[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]
In addition to the other village officers specified
in the Village Law, the Village shall have a Police Commissioner.
[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.
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.
