventative interventions."

Levy defended his administration's approach and said it was the same U.S. Department of Justice that recommended centralizing the unit in a 2010 report.

"You had more cops in the area where the crimes were concentrated," Levy said.

But Al White, a longtime Huntington Station resident and advocate, said he and many others in the community welcomed a more engaged effort from the county.

"I'm behind the county executive a hundred percent," White said. "All of us in the community are ready to sit down with the precinct commander to discuss how we can get rid of this problem."

The plan

Local focus: Plan would decentralize the gang unit, formally called the Patrol Special Operations Team, from police headquarters in Yaphank to the precincts.

Teamwork: Gang unit members will bring intelligence to the precinct level and share information with fellow officers.

Responsibility: Precinct commanders and detective commanders will be

held accountable for reducing crime.