As you might have read in this weeks Newsday, all POP Units of the Nassau County Police Department have been severely cut. Officers have been reassigned to other positions in the Department.
It has been a humbling experience to have worked with the Officers of the 5th Precinct POP Unit. POP stands for Problem Oriented Policing. The 5th Precinct POP Unit consisted of 4 officers and one supervisor who handle quality of life issues and work very closely with the schools and community. The Unit is now down to one officer and one Supervisor.
I didn’t realize the scope of their jobs until I began working with them to produce this Blog as a tool to increase communication with the schools and community.
Our POP Unit Officers care for the students they encounter. As parents themselves they bring a genuine concern for the youth of our area.
Our officers have direct contact with the Superintendent’s and Principal’s of each school, in each School District, often exchanging cell phone numbers to be available on a minutes notice. When any need would arise for a student to be helped, these officers are known to diffuse the situation with a personal response to help the student and advisor for the best possible outcome.
Our officers attend many community meetings and sometimes became members of our local community organizations themselves such as Sgt. Grimm who is a Board Member of the Gateway Youth Outreach. He helped to start a program to help children everyday afterschool to study, tutor and help with homework. Other officers have joined the Valley Stream Youth Council and Envision Valley Stream a grassroots effort started by young adults living in Valley Stream. Helping to keep us informed of local Police Activity, officers also provided a voice for our concerns reporting it back to the precinct commander for further evaluation.
They lecture and educate our students and PTA’s. Speak at Civic Meetings, to local business and church groups.
Our officers present Scouting Awards to the local youth whose hard work and efforts have earned them the Highest Awards in Scouting the Girl Scout Gold Award and Boy Scout Eagle Award. They encourage the scouts to be a vital part of the fabric of our community.
Our Officers provide Prom Enforcement ensuring all limo drivers have and enforce a no alcohol or drug policy in their vehicles.
Our Fifth Precinct POP Unit also leads a NCPD Explorers Group. Exploring is an education and experience based program designed to help young people develop into mature, caring and responsible adults. With the guidance of the POP Advisors, area youth are mentored in life skills and are given the opportunity to participate in numerous law enforcement experiences and training sessions. The explorers are routinely involved in competitions that take place at venues throughout the country and that test their skills against other Law Enforcement Explorers. Local competitions are held with such groups as the New York City’s Explorers and US Customs.
Exploring helps foster positive relationships among the Police Department, its officers and local youth. It builds an avenue for public/ private partnerships that provides a means to support our mission to protect and serve. As individuals, the youth involved give back to their community by completing hundreds of hours of community service each year. They become role models for their peers and friends and serve as catalysts for positive police relations in our communities.
In this ever-competitive world in which our children find it increasingly difficult to gain acceptance to the college or university of their choice, having the experience of Exploring on their resumes may very well be the unique qualification to help them gain entrance into their college of choice.
Our Officers work closely with the Social Service Department, visiting the homeless and making sure they are cared for by providing a place to go, food or money sometimes out of their own pocket.
Our Officers run Project 21 which visits local establishments who sell alcohol and tobacco and make sure they are not selling to any one under 21. Our officers have established relationships with Consumer Affairs Department, Town of Hempstead Building Dept., Valley Stream Code Enforcement, Probation and Parole Dept., to help clean up establishments that are selling cigerettes or alcohol to minors or known drug houses.
Our officers work with NCPD Crossing Guards to oversee the creation of future crossings and provide back up for Guards who need their support.
They are a fine group of officers whose passion, courage and dedication has served our community in so many ways for many years. I truly wish them all well. Their service to Nassau County Fifth Precinct is priceless.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Water Safety
Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano and Acting Police Commissioner Thomas C. Krumpter would like to remind county residents that water safety is something that all parents should be aware of. Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury related death among children ages 1 - 14. It can happen very quickly and in less than 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of water, so filled bathtubs, swimming pools, wading pools, hot tubs, and even buckets of water and sinks can be dangerous.
To reduce your child's risk of drowning:
Home
Never leave a small child unattended in the bath. If you must answer the telephone or door, don't rely on an older sibling to watch the child, bring the younger child with you.
Never leave a small child unattended near a bucket filled with any amount of water or other liquid.
Never use a bathtub seat with suction cups. The seat can overturn and flip a baby headfirst into the water.
Install a toilet-lid locking device or keep bathroom doors closed at all times. (Or you may want to install a doorknob cover.)
Pool
Never leave your children alone in or near the pool, even for a moment. An adult who knows CPR should actively supervise children at all times.
Practice ‘touch supervision’ with children younger than 5 years. This means that the adult is within an arm's length of the child at all times.
If you are planning a pool party, consider hiring a certified lifeguard to supervise those who will be in the pool.
Put up a fence to separate your house from the pool. Most young children who drown in pools wander out of the house and fall into the pool. Install a fence at least 4 feet high around the pool. This fence will completely separate the pool from the house and play area of the yard. Use gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children's reach.
Keep rescue equipment (such as a shepherd's hook or life preserver) and a telephone by the pool.
Do not use air-filled "swimming aids" as a substitute for approved life vests.
Remove all toys from the pool after use so children aren't tempted to reach for them.
After the children are done swimming, secure the pool so they can't get back into it.
A power safety cover that meets the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) may add to the protection of your children but should not be used in place of the fence between your house and the pool. Even fencing around your pool and using a power safety cover will not prevent all drowning.
Drain Entrapment occurs when part of a child’s body becomes attached to a drain because of the powerful suction of a pool or hot tub filtration system. The powerful suction can trap a child underwater or cause internal injuries. It can also occur when a child’s hair, swimsuit or jewelry becomes entangled in the drain. In 2007, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act made it illegal to manufacture, distribute or sell drain covers that do not adhere to the standards for anti-entrapment safety set by the Consumer Product and Safety Commission.
Warn your children about the dangers of drain entrapment, and teach them never to play near a pool drain, with or without a cover.
Pin up long hair when in the water and remove loose parts of swimsuits and loose jewelry that can get ensnared.
Equip pools and hot tubs with an anti-entrapment drain cover and an approved safety vacuum release system and regularly check that drain covers are secure and have no cracks. Flat drain covers can be replaced with dome-shaped ones.
Be aware of public wading pools with missing or broken drain covers. Small children have direct access to the bottom drain in wading pools and sitting on open drains can cause serious internal organ damage.
Remember, teaching your child how to swim DOES NOT mean your child is safe in water. Most young children who drown in swimming pools were last seen in the home, had only been missing from sight for a matter of minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time. There is no substitute for active adult supervision to prevent drowning.
To reduce your child's risk of drowning:
Home
Never leave a small child unattended in the bath. If you must answer the telephone or door, don't rely on an older sibling to watch the child, bring the younger child with you.
Never leave a small child unattended near a bucket filled with any amount of water or other liquid.
Never use a bathtub seat with suction cups. The seat can overturn and flip a baby headfirst into the water.
Install a toilet-lid locking device or keep bathroom doors closed at all times. (Or you may want to install a doorknob cover.)
Pool
Never leave your children alone in or near the pool, even for a moment. An adult who knows CPR should actively supervise children at all times.
Practice ‘touch supervision’ with children younger than 5 years. This means that the adult is within an arm's length of the child at all times.
If you are planning a pool party, consider hiring a certified lifeguard to supervise those who will be in the pool.
Put up a fence to separate your house from the pool. Most young children who drown in pools wander out of the house and fall into the pool. Install a fence at least 4 feet high around the pool. This fence will completely separate the pool from the house and play area of the yard. Use gates that self-close and self-latch, with latches higher than your children's reach.
Keep rescue equipment (such as a shepherd's hook or life preserver) and a telephone by the pool.
Do not use air-filled "swimming aids" as a substitute for approved life vests.
Remove all toys from the pool after use so children aren't tempted to reach for them.
After the children are done swimming, secure the pool so they can't get back into it.
A power safety cover that meets the standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) may add to the protection of your children but should not be used in place of the fence between your house and the pool. Even fencing around your pool and using a power safety cover will not prevent all drowning.
Drain Entrapment occurs when part of a child’s body becomes attached to a drain because of the powerful suction of a pool or hot tub filtration system. The powerful suction can trap a child underwater or cause internal injuries. It can also occur when a child’s hair, swimsuit or jewelry becomes entangled in the drain. In 2007, the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act made it illegal to manufacture, distribute or sell drain covers that do not adhere to the standards for anti-entrapment safety set by the Consumer Product and Safety Commission.
Warn your children about the dangers of drain entrapment, and teach them never to play near a pool drain, with or without a cover.
Pin up long hair when in the water and remove loose parts of swimsuits and loose jewelry that can get ensnared.
Equip pools and hot tubs with an anti-entrapment drain cover and an approved safety vacuum release system and regularly check that drain covers are secure and have no cracks. Flat drain covers can be replaced with dome-shaped ones.
Be aware of public wading pools with missing or broken drain covers. Small children have direct access to the bottom drain in wading pools and sitting on open drains can cause serious internal organ damage.
Remember, teaching your child how to swim DOES NOT mean your child is safe in water. Most young children who drown in swimming pools were last seen in the home, had only been missing from sight for a matter of minutes, and were in the care of one or both parents at the time. There is no substitute for active adult supervision to prevent drowning.
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