Subject: Summary of October
28, 2008 Community Meeting held at the Nesconset Nursing Home re: Drug-related
activities
We need to have everyone together in a strong coalition to control
our neighborhoods, schools, parks and shopping centers. Newsday.com stacey.altherr@newsday.com
November 7, 2008 Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Please find below a Summary of the October 28, 2008 Community Meeting held at
the Nesconset Nursing Home re: Drug-related activities organized by Fred
Gorman, President of the Nesconset-Sachem Civic Association:
(Please note: This is a brief summary of my notes taken that evening to benefit
those that were unable to attend and asked for a synopsis. Please excuse any
possible errors or misrepresentations as unintentional.)
Attendees:
1) More than 200 concerned community members.
2) Legislator John M. Kennedy, Jr. with Leslie Kennedy and Louis D'Amarino.
3) Assemblyman Michael J. Fitzpatrick
4) Sgt. Savasta-4th Precinct COPE Division (Neighborhood Watch Group
Coordinator)
5) Det. Sgt. Ed Compagnone-4th Precinct-Narcotics Division
6) Lt. Gross-Town of Smithtown-Department of Public Safety/Park Rangers
7) Fred Gorman- President of Nesconset-Sachem Civic Association
8) Nesconset Taxpayers Association
9)Pat Byrne-Neighborhood Watch Group Coordinator
10)Channel 12 News
11)Stacey Altherr-Newsday
Discussion (in approximate20order):
1) Legislator John Kennedy discussed t he cleanup at the old Bavarian Inn over
the previous Saturday with items present such as: used syringes, Batman &
Superman logos (told indications of drug related activity), etc.
2) Fred Gorman indicated that the purpose of the meeting was the following:
A) Share the new TIPS line, discuss increased drug activity awareness and the
need for increased police/drug enforcement.
B) Setting up a Neighborhood Watch Group in as many communities as possible.
Awareness and Po wer in numbers.
C) Coordinate/Discuss a coalition of community members, police, town public
safety, Public Officials, school districts and other private and public
agencies to work together for a better community for our children and public at
large.
3) With Fred Gorman's diligent efforts and the strong support of the SCPD 4th
Precinct (Based in Hauppauge),
a new Drugs & Guns TIPS Line was recently installed:
Drugs & Guns TIPS Line: 631-854-TIPS
SCPD indicated that you can leave an anonymous message of drug and/or gun
related activity you witness.
Hopefully, please leave your name and contact#, which he indicated is held
strictly confidential.
4) Det. Sgt. Ed Compagnone-4th Precinct-Narcotics Division discussed:
Narcotics Any Tips Hotline: 631-854-8437
He discussed narcotics topics and problems. He asked that witnesses please
give as much inform ation as possible, including license plate #s, etc. to h
elp a case.
5) Sgt. Savasta of the 4th Precinct-COPE Division coordinates and assists
to create a Neighborhood Watch Group that the program has been very successful
for community awareness and as a deterrent in the neighborhood.
COORDINATE A NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH GROUP: 631-854-8478
He helps a community to establish a Block Captain and an initial one hour and a
half Neighborhood Block Watch meeting. It has great results!
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer indicated that a special unit
was added to follow up on heroin deaths.
Inspector Rhodes of the 4th Precinct has been very helpful and supportive of
the community involvement and collaborative efforts.
6) Lt. Gross of the Town of Smithtown Department of Public Safety/Park Rangers
indicated that they are monitoring 75 Parks/Beaches and Town Facilities. Many
of them have video surveillance.
He stressed that they are here to help 24/7, 365 days/year at:
Town of Smithtown Public Safety: 631-360-7553
7) Legislator John M. Kennedy indicated at the time of the meeting that in the
next few weeks, the Suffolk County Legislature is planning to add to the 2009
Suffolk County Budget 80 Suffolk County Police Officers in their new 2009
Class of Police Officer Cadets and Legislator Kennedy added his personal
commitment to have more Narcotics Officers and Detectives. These 80 Cadets are
to offs et the retiring SCPD Police Officers.
Since this m eeting, the Suffolk County Legislature voted to add these 80
Police Officer Cadets and it is now before Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy
for review.
***My personal opinion is that it is very important that these 80 police
officers and more narcotics officers and detectives in the 4th Precinct are
included in this year's Suffolk County Budget.
Please make your opinion known to Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy.
8) Assemblyman Michael J. Fitzpatrick discussed that he will be our eyes in
Albany and will assist in any way possible. His family has strong roots in this
community.
He indicated that he stopped on Main Street in Smithtown for a hero sandwich
before he came to the meeting and was surprised what he had heard from the
store owner of the drug related problem in our area.
9) See the attached recent Newsday article by Stacey Altherr regarding
some of the community members comments and major concerns. (SEE BELOW ARTICLE)
Not being an alarmist, but this drug problem is real in our neighborhoods,
schools, parks and shopping centers.
10) It was discussed that the goal for the former Bavarian Inn is that an appraisal
of the property is completed with an offer to be purchased by Suffolk County
Government by January 2009.
(Since the meeting, there has also been discussion at the New York State
Government level as well)
After a purchase=2 0is to be made, then, the plan is to demolish the former=2
0Bavarian Inn and to convert it and add it to the Lake Ronkonkoma Park area,
overseen by a governmental agency or department. Currently, still being private
property and difficult to maintain a condemned building, it allows for the
continued drug haven environment.
11) Pat Byrne-Head of Many Neighborhood Watch Groups stressed the importance of
a network of surrounding Neighborhood Watch Groups.
12) Paul Borowski indicated that in Hauppauge a Neighborhood Watch Group was formed
by a local community member and former NYPD officer 2 years ago and it makes us
all aware of our neighborhoods. It is a great program in helping us to be
alert.
It was discussed that we all need to work together: Parents, Schools, Police,
Local Public Officials, Towns, Community Agencies and Youth and Community
Alliance Groups.
Please make a difference.
If you don't have a Neighborhood Watch Group, please call to find out
the details.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
NEWSDAY ARTICLE dated NOVEMBER 7, 2008:
newsday.com/news/printedition/longisland/ny-lidrug075915823nov07,0,6897568.story
Suffolk residents describe drug addiction's impact
BY STACEY ALTHERR
The mother stood in front of a room filled with neighbors and told the
story of her son's heroin addiction.
"I fight on a daily basis to save my son," she said, adding
that he has been in drug rehab six times and is now in jail. "I go
nose-to-nose20with these drug dealers. ... And they're coming after your
kids."
The St. James woman was speaking to more than 200 people who filled the
main room at the Nesconset Nursing Center recently to listen to civic leaders
and government officials discuss how drugs, specifically heroin, have been
gaining a foothold in their community.
Authorities say the problem isn't limited to Nesconset.
"There is an epidemic of heroin use on Long Island," said
Jerry Roucoulet, acting director of nonprofit Long Island Council on Alcoholism
and Drug Dependency.
"This is a problem that is creeping into our communities, and we
are concerned," said Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, adding
that his department has set up a special unit to follow up on heroin overdose
deaths.
In Suffolk, all reported heroin overdoses rose from 151 in 2000 to 312
last year. In Nassau, they increased from 68 to 83 in the same period. Arrests
for heroin s ale and possession rose from 100 in 2002 to about 150 last year,
Nassau police said.
In the Nesconset/Lake Ronkonkoma/Ronkonkoma area, drug-related arrests
rose nearly 60 percent, from 200 in 2000 to 319 in 2008, according to police
statistics.
The recent meeting in Nesconset spurred police to set up a special tips
line for the area, 631-854-TIPS. Calls will remain anonymous. Five new
officers, taken off highway patrol, also were added to the Fourth Precinct,
police said.
The mother told the hushed crowd that drug dealers are worki ng out in
the open, selling heroin and other drugs outside fast-food establishments, in
parks and schoolyards.
Other residents told of neighborhood houses - from Nesconset to Lake
Grove to St. James - where they say occupants use mailboxes as drug pickup
centers.
Audience members said they were alarmed by the murder last year of
70-year-old Martha Watson, a Nesconset resident police say was killed by an
intruder looking for drugs.
"You've got to get your head out of the sand," the mother
told the crowd.
Smithtown's park rangers made three arrests for drug possession in town
parks last week and are expanding patrols.
"Over the course of the last couple of years, there has been an
increase of drug activity," said public safety director John Valentine.
Fred Gorman, president of the Nesconset-Sachem Civic Association, who
organized the meeting and initiated the tips line, said he became aware of the
heroin probl em when his group found used syringes and baggies during a cleanup
of the Bavarian Inn parking lot in Ronkonkoma.
"The tip line is an excellent way to get the word to the
police," he said. "If we aren't vigilant, we'll lose. Our entire
community is at stake."
That concern also was echoed at the meeting by Legis. John M. Kennedy
Jr. (R-Nesconset) and Assemb. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-St. James).
Another St. James mother, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her
son has been a heroin addict for several years, and so are many of20his
friends.
She said heroin users can get high for as little as $10.
"It's here. It's hit us. It came to our nice little neighborhood,"
she said.