Islip Town Board to vote on harbor police patrols

The Islip Town Board will vote on a number of expenditures at its meeting tonight, including a resolution to deploy town harbor police officers to patrol waterways as part of a multifederal agency task force to quell coastline crime.

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, along with the state Information Center, will conduct a program called Operation Shield, aimed at “identifying, limiting and disrupting the ability of terrorists, traffickers and immigration law violators to surreptitiously enter the U.S. by utilizing the East End of Long Island,” the resolution states.

The state Office of Homeland Security has appropriated pass-through grant funds under the Homeland Security Grant Program, the resolution states, and has disbursed them to the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office and the East End Marine Task Force.

If the resolution passes, town harbor police from May 1 to Dec. 31, 2017, will assist in exercises, including “searching foreign-flagged vessels within Town marinas for contraband.”

The town board is also set to vote on a resolution authorizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use the Islip Town pistol and rifle range in Islip hamlet at the cost of $250 per use for one year with an option to renew the contract for three years.

The issue of law enforcement, including ICE, using the town-owned shooting range has been controversial over the past two years, as neighbors have repeatedly complained to town board members of excessive noise they say has ruined their quality of life.

The town board meeting will be held at 7 tonight at Town Hall on Main Street in Islip.