Brookville Police Department Update

The Brookville Police Department celebrated their one-year operational anniversary on May 31.
“Our ‘community-oriented policing (COP)’ approach that focuses on and proactively supports the safety, security and well-being of our communities and the people who live within it has been well received,” Brookville Police Department Chief Kenneth W. Lack wrote in the Village of Brookville’s summer newsletter. “Crime is down. Quality of life is up. And I’m very pleased that our officers have gotten to meet so many residents and get to know them in person.”
In the summer newsletter, Chief Lack shared several updates from the Brookville Police Department, including that the transition from village dispatch to Nassau County Police Department 911 dispatch was “seamless.” Residents should call 911 for any kind of emergency including suspicious cars and persons. Quality of life issues, such as traffic, noise complaints and animal calls can be handled by the Brookville Police during normal business hours.
“We have had almost no major crimes and few minor crimes to report,” Lack said. “But I want to use this opportunity to remind everyone that we must not become complacent. We must continue to remove key fobs from cars, use our burglar alarms when we leave our homes, even if leaving for a brief time. Please continue to use the 911 system. Our low crime rate is no accident, your officers are constantly on patrol 24 hours a day, working diligently to keep it so.”
Chief Lack was also happy to report that the new website, www.brookvillepoliceny.gov, is up and running and that residents will have new and additional police services at their fingertips, such as applying for parking permits online or renewing alarm permits online. Residents can also update their census information through the website, utilize the Vacant Home Notification service and look at current crime patterns and prevention patterns on a regular basis.
Additionally, the Brookville Police Department has received a $42,000 grant towards the purchase of body cameras and the new electronic control taser for its officers. Body cameras have become increasingly familiar in policing in the U.S. and are now part of “best practices” in law enforcement.
“While on patrol, each of our officers will have a body camera operating,” Lack said. “We expect to deploy these new cameras in mid-summer 2023. In addition, the grant also includes an allowance for purchase of the new electronic control model 7 tasers. Our current model X-26 is a single shot taser with limited range. The new model taser is a twin cartridge model providing two shots, one for distance and one for a close quarter contact. The less than lethal device helps us take a person into custody without using increasing levels of force.”
In June, the Brookville Police Department joined with adjoining police departments (Old Westbury, Muttontown/Upper Brookville, S.U.N.Y. Old Westbury and the Oyster Bay Cove Police Department) to take part in Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (A.L.E.R.R.T) at Long Island University. A.L.E.R.R.T is the F.B.I. national standard for law enforcement active shooter response.
“I can say without hesitation that the agencies in our area are certainly prepared if this violent situation occurs in our respective jurisdictions,” Lack said. “Of course, each of these agencies work with the public and schools to prevent this type of tragedy by performing threat assessments when critical information is shared with law enforcement.”
Police Blotter:
In Brookville there were five personal injuries and 25 cases of property damage. In Cove Neck there was one case of property damage. In Matinecock there were two personal injuries and 10 cases of property damage. In Mill Neck there were two personal injuries and four cases of property damage.
From Jan. 1 to May 31, there were 81 accidents, zero fatalities, 287 alarms and 106 aided cases.
—Information provided by the Village of Brookville’s newsletter, The Voice of the Village