NEW YORK
County with large police force looks to deputize armed residents
BY PHILIP MARCELO ASSOCIATED PRESS MINEOLA, N.Y. | A suburban New York county with one of the largest police forces in the nation is training dozens of armed residents who could be called up during natural disasters and other emergencies, sparking worry that the new volunteer unit amounts to an unsanctioned local militia.
Nassau County officials posted a notice in March seeking private citizens with gun licenses to serve as provisional special deputy sheriffs who could assist in the “protection of human life and property during an emergency.”
Twenty-five have completed training in recent weeks, but local residents who have been rallying against the scheme question the need for the unit and have raised concerns about the potential for overpolicing after departments across the country cracked down on protests against the latest Israel-Hamas war.
Democrats, who are the minority in the county legislature, and some community advocates say they worry Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman — a Republican and staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump — could call up the deputies to quell political dissent, a charge he strongly denies. Critics also argue that emergencies require a different type of volunteer.
“There is no need to give residents broad and dangerously vague authority to respond, armed with deadly weapons, in the event of an emergency,” said Laura Burns, a Rockville Centre resident and member of the gun control group Moms Demand Action, after a recent rally.
In a phone interview, Mr. Blakeman said the armed deputies would be called on only when the county faces a major emergency akin to Superstorm Sandy, which caused catastrophic damage along the Long Island coast in 2012.
They would not be used for crowd control or breaking up protests because they won’t be trained to patrol streets, he said. Instead, the deputies will protect critical infrastructure, government buildings, hospitals and houses of worship.
“We are putting together this program so I won’t have to be in a scramble to try and find qualified people,” Mr. Blakeman said.
Nassau County, with about 1.4 million residents, has the 12th-largest local police force in the nation, some 2,600 sworn officers — bigger than Boston, San Francisco, Baltimore and other major cities. State troopers also serve the county, which has dozens of village police forces.
Michael Moore, 65, is a retired Nassau County court officer and member of the local Community Emergency Response Team trained to support first responders in emergencies. He says armed residents weren’t what was needed in 2012 — and aren’t what is needed now.
“When Sandy hit, we needed people shoveling, pumping out basements, handing out water, directing traffic, all those kinds of things,” said Mr. Moore. “We didn’t need people grabbing their reading glasses and picking up their firearms to challenge somebody to a duel on Main Street. It’s freaking ridiculous.”
Local Democrats have questioned the legality of the program. But Mr. Blakeman shrugged off the criticism as politically motivated, pointing to state law that authorizes local sheriffs to deputize “orally or in writing” as many special deputies as needed to respond to an emergency.
