________ Franklin square/elmont _______
HERALD $1.00
F.S. banker earns promotion
Documenting l.I.’s Jewish history
origins of the first credit card
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Vol. 23 No. 32
AUGUST 5 - 11, 2021
Improving highway safety July crash sparks call for further use of cameras on Southern State By RoBeRT TRAVeRSo rtraverso@liherald.com
Brianna Casey/Herald
Classic cars on display Norton Wallmuller, left, told Dave Patel and his son, Lejen, a story about his 1971 Plymouth Satellite during a classic car show in the Best Market parking lot in Franklin Square on July 27. More photos, Page 3.
Body camera program will be rolled out in Elmont this fall By RoBeRT TRAVeRSo rtraverso@liherald.com
The body camera program set to be rolled out by the Nassau County Police Department across the county by the end of the year, and in Elmont beginning in September, was detailed at a community meeting at Elmont Memorial Junior-Senior High School on July 20. County Legislator Carrié Solages and former state legislator Michael Balboni gave a presentation on the program, and
representatives of the NCPD fielded community members’ questions. The program will be introduced first in the NCPD’s 8th Precinct and the Elmont-Lakeview portion of the 5th Precinct. The trial stage was initially targeted exclusively at the 8th Precinct, but Legislator Siela Bynoe, who represents the county’s 2nd Legislative District, reached out to the NCPD to push for testing in communities, including Elmont,
that were among the first to call for the program. “The fact that they changed their decision and decided to expand the program shows that this, like our Constitution, is a living document that will evolve,” Solages said, adding that the decision to test the program in Elmont demonstrated a flexible approach. “We say one thing in the beginning, but if we learn better steps and better ways to Continued on page 4
Following the death of Richard Riggs, 75, in a July 12 crash on the Southern State Parkway, local and state lawmakers called for the revision of a state Department of Transportation policy that governs the use of cameras along the parkway at a July 27 news conference in Valley Stream State Park. As cars drove past on the parkway behind them, State Senators Todd Kaminsky and John Brooks and Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages announced that they had written a letter to the commissioner of the State Department of Transportation, Marie Therese Dominguez, calling for changes to a policy implemented in 2001 that they argued could have led to the apprehension of the reckless drivers who caused Riggs’s death. Called the “Policy for the Design and Operation of ClosedCircuit Television (CCTV) in Advanced Traffic Management Systems,” the department’s memo allows the use of 30 cameras located along the Southern State to record drivers solely in limited circumstances. “Following the tragic death of Richard Riggs recently, it has become all
too apparent that our law enforcement does not have the necessary tools to help keep us safe and deter drivers from acting recklessly,” Kaminsky said. “Long Islanders deserve safe roads.” Kaminsky added that although there are cameras on the parkway, they are not used to record crashes like the one that killed Riggs. They record a live feed, but footage is used by law enforcement only in specific instances outlined in a state Department of Transportation memo. Kaminsky, Brooks and Solages called for more frequent use of the cameras and easier access to the footage for law enforcement. “Having our drivers know that their actions are recorded will certainly help deter reckless and illegal driving,” Kaminsky said. Riggs, an auto parts salesman and a grandfather from Holbrook, died in a multi-car crash near Exit 38. The drivers who caused it fled the scene and are yet to be identified. The policy change in question has been adopted in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Iowa. “It’s long past time for New York state Continued on page 5