S.C. initiative cracks down on crime i
by Tiffany Elliott

Suffolk County Exec., Steve Levy, at podium is flanked by county officials including S.C. Leg. Wayne Horsley, at Levy's right, and Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer, at Levy's left, as he announces results of a law enforcement initiative.

Their name sounds more like a group of comic book super heroes than a law enforcement initiative, but the results are very much real life. Suffolk's Impact Team has made more than 300 arrests in the year since it was established. Of those, 239 were made in Babylon Town according to S.C. Exec. Steve Levy who held a press conference held at Suffolk's First Precinct to announce the findings.

The team is made up of made up of Suffolk County Police Officers and detectives, Town of Babylon Public Safety Officers, probation officers, narcotics squads, the District Attorney's office and civic groups with the help of local legislators A key element in the initiative is to establish a partnership between law enforcement and community leaders who help isolate problem areas and "identify the bad guys," said Levy who appeared with Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer and representatives from different agencies.

"By working together, we have been able to crack down on guns, gangs, drugs and street crime," said Levy.

The task force is also divided into units that assign experts in certain areas to target and deal with specific problems such as gangs and drugs. Over the last six weeks, these units have concentrated efforts in Babylon, North Amityville, Copiague, Wyandanch and Lindenhurst.

So far, these areas have seen positive results. "The crime in our area was so bad before the initiative. Gun fire occurred so often that it was almost acceptable" said Ann Stewart of Wyandanch Weed & Seed. "There's no more gunfire and we feel safe in our streets."

"We applaud and thank you for making our streets safer for our residents," said S.C. Leg. Wayne Horsley.

That's not to say that more doesn't need to be done.

"We are also going after the very visible petty crimes because they set a negative attitude and culture in area," said Levy. "If the areas are cleaned up, and the small crimes are dealt with, criminals will see that we are serious."

In Babylon, of the 239 people arrested, 316 charges were filed, five search warrants were executed and four weapons were seized.

Although some of the funding for the program comes from the state, the major part of the program is staffed by reallocating current personnel.

"Dissenters say to combat crime you need to hire more officers, the cost of which would raise taxes, and we are proving it isn't true," said Levy. "We've done this by deploying the officers from behind desks to out on the street where they can be effective."

As to where the task force is heading next, Levy wouldn't comment for obvious reasons, but said that they would return to areas they have already visited.

"We want to keep the bad guys on their toes, keep them guessing," he said.

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