Huntington Station has Police Community Meeting

Due to the efforts of many community members last night August 17, 2016 was the 1st in the many hopeful dialogs with the Suffolk County Police and Huntington Station community. As violent crime in the area has been the worst it has been this year, the Huntington Station community wanted answers and that’s what they got last night from Commissioner Sini and 2nd Pct Inspector Hatton.

(Photo by Robert Rockelein)

One of the outspoken leaders of the night “Dee” Delores Thompson wants more community members to come and express their concerns and issues to the police, She stated “We need to have solutions.  We need more people involved. We have to unite and get the police to understand our problems.”

Commissioner Sini fielded a variety of questions from the audience and answered all with clarity and concise answers. I believe the community members were pleased with the answers.  There was one question which someone asked if the police could do, besides the regular psychological on new recruits, to also do racial bias screening.

Below is the sentiment of a community member who is involved heavily in helping to change the Community for the better June Margolin President of Huntington Matters.

I Love Our Community…

Last night – I think we changed the world!!! (We = Our Community).

This was the “Community Conversation” event where the SCPD gave an overview of the changes in the department, the new initiatives and programs they have employed, discussed the challenges they need to work around, their goals for future progress, and their road map to get there. MOST IMPORTANTLY –

and where the magic happened – the community got to ask questions, share concerns and issues, and offer ideas for solutions. <<– RIGHT THERE!!!! (Do you see it????) YES!!!! There were suggestions offered that the Commissioner is taking seriously and going to explore (really. This is how this guy rolls…). My favorite one was to add bias screening to the background check for new police officer applicants. If the Commissioner enacts that, then…BAM!!! Huntington has changed the world FOR THE BETTER. That one neighbor took 2 hours out of her busy life to attend a meeting in Huntington Station…where she raised her hand to share a life experience, ask a question and offer a one sentence suggestion…potentially inspiring our Commissioner to slightly modify police hiring practices…that would likely be adopted by departments around the country – and even the WORLD. ***ALL THAT from a folding chair and 2 minutes to speak.*** Let me tell you that she wasn’t the only one, either. DOZENS of amazing questions led to exactly what was planned – Community Conversation. It was beautiful…and I was NEVER more proud and inspired to be a member of this community.

GUESS WHAT??? That woman was no different from YOU!!! What if that idea of yours that you mentioned to your family and a friend or two was shared at a meeting??? What would our future look like? Don’t be shy! Come on down next time and help ‪#‎BePartOfTheSolution

When the next meeting is scheduled we will let you know.