Category Archives: Police
Smile, You’re on School Zone Camera
Photo/Antonnews.com
Nassau County drivers are up in arms due to the recent implementation of school zone speed cameras, which have issued numerous violations since they were installed just weeks ago. The source of residents beef with the county’s speed cameras stems from the cameras issuing speed violations even when school wasn’t in session.
Director of Nassau County Traffic Safety Chris Mistron said that while some residents were taken by surprise, summer school hours are still considered a violation period.
“We didn’t utilize a warning period of sorts,” Mistron said, acknowledging the shock some residents experienced after receiving a violation in the mail. “I’d like to believe compliance will reduce the number of crashes around areas where these cameras are present.”
This story originally appeared in the Aug. 20, 2014 edition of the Levittown Tribune.
County police report sheds light on accidental shooting case
Photo Courtesy of Harrison PD
County officials have closed the case surrounding a Harrison police lieutenant who accidentally discharged a .223 caliber assault rifle amid a high-profile sting operation last October, finding no basis for criminal prosecution.
During the arrest of three suspects who were wanted in connection with an interstate burglary ring, Harrison Police Lt. Vito Castellano‑a 15-year police veteran and county firearms instructor‑accidentally fired two shots from his department-issued LMT Guardian 2000 assault rifle, striking a suspect and a fellow officer in the fracas.
“The evidence indicates that Lt. Castellano fired his weapon accidentally and not intentionally,” said Westchester Public Safety Commissioner George Longworth.
This story first appeared in the May 10, 2013 edition of the Harrison Report
Harrison PBA Accepts Chief of Police Into Union
Harrison Police Chief Anthony Marraccini
Photo/Hometwn.com
The Harrison Police Benevolent Association voted on Tuesday to add the chief of police to its union as a non-voting, non-dues-paying member. The move would tie the chief’s salary and benefits to any collective bargaining agreement and could dictate percentage increases and other items outlined by the terms of the union contract with the town.
“As acting chief, I can’t spend all day sitting behind a desk,” Anthony Marraccini, the town’s police chief said. “It’s time I take an active role, one which cannot be influenced by politics.”
The move is not unprecedented in police departments in New York, but management and labor are often kept separate to avoid influence over the rank-and-file from management, a move which the non-voting status seeks to address. Management positions are often part of labor negotiations on the opposite end of the table, but this move would tie the fate of the chief with other union members in a time where Harrison has failed time and again to receive significant concessions from its labor force – even as the town faced an ongoing budgeting crisis.
This story originally appeared in the June 22, 2012 edition of The Harrison Review.
