Personnel Issues
Nassau officers (along with the neighboring Suffolk County Police Department) have become known in recent years for their exceptionally high rate of pay, especially as compared with the nearby New York City Police Department. In July 2007, a state arbitrator awarded Nassau officers a substantial pay hike, bringing those with nine years seniority eventually to a top salary of $116,955 annually, not counting benefits, overtime and night differential. If past practice is any guide, the increase will likely set a pattern to be matched and surpassed by the Suffolk County Police.
Many New York City Police officers apply for positions in the Nassau force because of this disparity. Failure rates of NYPD officers in the Nassau Police Academy are about the same as non-police officer candidates. Typically, between one-third and one-half of the recruits in every Nassau police academy class are former city officers. A police exam took place between Aug. 13-18, 2007.
Police pay has been a contentious issue in the county for well over a decade. In 2000, the state formed a financial oversight authority to monitor the county's budget. On Jan. 27, 2011, after several public warnings, the authority moved to take control of the county's finances. Budgetary issues have curtailed hiring severely in the last decade. On May 17, 2013, a class of only 37 recruits was sworn into the police academy, the first class since 50 recruits entered in 2008 and 48 in 2004.
Hiring on the Nassau force has also long been a bone of contention, with African-Americans, Hispanics and other groups, often supported by the U.S. Justice Department, claiming the hiring process is biased toward white males. The county has denied any intentional discrimination, and there have been repeated recruiting drives aimed at convincing more minorities to take the police exam, which itself has been repeatedly redesigned with the aim of making it fairer. White candidates have disputed this, claiming the test is now biased against them. These controversies have led to numerous lawsuits, which have repeatedly delayed hiring over the last two decades and account in part for the force's shrinking size.
Another major point of contention between the county government and the police union in recent years has been inadequate police academy training facilities. After being located for several years in a converted elementary school in Williston Park, the academy facilities were "temporarily" relocated for a decade in trailers on the grounds of the county jail in East Meadow. In May 2006, the Suozzi administration announced the academy would move into yet another converted school, this one in Massapequa, by the end of the year. The first class of recruits to train in the new facility entered in early January 2008.
The department is headed by a civilian commissioner, appointed by the county executive. In December 2011, County Executive Edward P. Mangano appointed Thomas V. Dale, a three-star chief of the NYPD Personnel Bureau as commissioner.
Read more about this topic: Police Department County Of Nassau
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