New Police Commissioner: Ready to fight hate crimes and more

Most would call it a daunting burden — a spate of anti-Semitic bias crimes, potential police precinct closings, problems with the handling of crime lab evidence, the quest to bring down overall crime and rampant abuse of prescription drugs, all juxtaposed against budget woes.

Many would shy away, but Thomas Dale, Nassau County’s new police commissioner — a seasoned veteran of more than forty years with the NYPD — insisted, in an exclusive interview with The Jewish Star, that these are issues that he’s ready and determined to address.

He spoke with fondness about alliances and friendships formed munity during his Williamsburg posting with the NYPD. A wide smile emerged as he reminisced about becoming acclimated to the many nuances of the Chasidic enclave.

But his demeanor changed when he was asked about alarming and disturbing reports of fire bombings at a New Jersey synagogue and a wave of various hate crimes reported in Brooklyn. And he has mobilized his department to thwart any recurrence of recent bias crime events — like swastika graffiti and menorah desecration that have occurred on the North Shore in such areas as Great Neck, Sea Cliff and Plainview.

“I have asked for a briefing of all hate and bias crimes that have occurred last year, not only to get the information on each case but to check the entire system. I met with the Chief of Patrol and the Chief of Detectives and the Commanding Officer of Bias to go over what steps are taken... there are a lot of investigative steps… we indeed have a system in place to deal with bias crimes.”

Internally, the effort involves educating Nassau’s police force in cultural matters. At the helm is Detective Lt. Gary Shapiro, Commanding Officer of Community Affairs and the NCPD’s hate crimes coordinator, who has facilitated participation in the Holocaust Tolerance Center of Glen Cove’s “Law Enforcement and Society” program.

This program, provided to the Nassau County Police Department, is required of all cadets. It was developed by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Anti-Defamation League.