The B.A.T. Mobile

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, District Attorney Kathleen Rice and Police Commissioner Lawrence Mulvey unveiled the county's latest weapon to combat drunken driving.

The Breath Alcohol Testing vehicle, or BAT mobile, will provide police with a mobile team of certified breath technicians to process drunken drivers, from their initial arrests through testing.

State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr., a Republican from Merrick, acquired the state funding for the District Attorney’s Office to purchase the $249,918 vehicle using New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services grant funds.

The 29-foot vehicle will be used by Nassau County police officers. The unit will function as a “sobriety testing center” and be equipped with breath alcohol testing equipment and four video cameras to monitor the exterior of the vehicle and the testing area.

The sides of the vehicle will also serve as a rolling anti-DWI billboard and have graphic images of injuries suffered from drunk driving accidents, stating “Not Everyone Who is Hit by a Drunk Driver Dies,” and also a photo of the horrendous aftermath of the 2005 crash caused by Martin Heidgen, which killed seven-year-old Katie Flynn and limousine driver Stanley Rabinowitz, with the question “Could you live with yourself?”

Arrestees can be brought into the vehicle where breath alcohol testing or drug recognition exams can be conducted. If they are found to be intoxicated, they will be arrested.

“This new tool in our concerted effort to stop drunken and reckless driving will absolutely save lives,” Rice said. “It may save a life by taking a drunken driver off the road, or it may serve as a deterrent to a driver who passes by its graphic images and thinks twice before driving drunk. Either way, the BAT mobile will be on duty, taking unsafe drivers off the road.”

“The BAT mobile combines enforcement with prevention to give Nassau County a tremendous new tool to remove drunk drivers from our roads,” Fuschillo said. “Nassau Police will be able to immediately test suspected drunk drivers for intoxication, which better preserves important evidence of a DWI crime. The high-visibility nature of the vehicle will also raise awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving and deter people from getting behind the wheel if they are intoxicated. I'm pleased to have helped Nassau County obtain this new, high-tech resource to stop DWI.”

“Let it be known that if you drive under the influence in Nassau County, you will be arrested and prosecuted. We will do whatever we can to make our streets safe,” Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano said.

"During my administration, apprehending DWI offenders has been one of my top priorities. The Nassau County Police Department has been very successful in doing so, but there is still work to be done. The "Bat Mobile" is another resource available to the law enforcement community for us to utilize in not only arresting DWI offenders, but an opportunity to educate motorists of the dangers associated with drinking and driving." Police Commissioner Lawrence W. Mulvey.

Crime Stoppers

The Fifth Squad is investigating a robbery that occurred on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 12:15 AM, in West Hempstead.
At that time, according to detectives, two 17-year-old male victims were walking on Hempstead Avenue, at Roosevelt Boulevard, when they were approached by two unknown male subjects: Subject 1, black, 18-20 years, wearing a red hoodie; Subject 2, white, 18-20 years, wearing a black hoodie. Subject 1 produced a silver revolver, which he pointed at each victim in turn, causing them to relinquish their wallets and cell phones. Both subjects then fled with these proceeds, eastbound onto Locust Avenue, on foot.
There were no reported injuries. Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
Details by: Det. Rios, 5th Squad 7/27/10 0415 6218

Crime Stoppers

The Fifth Squad is investigating a robbery that occurred on 7/15/10 at 10:45 PM, in West Hempstead.
At that time, according to detectives, the two 18-year-old victims were confronted on Hempstead Gardens Drive by a group of four unknown males, who exited a dark 4-door sedan, asked them for the time and, subsequently, for money. The four subjects then proceeded to assault the victims with their fists, before one of the subjects produced a small silver handgun and pointed it at one of the victims, as another subject went through the same victim’s pockets and removed his cell phone. All subjects then fled with the phone in the same vehicle, eastbound on Washington Avenue.
The victims refused medical attention. The armed subject is described as male, black, 17-18 years old, 5’8”, 150 lbs, wearing a blue shirt; others were described as black males, one being 5’10’, 175 lbs, wearing a white shirt.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
Details by: Det. DePierro, 5th Squad 7/16/10 0330 6218

Census Still Counting

Hi
I have received a phone call on my answering machine on Sunday, July 4th from someone claiming to be from the U.S. Census Bureau. (On a nat'l holiday?) I googled it and it seems to be a fraud. I had completed and returned my forms months ago. I will not return their calls, but am worried about others. See something, say something...right?

The number they gave me is 866-851-2050.

Thanks for your help. I love the blog!

Theresa

Dear Theresa,

We had called the Census Bureau Garden City Office (559-7520) to ask if they are still collecting information. They are still calling and visiting homes to collect information and do quality checks. The phone number they have is 866 861 2010. If anyone else receives calls with the other number for a return call, please call the Garden City Census office and they will report it to the authorities.

A census taker is a person from your community who is hired by the Census Bureau to make sure that your neighborhood gets represented as accurately as possible. The census taker's primary responsibility is to collect census information from residences. Most of these residences have not sent back their 2010 Census form.

The Census Bureau provides the census taker with a binder containing all of the addresses that didn't send back a filled out census form.
The census taker then visits all of those addresses and records the answers to the questions on the form.

If no one answers at a particular residence, a census taker will visit a home up to three times and attempt to reach the household by phone three times. The census worker will leave a double-sided (English and Spanish) NOTICE of VISIT in the doorway that includes a phone number for the resident to schedule an appointment.
The census taker will ONLY ask the questions that appear on the census form.

The census taker who collects your information is sworn for life to protect your data under Federal Law Title 13. Those who violate the oath face criminal penalties: Under federal law, the penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine of up to $250,000 or imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both.

The Census Bureau will never ask you your social security number.

Fraudulent Activity and Scams
The Census Bureau uses a workforce of trained federal employees to conduct a variety of household and business surveys by telephone, in-person interviews, through the mail. They understand your personal information is sensitive, and go to great lengths to protect the data they collect. Although they cannot stop or warn against all bogus or false collections of data -- here are some tips to help you recognize fraudulent activity or unofficial data collections.

If you are contacted for any of the following reasons -- Do Not Participate. It is NOT the U.S. Census Bureau.
Phishing:
'Phishing' is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, social security numbers, bank account or credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out by email and it often directs users to enter sensitive information at a fake web site whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one.

Other Scams:The Census Bureau does NOT conduct the 2010 Census via the Internet

The Census Bureau does not send emails about participating in the 2010 Census

The Census Bureau never:
Asks for your full social security number
Asks for money or a donation
Sends requests on behalf of a political party
Requests PIN codes, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.

How to report scams and bogus Census web sites
If you believe you have been contacted as part of bogus or fraudulent activity falsely representing the Census Bureau:

In Person Scam
Check for a valid Census ID badge
Call your regional office to verify you are in a survey

Email Scams
If you think it is a bogus email, do not reply or click on any links within the email.
Do not open any attachments. Attachments may contain code that could infect your computer
Forward the email or web site URL to the Census Bureau at ITSO.Fraud.Reporting@census.gov.
After you forward the email to us, delete the message. You will not receive a confirmation email after forwarding the information to us. However, the Census Bureau will investigate the information and notify you of its findings.

Mail and Phone Scams
Contact the Federal trade Commission
Is your survey legitimate?
You may further verify if a collection activity is legitimate by calling your regional census office regarding mail surveys, and the National Processing Center for phone surveys.

U.S. Census Bureau.
National Processing Center
1201 East 10th Street
Jeffersonville, IN 47132

If you have not been contacted about a survey and are looking for general Census Bureau information, please call 301-763-INFO (4636) and they can better answer your questions.

If you:

want to verify that the person who called you is a Census Bureau employee,
have a question about a survey form you received, or
need to return a call about one of our surveys
please contact them at one of these numbers:

Hagerstown, MD: 1-800-392-6975
Jeffersonville, IN: 1-800-523-3205
Tucson, AZ: 1-800-642-0469
Additional language specialties may be available.

If you have questions about any of their telephone center operations, you can contact them via NPC.Call.Center.Info@census.gov.