Suffolk County’s police reform report calls for enhanced civilian oversight, increased accountability and transparency, and expanded community policing and engagement programs.
County Executive Steve Bellone announced the plan on Friday; it applies to only to the Suffolk County Police Department, which serves the county’s five western towns and provides special services to the five East End towns, including Shelter Island.
Mandated by the state, the Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative requires all all municipal entities that provide police services to review key aspects of policing and report back to state authorities by April 1 or risk delays in state aid. Shelter Island’s task force expects to meet the deadline, with a review of a first draft to take place at a Town Board work session on Tuesday, March 16.
Like Shelter Island’s police force, the Suffolk County Police Department is among the 30 percent of law enforcement agencies to be accredited within the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Program. Accredited departments must a compliance evaluation every five years and align with these four major goals:
- To increase the effectiveness and efficiency of law enforcement agencies utilizing existing personnel, equipment and facilities to the extent possible;
- To promote increased cooperation and coordination among law enforcement agencies and other agencies of the criminal justice services;
- To ensure the appropriate training of law enforcement personnel; and
- To promote public confidence in law enforcement agencies.
The SCPD has 2,300 sworn members and is the 11th largest in the nation, according to the report released Friday. It provides full police services to the county’s five, as well as specialized services to the five East End Towns, which have their own municipal departments. The SCPD is divided into seven precincts with specialized commands: Homicide, Arson, Hate Crimes, Emergency Services, Marine Bureau and Canine.
The county’s reform plan upgrades policies relating to police advancement, community engagement, training, and duty to intervene, Bellone said. Key areas of impact include situations involving mental health, traffic stops, and warrants, along with improved data collection and dissemination.
“Suffolk County has developed an historic policing plan that serves as a model for how to produce real reform, enhance transparency and accountability, and foster community trust,” Bellone in a news release. “This plan is a reflection of the input that was received – a blueprint for lasting change – and will serve as a roadmap to build upon the progress we have already made.”
You can read the full SCPD plan by following this link.
The process
In accordance with NYS guidelines that are being followed by villages, towns, cities and counties around the state, Bellone appointed a task force that solicited input from individuals and organizations within the county. The task force, he said, examined policies and procedures and conducted a series of virtual public outreach meetings, in addition to one-on-one stakeholder meetings.
The task for held 10 committee meetings and 14 subcommittee meetings, covering various topics including recruitment, police officer accountability, traffic stops, use of force, mental health response, community policing, arrests and warrants and departmental oversight. Eight public listening sessions attracted 1,218 participants, including 296 who offered verbal input, all of which contributed to the development of the comprehensive policing plan, Bellone said.
Key areas of reform
The plan, co-facilitated by Deputy County Executive Vanessa Baird-Streeter and Deputy County Executive Jon Kaiman, focuses on seven major points for reform (click links to jump down the page): community policing; police systems, accountability and body cameras; traffic and pedestrian stops; training and continuing education; mental health response; and recruitment and staffing, and arrest and warrants.
Community Policing
The task force proposes a series of targeted reforms to the Department’s Digital Engagement and Communications Strategy, to the County’s Language Access Plan, and to replicate the model of the Community Relations Bureau throughout the Department. The new programs include the creation of precinct level advisory councils, park walk and talks, requiring patrol officers to attend monthly community meetings, engagement of specialized units, and an improved language access plan, among others.
The precinct level advisory councils will allow the SCPD to effectively address community concerns, foster new relationships with community leaders, expand the community engagement reach of each precinct, create community liaisons to field questions and concerns, and provide clear lines of communication between the Department and the community it serves.
Through the implementation of a Park Walk and Talk (PWT) policy, SCPD officers will have the opportunity to interact directly with residents to improve community-police relations. Officers will be required to do a PWT for one hour every week and will be encouraged to diversify the neighborhoods where they choose to engage. With more than 1,421 patrol officers, this will significantly increase positive interactions between officers and community members.
Police Systems, Accountability and Body Cameras
Currently, as part of a pilot program, a limited number of SCPD officers wear body cameras. In an effort to increase transparency, civility, and accountability, the reinvention and reform plan proposes that body worn cameras be deployed as standard police worn equipment for all Suffolk County police officers who engage with the public in the course of their professional duties. The cameras would also increase case resolution and evidentiary corroboration, along with providing a significant and effective training tool for police recruits and veteran officers.
A key aspect of the reinvention and reform plan is enhancing civilian oversight of the SCPD through the County’s Human Rights Commission. The commission, an independent agency, would be able to open and review police misconduct cases that allege undue force and bias in police conduct, while the SCPD’s Internal Affairs Division would be responsible for investigation.
Once an Internal Affairs investigation is complete, the SCPD will be required to review the complaint with the Humans Rights Commission for an opportunity to weigh in on the investigative process and, if deemed appropriate, suggest additional steps to be taken as part of the investigation. Once the findings are finalized, the Human Rights investigator and the SCPD will provide the final determination and actions to be taken to the complainant. Residents will be able to call Suffolk 311 to be connected directly to the unit.
Traffic and Pedestrian Stops
Last year, after an intensive review of traffic stop data, a John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety, Inc. report confirmed that Black and Hispanic drivers are overrepresented in police traffic stops relative to their share of the Suffolk County population. To address these concerns the reform plan calls for enhanced oversight and review of traffic stop data, including the creation of a public traffic stop data dashboard that will function as an online data hub where anyone can easily interact with real data.
The department will also implement the “Safety First Campaign”, a first-of-its-kind initiative on Long Island that will build community trust by promoting road and driver safety, while attempting to avoid placing an additional economic burden on those who are financially disadvantaged. The program provides an opportunity for police officers to provide education to individuals pulled over for minor vehicle equipment failures. This new warning-and-education campaign will provide drivers with a warning for their first equipment violation, instead of a ticketed fine. This warning will be paired with educational resources to highlight the importance of addressing the equipment violation.
Training and Continuing Education
In addition to improved community policing, enhanced accountability through the deployment of body cameras and civilian oversight, and new data driven programs to combat disproportionate traffic stops, the plan calls for increased training in de-escalation, duty to intervene and implicit bias, in addition to integrating community based organizations into academy training.
Mental Health Response
The reform plan calls for an overhaul of the SCPD’s mental health crisis response and the implementation of a three tier approach including 911 Call Diversion, ongoing collaboration with mental health partners, and expansion of Crisis Intervention Training, which has already certified 189 SCPD and 24 Associated Agency officers. The SCPD Communication Section will develop a call diversion procedure to triage mental health 911 calls and divert them to mental health partners to better serve Suffolk residents in need.
Recruitment and Staffing, and Arrests and Warrants
While several reforms to police department recruitment and staffing are already underway, the reform plan also proposes several measures to ensure the SCPD is reflective of the community at every level. Finally, the plan seeks heightened command staff oversight of warrants.
