Seaford Councilman Shows Support At 'Back The Blue' Event

SEAFORD, NY — A Town of Hempstead councilman from Seaford showed his support for law enforcement over the weekend, joining hundreds of Long Islanders at a "Back the Blue" demonstration in East Meadow.

Even as temperatures soared, numerous people attended the pro-police rally at Eisenhower Park on Saturday. The event was attended by both the Nassau and Suffolk county Police Benevolent Associations. As Patch previously reported, singer Ted Nugent was originally scheduled to perform, but backed out of the event after multiple unions and politicians threatened to stay home if Nugent, who has history of making offensive comments, attended.

Many local politicians spoke at the event, as well as family members of police officers. Among them: Town of Hempstead Councilman Chris Carini. He told Patch in a statement that as a former police officer, he was honored to be invited as a guest speaker and to show his appreciation for the law enforcement community.

"I proudly #backtheblue," he said.

At the event, Carini said he had the privilege to wear three police uniforms during his career: The NYPD, MTA PD and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police Department.

"It takes special individuals to leave their families to risk their lives to keep others safe," Carini said. "These brave men and women are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, our friends and neighbors. They are our little league coaches, volunteer firefighters and community volunteers. Police officers make sure that our families can live in peace and be safe."

Carini noted that over 130 police officers have given their lives in 2020.

"Police officers are the best among us and is why we refer to them as 'the finest,'" he said.

Carini also denounced calls from the Black Lives Matter movement to defund police departments across the country. The call to action comes amid nationwide protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, who died after a police officer held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes. Demonstrations have been held in New York City and Long Island, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo even ordered all police departments in the state to reimagine how they conduct operations.

Carini said he strongly stands against defunding police departments, which typically calls for reducing funding to law enforcement agencies and diverting those resources to other government-funded agencies. The idea is often mistakenly conflated with abolishment.

"Defunding the police will reduce the amount of police officers on our streets, lead to increased 9-1-1 response times and make us less safe," Carini said. "I proudly stand with law enforcement and appreciated the work you do."

As Newsday reported, a small number of counter-protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement also attended the event. They were confined to a free-speech area and one of the counter-protesters was arrested.

Below are photos of the event, courtesy of Chris Carini's office.