Huntington – Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci has released a
statement on recent public safety concerns in Huntington Station:
“The Town of Huntington is a beautiful, diverse Town, with
quaint, historic downtown areas, award-winning schools and world-class cultural
attractions. Recent violent incidents, which occurred in different locations of
a private parking lot in Huntington Station, have raised concerns about public
safety in our Town.
“The property on which these recent incidents occurred is
privately owned. While the Town does have an agreement with the property owner
to enforce handicap parking in the lot, this is a law enforcement issue. The
Town has taken a proactive approach to address the public’s concerns after news
broke on the first incident, which occurred January 9, 2019.
“In early February, my staff and I hosted a meeting with
various law enforcement, school district, Town and Suffolk County officials to
discuss how we can coordinate the sharing of information and services,
integrate our video surveillance monitoring capabilities with other camera
networks, and expand or build out our existing video surveillance
infrastructure. The primary purpose of the meeting was to identify how our
respective levels of government can work together more effectively, also
opening what will be an ongoing dialogue, given the scope and nature of the
challenges facing our Town.
“In attendance were Inspector William Scrima and Deputy
Inspector Matthew McCormick of the Second Precinct, Suffolk County Police
Department; the Town’s Public Safety Department; Superintendent Jim Polansky of
the Huntington School District; Superintendent Dr. Dave Bennardo of the South
Huntington School District; and, from Suffolk County, Legislator Dr. William
Spencer; Legislator Robert Trotta; Legislator Susan Berland and Legislator Tom
Donnelly.
“Topics discussed included the School Resource Officer
(SRO) program; alleged gang-related activities; information and technology
sharing; public perception of incidents; and other details related to the
collaborative handling of the overarching public safety issues.
“Some of the topics discussed remain outside of the Town’s
authority to address, such as law enforcement concerns within the school
districts, but the opened dialogue offered a productive sharing of ideas; in
particular, how the Town can support law enforcement as the police department
does its job.
“Lastly, I want to make clear that we’re not going to
rush to judgment on what was at root of these recent violent incidents but
we’re not going to condone any type of violence, intolerance or criminal
behavior in the Town of Huntington. This is a wonderful place to live and raise
a family and I want to assure the entire community we serve that we are working
together at all levels of government to keep it that way.”
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