Human Trafficking Indictments Up 900% In Suffolk: Bellone

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Despite a time of great physical and social challenges and civil unrest, statistics from the Suffolk County Police Department's second quarter crime statistics reflect a sharp decline — as well as a 900 percent increase in indictments related to human trafficking, Suffolk County Steve Bellone said Tuesday.

Bellone cited statistics that reflected a drop in crime countywide as he called out, once again, for federal funding he said is desperately needed to prevent cuts to public safety that he said could cripple county police.

"Suffolk County continues to be one of the safest communities anywhere in the United States," Bellone said. "That is a fact."

And, he added, it's not an accident: The numbers reflect the hard work and professionalism of Suffolk County law enforcement, he said.

According to Bellone, violent crime in Suffolk County has dropped nearly 15 percent; incidents of aggravated assault are down 11 percent; and murder and manslaughter crimes have decreased by nearly 31 percent. Reports of rape, Bellone said, are down more than 53 percent. In addition, the county executive said, residential burglaries are down 26 percent. Indictments in human trafficking cases are up 900 percent, Bellone said.

A real-time crime center has allowed the county police department to "innovate and drive crime down," Bellone said, even during an "unprecedented and challenging time."

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said the year has presented challenges. "But while most were shutting down our members, sworn and civilian, continued to serve every day, day in and day out, even when COVID infection rates were at their peak."

The most recent crime statistics, Hart added, indicate a "double digit decrease in murder, rape and aggravated assault."

The numbers, she said, indicate a 26 percent increase in commercial burglaries, largely due to stores shuttered by the pandemic presenting an opportunity for criminals. However, she said, Suffolk County Police amped up its presence in commercial districts with unmarked cars and foot patrols.

Budget cuts, she said, "would have wide-ranging and cascading effects."

For example, Hart said, there has been an effort to diversify the department. Leading up to June 19, there were 180 recruitment events, and 34 percent of those who took the new police recruit exam were non-Caucasian, the highest number the department has ever had; the new class is threatened with cancellation by potential budget cuts.

In addition, Hart said, the budget cuts could mean a slashed school resource officer program; those officers help students faced with challenges including opioid addiction and gang violence. Cuts could also halt promotions in the department, Hart said.

Bellone said he outlined the statistics to illustrate what could be lost should the county be forced to cut police and public safety programs.

After months of pleading with the federal government for disaster relief after the coronavirus left Suffolk County's budget with a potentially "cataclysmic" shortfall of $1.5 billion, Bellone said Friday that cuts to police and public safety could be coming soon.

Bellone said that Suffolk County will have no choice but to make "catastrophic" budget cuts to police, public safety services and emergency response personnel without significant federal disaster assistance.

Through "federal inaction," Suffolk County will be forced to eliminate hiring 200 police officers and remove school resource officers, he said.

The cuts will total about $20 million in slashed police budgets, a representative for Bellone said.

During a press briefing Friday, Bellone asked President Donald Trump to call upon U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass a federal disaster assistance bill.

Bellone said during the coronavirus pandemic, the county has been "up and down the mountain, faced death and devastation."

As he prepares to submit the county's budget, Bellone said, "The federal government still has not acted."

The Suffolk County Police Academy in Yaphank could "effectively be shuttered" for the next year and a half — with 200 fewer officers on the street, he said.

The school resource officer program would be suspended and the community support unit redeployed, Bellone said; aid to local law enforcement partners would also be cut.

He pointed to efforts made toward community policing and diversity and said those efforts would be undermined by federal inaction.

"They are effectively defunding the police. They are effectively defunding suburbia," Bellone said.

Disaster relief, he said, is not a partisan issue. "This has nothing to do with partisan bickering and it shouldn't," he said. The main concern is that residents receive the funding necessary to recover as a region, Bellone said.

Last week, Hart described incidents during which she said school resource officers saved lives. One teen thanked at SRO for "keeping him away from gangs," she said. Another incident involved a SRO who thwarted a gang kidnapping of a teen in Brentwood, she said. The community support unit also helps every day, Hart said; last month, an officer helped a man who cut his wrist on a broken window; he "likely would have died" without the immediate help, she said.

Bellone had a message for Washington: "Don't defund the police. Don't defund suburbia. Mr. President, we need your help. We are now at the point where rubber meets the road and it's time for action."