Group Wants Answers Into Blakeman's Plan To Arm Citizens

MINEOLA, NY — Nassau County's plan to deputize citizens during emergencies has received another bout of criticism.

The nonpartisan group Nassau Residents for Good Government (NRGG) submitted a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to County Executive Blakeman to get answers about his special deputy program.

Among the questions the group wants addressed are:

• Under what circumstances will County Executive Bruce Blakeman call an emergency?
• Where are the written guidelines and policies with the parameters of what the newly deputized sheriffs are allowed to do and what they are not allowed to do?
• Where are the policies and investigation procedures against any misconduct complaints?
• How many recruits have been trained?
• How much will this cost, and for how long?

Patch attempted to get a comment from Blakeman's office.

"The group filed the FOIL request because they are outraged that so far Blakeman has been able to get away with ignoring the public," NRGG's Jody Kass said. "Indeed, residents’ ongoing alarm over the danger, cost, and confusion, from gun-toting neighbors emboldened during an 'emergency,' is one of the main reasons that NRGG was formed."

Amid backlash in the spring, including an editorial by the New York Times, Blakeman clarified his armed deputies program would "not be activated unless there was a very significant emergency."

"Nassau is the safest county in America. There is no need for a secret militia. Ignoring the public, and flouting the laws that govern both the creation and use of such a force and expenditures connected to it, should not be normalized," Kass added.