Cuts Spur Local Support for Police Activity League

Lawns around Farmingdale are sprouting signs of support for the Police Activity League (PAL), a popular youth board agency, after Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano and the Nassau County Legislature announced cuts to the program last month.

Mangano said he will remove two of the 10 officers from the league and return them to patrol duties, saving the county $250,000 a year.

"These officers will be placed back on the streets to protect the public,” Mangano said. "All departments will share in the sacrifice needed to reform Nassau’s finances and protect homeowners from a property tax increase. PAL is no exception."

The cuts are part of a $100 million reduction in the 2011 budget due to mandates issued by the , the state oversight board in charge of the county’s finances. Mangano has proposed to plug a budget gap estimated by NIFA to be $176 million in 2011.

“We understand that residents want to see their police officers back on the streets,” said Frank Divittorio, president of Nassau County PAL. “But you can’t put a monetary value on the good work that we do with children involved in PAL. We’re asking residents to call their local legislators and County Executive directly to stop the cuts.”

Dan Kornfeld is vice president of the Farmingdale PAL unit and the basketball commissioner. He said that the local unit serves 1,500 children who often participate in two or more programs, which include baseball, basketball, bowling, karate, kickline, lacrosse, softball, track, and twirling. A new program for golf utilizing the Colonial Springs golf course in East Farmingdale is beginning to take applications.

“The police officers are a key component of PAL,” Kornfeld said. “There’s a reason that it’s called the Police Activity League. Oftentimes, this is the only time that a child is around a police officer. They act as role models for the children."

He noted that the officers serve many roles, acting as commissioners, field coordinators, directors and book keepers and that they help to hire the referees and get permits for the fields.

“It’s very worrisome what’s happened,” Kornfeld said. “But we’ll do the best we can. I think the County Executive is slowly starting to realize the fall-out. Hopefully there will be no more cuts and we’ll get back those two additional officers.”

PAL programs are designed to promote good citizenship through the positive interaction of police officers and youths. PAL is supported mainly by voluntary tax-deductible contributions from the public.

“The reduction in officers will mean the virtual elimination of PAL as it exists today. Your children’s PAL programs will most likely disappear without the assigned officers," reads a statement on the Nassau County PAL website.

Mangano disagrees.

"PAL is here today, will be here tomorrow and will run just fine with two less officers," he said.