By Charles Loiacono    

Crime

            Like so many others, I looked upon crime as a problem, but a problem being handled by those we elect to handle it.

            Since the AFA join forces with the other county unions, I have gotten close to the leaders of the police unions. Indeed, I receive copies of vital communications that pass between the police and county officials. Gleaning the details of the growing crime taking place in some of our communities and speaking first hand with the police have given me insight and understanding I never had before.

            I thought it would be instructive if you saw one of the many letters Tom Willdigg, president of the Detective Association, sends out regularly to county officials informing them of the crime taking place in their districts. One such letter Willdigg recently sent to legislators appears inside this issue.

            The presidents of the labor coalition have appeared before the Nassau County Legislature many times describing the kinds of violent crimes being committed, especially by the gangs roaming some of our communities. We have bemoaned the reduction of the police force, the decimation of gang units, and the serious reduction of undercover units. We warned that if the county did not get a handle on the spread of gangs, the problem would get out of hand. Sad to say, our words seem to have been prophetic. When you read Willdigg’s letter, you’ll know what I mean—and that is one of many.

      On Saturday October 16^th, we had a combined Executive Board/ Representative Assembly meeting. At that meeting, the problem of crime on NCC’s campus was discussed. The robberies, assaults, and car thefts have everyone concerned. The VIGNETTE, the student newspaper, has featured story after story about this serious problem. But the one observation that really got my attention was that some gangs are using certain walls on campus to scrawl their gang graffiti. What that says to me is that some gangs have claimed part of the campus as their turf. If that is so, then the problem some communities are experiencing has visited Nassau Community College.

            College President Sean Fanelli and his staff have spearheaded efforts to nip this problem in the bud. He has asked the police commissioner for more police coverage. He created a task force to study the efficacy of hiring peace officers and has made the decision to do just that. He has had high-tech cameras installed. He and I met with the presidents of the police unions to discuss other ways of dealing with the problem.

            But, the job of the administration and the faculty is to educate not to police. The police are ready, willing, and able to do the job. But, they need the manpower.

It is the county government that must provide the manpower to solve the problem before it metastasizes out of control. Unsafe streets and an unsafe campus are poor tradeoffs for a balanced budget.