[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Rockville Centre 5-1-1978 by L.L. No. 6-1978. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Police Department — See Ch. 48.
[Amended 6-20-1983 by L.L. No. 8-1983]
A. 
It is essential to good government in the Village of Rockville Centre, to the protection of its inhabitants and of property within the Village, to the preservation of peace and good order, the suppression of vice, the protection and preservation of public works and of the general safety, health, comfort and welfare of the inhabitants of the Village that adequate police protection be maintained throughout the Village. The Village has long maintained its own police force, deeming that such ends are thereby better served. To do so in an efficient manner with a due and balanced regard for public welfare and the cost of operation, it is essential that the Village Police Department utilize the services of the Police Department of the County of Nassau to support and supplement the services and protection provided by the Village-operated Police Department; without such support and supplementation, the Village Police Department would not be able to provide totality of the service required for Village purposes. The proper functioning of government requires that the Police Department of the Village be operated in an efficient manner. Efficiency of operation includes the cost of operations as well as the need to update operations to keep pace with modern methods, to incorporate modern concepts and procedures and to coordinate them in close cooperation with the Police Department of the county. Because of the relatively small size of the Village Police Department, it is not possible to achieve the economies of scale enjoyed by a large department, and, additionally, there is a loss of flexibility of assignment and utilization of personnel. These and further factors, such as the significant and rapid increase in operating costs stemming in large part from increases in the wage levels of police personnel, have emphasized the urgency of the need for the adoption of modern methods. The close balancing of needs with costs has become increasingly apparent to the Board of Trustees.
B. 
To ensure the provision of police protection needed, to promote the general welfare of the Village, to achieve the economies needed to justify the continuation of a Police Department operated by the Village, to further the modernization of police methods and concepts and to improve and continue the harmony of procedures and methods of the Police Departments of the Village and the county, it is necessary to establish the Office of Police Commissioner, having direct access to the Mayor and Board of Trustees, to assist in the formulation of policy and to make recommendations as to the means by which economies can be achieved and methods can be improved and to ensure that any new policies formulated and new methods are immediately carried out and employed.
A. 
The Office of Police Commissioner is hereby established.
B. 
The head of the Office shall be the Police Commissioner, appointed in the manner set forth in § 45-4 hereof.
C. 
The Police Commissioner shall have the right to designate a deputy, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees; provided, however, that such deputy must be a member of the Police Department of the Village.
[Amended 3-29-2018 by L.L. No. 2-2018]
[Amended 2-5-1979 by L.L. No. 1-1979]
A. 
The Police Commissioner shall be appointed by the Mayor of the Village, subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees. Once appointed, the Police Commissioner shall serve as an active member of the Police Department. If such appointee is a member of the Police Department at the time of appointment as Police Commissioner, he or she shall be considered as being on leave of absence without pay from the competitive class police rank which he or she held at the time of such appointment. In the event that his or her term of office as Police Commissioner is terminated for any reason, he or she shall automatically revert to the rank he or she held at the time of appointment as Police Commissioner, and he or she shall receive the pay and allowances of such rank computed as if he or she had been continuously employed in such rank.
[Amended 11-27-2000 by L.L. No. 3-2000]
B. 
Notwithstanding the provisions of the Public Officers Law or of the Village Law, the Police Commissioner may reside within the limits applicable to all other members of the Police Department, even though such residence is outside the corporate limits of the Village.
[Amended 7-15-1991 by L.L. No. 6-1991]
[Amended 3-29-2018 by L.L. No. 2-2018]
A. 
The term of office of the Police Commissioner shall be at the pleasure of the Mayor.
B. 
The annual compensation of the Police Commissioner and of the Deputy Commissioner, if any, shall be fixed by the Mayor and Board of Trustees in the same manner as the annual compensation of all other officers, appointed officials and department heads is fixed.
[Amended 2-5-1979 by L.L. No. 1-1979; 6-20-1983 by L.L. No. 8-1983; 3-29-2018 by L.L. No. 2-2018]
A. 
The Police Commissioner is hereby authorized and empowered:
(1) 
Subject to the provisions of Village Law §§ 8-800 and 8-804, to promulgate rules and regulations governing the operation of the Police Department and to recommend such other rules and regulations applicable to other departments as shall be necessary or desirable for the public safety and welfare, subject, however, to the prior approval of the Mayor and Board of Trustees of any such rules and regulations.
(2) 
To exercise supervision, control and direction over the conduct of the members of the Police Department of the Village and of all matters relative to the operation of such Department, including the appointment, promotion, change in status and removal of said members; provided, however, that the actions of the Commissioner in making any such appointment, promotion, change in status or removal shall be reported promptly, in writing, to the Board of Trustees, which may amend, change or modify such action within 30 days after receipt of such report.
(3) 
To prepare and submit from time to time fiscal reports relative to the operation of the Police Department and to recommend to the Mayor and the Board such changes in the methods, practices and procedures involved in the operation of the Department and in the procurement of equipment necessary or desirable to promote modernization of the Department, all consistent with its efficient operation.
(4) 
To promote cooperation between the Police Department of the Village and that of the County of Nassau, looking to better and greater utilization of county-provided services and methods so as to eliminate unnecessary and duplicative services provided by the Village and to bring into conformity, to the extent reasonably possible, the practices of the police departments of the county and of the Village; to remain abreast of modern-day developments in the area of law enforcement in the United States; to recommend the introduction of changes of methods, procedures and equipment; and to seek out federal and state funds which may be used by the Village to improve police procedures and operations within the Village.
(5) 
To do all things necessary or desirable to promote the achievement of the ends and policies set forth in § 45-1 hereof.
B. 
The Mayor may delegate to the Commissioner such other powers of the Mayor as set forth in the Village Law § 4-400(1)(b) and (e) and such other powers as may be deemed by the Mayor necessary or desirable to enable the Commissioner to effectively discharge the duties above set forth; provided, however, that any such delegation of powers shall not in any way relieve or absolve the Mayor from the responsibility to supervise the proper discharge by the Commissioner of the obligations placed upon the Mayor by the Village law.