Republican leaders in New York City’s neighboring suburbs are furious with Democrats over plans to deputize civilians in emergencies.
County Executive Bruce Blakeman is trying to take control of the state capital and give voters a bigger say in local policy, but he continues to provoke opponents on issues of crime and women’s rights.
I don’t think we can rely on Albany or Washington DC. Because they are more interested in donating billions of dollars to unvetted immigrants and bringing them into our communities than they are in protecting our communities. So that’s part of the thought process in my head. … We need a group of citizens who are already trained, who already have experience in the police department and the military, who are in reserve in case a serious emergency occurs.
Lawmakers opposed to the plan, calling it a “militia” likening it to the Nazi Brown Shirts, rallied outside his executive office and called on him to halt the plan.
“I think it’s absolutely disgraceful, first of all, for a Jewish elected official to imply that he has anything to do with anything that represents the Nazi regime, especially stormtroopers,” Blakeman told Fox News Digital. Told. “It is completely reprehensible.”
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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman speaks to the crowd during the State of the County Address at the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building on March 6, 2024 in Mineola, New York. (Steve Forst/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Democratic critics of the plan say the interim members could be used to quell Black Lives Matter and pro-Palestinian protests, but Blakeman said he did said he was simply creating a database of potential volunteers to help when county police become overwhelmed.
“It’s just left-wing, woke, progressive stuff,” Blakeman said. “They now claim they like the police, but these are the same people who wanted to defund the police.”
He said only in the case of a catastrophic emergency, such as Superstorm Sandy, which devastated the county’s coast in 2012, or a blizzard in Western New York two years ago that froze the city of Buffalo for weeks. He said an interim lawmaker would be called. Power outages continued for several days and riots broke out.
Residents try to restore order to the streets of Long Beach, a city in Nassau County, New York, on October 31, 2012, after Hurricane Sandy caused massive flooding and sand dune erosion. (Andrew Barton/Getty Images)
Even then, he said, the temporary agents would not be patrolling, but would be deployed to protect infrastructure such as hospitals, government buildings, churches, mosques and synagogues. And they would only be used if there wasn’t enough manpower after activating active-duty officers and lawmakers.
“Unless we have already declared everyone on board and we are found to be flawed, I would not activate anyone,” he said. “First of all, this is only in dire circumstances, and second of all, I think it’s just disgraceful to disrespect people who have served the police, the NYPD, the military.”
At a news conference Monday, reporters said the state’s National Guard, which came to rescue Long Islanders during devastating Superstorm Sandy in 2012 amid power and fuel shortages, was “inadequate.” I asked Mr. Blakeman if he thought so.
“The National Guard is a function of state government and is under the authority of the governor,” Blakeman said. “As we’ve seen, obviously the governor said New York doesn’t have a crime problem, but we have National Guard troops in the subways.”
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NYPD and National Guard members conduct random bag searches on the New York City subway on March 11, 2024. (Matthew McDermott, Fox News Digital)
To qualify for the program, applicants must already have a pistol license, which is a high hurdle in New York, agree to a background check and submit a mental health history.
Interim members will be subject to unannounced drug tests, but must not have alcohol or drug problems and must be certified medically “fit for office.”
Blakeman, who served as Port Authority of New York and New Jersey commissioner during 9/11, said most of the agents will be law enforcement veterans or veterans.
A National Guard truck passes a police cruiser on a snowy street in Buffalo, Dec. 27, 2022. (Joseph Cook/Buffalo News, via AP)
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“This is a very extreme situation, but what I’m doing is creating this database, and God forbid I ever need it,” he told Fox News Digital. “I don’t want to end up in a situation where I have to scramble in case of an emergency.”
He said local leaders have had the power to appoint emergency substitutes for more than 100 years, but the new process will allow candidates to be vetted in advance and appointed immediately.
But critics liken the provisional list to a paramilitary force. County Council Minority Leader Delia Dellighi-Whitton compared them to Nazi “brownshirts” in an interview with Local Patch.
“Some people say they are actually very anxious,” she told the outlet. “It reminds them of not just the Wild West, but a time in Europe where there was uncertainty. There was something called brownshirting, and they basically turned civilians into law enforcement members without any training.” I was letting it happen.”
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After participating in a protest with Democratic lawmakers, state Senate candidate Kim Keiserman wrote a post on X describing the interim members as a “dangerous armed militia of vigilantes.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman spoke outside the county courthouse after Democratic members of Congress compared volunteers participating in the emergency deputy program to Nazi Germany’s “brownshirts.” (Nassau County Executive Office)
Blakeman is calling on the county Democratic Party to remove Delighi-Whitton from her leadership role.
He said all candidates for interim deputy secretary are “patriots” and primarily retired law enforcement officers and veterans. His office said the applicants include a former county police lieutenant who commanded emergency services and the Marine Aviation Bureau, a decorated New York City police lieutenant who led the department for 10 years, and a former U.S. Army Ranger. This includes hostage negotiators.
Blakeman, who has already touted the county’s police force as “the most professional in the country,” said he joined Sheriff Anthony LaRocco in the temporary law enforcement program simply to “protect life and property during emergencies.” ”. Officials do not have police powers unless the county executive declares a state of emergency and activates volunteers.
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His office has already hired 200 new uniformed county police officers and defunded the department as part of what he calls a vocal opposition to what he calls a “criminal-first” policy from the state capital. We are increasing funding and breaking ground on a new police training facility.
