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Authors Posts by Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

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From left: Nassau County Executive Laura Curran (D), Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) and former Congressman Steve Israel. Photo from Bellone’s office

During the initial months of the pandemic, Long Island lost jobs at a faster rate than New York City, New York state or anywhere else in the nation, according to a new report from Nassau and Suffolk counties with city-based consulting firm HR&A Advisors.

Long Islanders suffered the twin blows of the public health impact, and economic destruction. Long Island lost 270,000 jobs, or 21.9 percent of non-farm payroll employment, compared with a rate of 20.1 percent for New York City.

“This pandemic has caused hundreds of thousands of Long Islanders to lose their jobs, shuttered businesses and turned our local economy upside down,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said in a statement. He and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran (D) held a press conference in Melville July 9 where they cited this report, which “makes clear that federal aid from Congress is necessary if our region is going to rebound and recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression,” Bellone added.

The impact was particularly brutal for people with low-paying jobs, lower levels of education and among the Hispanic population.

The worst, however, is not over, as total job losses on Long Island are expected to reach 375,000 compared to pre-COVID levels. Net job losses are expected to continue through 2021 as well, albeit at a slower pace.

More than two out of three jobs lost were in sectors that pay less than the regional average annual wage of $61,600.

The area that lost the highest number of jobs, across Suffolk and Nassau, was hospitality, which shed 82,000 jobs. Health care and social assistance lost 59,000 jobs and retail lost 52,000.

The job decline in hospitality was especially problematic for Hispanic workers, who are disproportionately represented in those businesses. Hispanic workers represent 27 percent of the hospitality field, while they are a smaller 17 percent of the overall Long Island workforce.

Although workers with a high school diploma or below constitute 62 percent of the workforce, they represented 73 percent of the viral-related job losses, reflecting the disparate effect of the virus.

The overall effect of these job losses will result in a decline of $21 billion in earnings for Long Island workers and $61 billion in economic activity throughout the area.

The report suggested that economic recovery would occur in several waves, with some industries showing an increase in jobs much more rapidly than others. Finance and insurance, management of companies and enterprises, professional and technical services, government and information jobs will likely see 95 percent of jobs return within six months, by the first quarter of next year.

The second wave includes jobs in real estate, retail, administrative and waste services, agriculture, construction and utilities, education, health care and social assistance, manufacturing, wholesale trade and other services. Within a full year, 85 percent of those jobs will return.

The third wave will take the longest and will bring back the fewest jobs. Accommodation and food services, transportation and warehousing, and arts, entertainment and recreation will take two years to restore 75 percent of the jobs on Long Island that predated COVID-19.

Half of all businesses in Suffolk County closed temporarily during the virus. An estimated 1 percent of those businesses closed permanently.

One-third of industrial businesses on Long Island are at risk of closing.

The report also projects that earning and spending losses may be even higher in 2021 from a slow recovery within some sectors and from expiring unemployment benefits.

Along with the two county executives, the report urged the federal government to pass the HEROES Act, which provides $375 billion in budgetary relief for local governments. The act passed the House, but the Senate has yet to address it.

The report urged an extension of benefits for workers and businesses and an increase in federal infrastructure funds. The report also sought federal relief for small businesses, while supporting new business development and helping businesses recover. Finally, it seeks assistance for states and counties for workforce development, job training and equity initiatives.

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Felicia Allard

By Daniel Dunaief

Stony Brook University recently added a wife and husband team to its Pathology Department. Felicia Allard and Eric Yee are joining SBU from the University of Arkansas.

Allard and Yee will “replace an individual who had moved to a leadership position at another institution and to meet increased caseloads in surgical pathology and cytopathology,” Ken Shroyer, the chairman of the Pathology Department, explained in an email.

Times Beacon Record News Media will profile Allard and Yee over the next two weeks.

Felicia Allard

Eric Yee and Felicia Allard. Photo by Joshua Valencia

A self-described “mountain girl” from Colorado, where she attended medical school and met her husband Eric Yee, Felicia Allard had only been to Long Island three times before accepting a job at Stony Brook.

She came once when she was interviewing for a residency and twice during the interview process.

Allard and Yee accepted the jobs in the middle of February and weren’t able to look at potential homes during the height of the lockdown caused by COVID-19.

For now, the couple have moved into temporary housing in Port Jefferson Station, as they look for longer term living options.

Allard, who will be an Associate Professor at SBU, said the move started with Pathology Department Chair Ken Shroyer, who was looking to fill two positions and reached out to Yee.

Shroyer was involved in a type of cancer work that interested her.

“The active pancreatic cancer research group was a big draw for me as I am hoping to expand my research career,” Allard explained in an email.

Allard said she was particularly interested in pancreatic cancer, in large part because of its intractability and the poor prognosis for most patients.

“It was clear to me that this is one of the areas where we had a lot of work to do in terms of being able to offer any type of meaningful treatment to patients,” she said.

Allard said she, like so many others in the medical community, entered the field because she wanted to make a difference. She searched for areas where the “greatest good could be done, and pancreatic cancer is still one of those.”

In her initial research, she studied the pancreatic neoplasm, exploring how cells went from pre-invasive to invasive to metastatic conditions. She is interested in how the tumor interacts with the patient’s immune system.

While Allard will continue to provide clinical services, she plans to collaborate with Shroyer in his lab. “I’m hoping naturally to be integrating into Dr. Shroyer’s group,” Allard said.

Shroyer welcomed Allard to the department and to his research team.

Allard is “a highly-qualified surgical pathologist with subspecialty expertise in GI tract pathology,” Shroyer wrote in an email. “She has a specific interest in pancreatic cancer, which will also complement our translational research program,” he said.

Shroyer expects that Allard will be integrated into several cancer research programs and he is “looking forward to having her join my team that is focused on the validation of prognostic and predictive biomarkers for pancreatic cancer.”

Shroyer’s lab, which includes Luisa Escobar-Hoyos, who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology, will work with Allard to advance the translational aspects of keratin 17 research, building on earlier work to understand the mechanisms through which K17 causes tumor aggression, he explained.

As for her clinical work, Allard said she analyzes biopsies and resections from the esophagus, stomach, intestines, liver, and pancreas. She has also used cytopathology to look at pap smears and to analyze salivary tumor aspirations.

The time to consider any of these slides varies broadly. Sometimes, she receives a slide and the diagnosis is unequivocal within 30 seconds. Other times, a biopsy from a six-month old patient with diarrhea, for example, can have an extensive list of differentials. In that case, the diagnosis can take considerably longer, as a baby could be sick because of an autoimmune disorder, inflammatory bowel disease or an infection.

She said she can “perseverate for hours or even days” over the subtle clues that may help with a diagnosis.

Allard likened the diagnostic process to reading a detective novel, in which the reader might figure out the perpetrator on page three, while other times, the culprit isn’t discovered until page 300.

Allard said she and her husband have a similar clinical background.

Yee is “more of a tech geek than I am,” she said. “He understands artificial intelligence, computer science and bioinformatics more than I do. He is also interested in administrative and leadership to a greater degree.”

Allard said she and Yee may have professional overlaps, but they have unique interests, backgrounds and perspectives that they bring to work that give them each different strengths.

Allard said she knew she wanted to go into medicine in her junior year of high school. When Doctors Without Borders won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999, she recalls being impressed with that distinction.

In medical school, she said the field of pathology appealed to her because she appreciated the marriage of clinical care and basic science in the field.

She and Yee started dating just before medical school started for her. Yee was two years ahead in school. They continued their relationship from a distance while he did his residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School. While she was a resident, Allard said Yee had the “distinct pleasure of trying to train me.”

She likes to explore the boundaries of diagnosis to understand the nuances and all the data that factor into interpretations, to tease the art from the science.

Outside of her work, Allard enjoys reading and calls her Kindle one of her favorite possessions. She hopes to learn how to sail while a resident of Long Island.

Allard is excited to start working at Stony Brook. Shroyer was “very persistent and once he got us up to New York to interview, he was persuasive with respect to the type of career growth we could both potentially have,” she said.

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

Look, we’re out of practice. It’s totally normal. We’ve spent so much time talking to kids who don’t listen, to pets who need a break from us and to computers that seem determined to sabotage our efforts to work from home that we may have lost a step or two in our social graces.

Slowly, like hermit crabs emerging from their shells, we are stepping out into the phased world, in which we can do this, but can’t do that and where we are seeing more three-dimensional people and not those two-dimensional figures who flash across all manner of electronic devices.

As a quick refresher, I’d like to offer a reminder of the things that should give us pause if we’re about to share them with others who may be a bit sensitive.

The following should serve as verbal red flags:

Not that I’m looking, but … if whatever comes next is something you shouldn’t be staring at, such as anatomical areas, private letters or emails, you shouldn’t finish the sentence.

Don’t take this the wrong way … well, if a part of you recognizes that what you’re about to say could be problematic or painful for the listener, consider saying it in a different way or not saying it at all.

Obviously … this can go in one of two directions. A truly obvious statement doesn’t need sharing. A statement you think is obvious but isn’t so clear to the listener becomes a way to offend that person, who may have a reflexive defensive response.

I’m no expert, but … we all often talk about subjects in which we have no expertise. We might be anywhere from slightly informed to ill informed. We should be able to share what we think we might know, but we may not want to challenge someone who designs buildings on the best way to put together a LEGO house.

This is such a minor point that I hesitate to bring it up … maybe instead of hesitating, you should just not. Correcting the day of the week on a story about an event that occurred over 10 years ago seems unnecessary and distracting.

I don’t want to take the wind out of your sails … you’re probably about to do what you say you’re not doing, so own it and say you disagree completely or let me continue to sail off into my happy sunset.

What do I know, but … This expression suggests that you are about to do one of two things. You’re likely preparing to deliver serious criticism, but want to couch it by suggesting that it might not be based on anything other than a disdain for you, your wardrobe choices, your career path, or anything in between. Alternatively, you’re about to say something that seems supportive — “what do I know, but your idea for submersible homes seems compelling to me”  — but that really suggests that you’re hiding behind false humility. If someone follows your advice, the “what do I know” expression is your way of dodging any responsibility for their mistakes.

I don’t mean to offend you, but … this is one of my favorites. It suggests that you know you are about to be offensive and that you don’t mean it, but you just can’t help it. You’re about to share something that may dress up as helpful, like a Trojan horse, perhaps, but that will likely cause damage.

Holding our tongues can be incredibly difficult, especially when we’d like to tell the person in front of us how we want to make a minor, but likely obvious point that we hope doesn’t take the wind out of their sails or offend them. We also don’t know what we’re talking about because we’re not experts. Still, it was sort of good to see them.

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Susan V. Donelan, MD, FSHEA

Dr. Susan Donelan, medical director of Healthcare Epidemiology at Stony Brook University Hospital, spoke by phone with TBR News Media about reopening schools, the importance of face coverings and host of other issues related to COVID-19. Here are her thoughts on the pandemic and the virus.

TBR: At what point would the spread of the virus be contained?

Donelan: Let’s look at it this way: If you accept the concept that even if the virus doesn’t change or change so significantly that any exposure before will be useless going forward, if it remains static and doesn’t morph or mutate, you need 70 percent of persons to be infected in such a way that the vast majority don’t get repeatedly infected. That’s a whole different story. It takes time for the world population to reach that 70 percent.

TBR: How do you get to that level?

Donelan: You can get to that 70 percent, being a relatively typical cutoff [for herd immunity], by one of two ways: by natural infection, or you can get it from a successful vaccine. 

TBR: How does the process of distributing the vaccine work?

Donelan: Having enough is not the same as having it equitably distributed throughout the world. Ideally, [it would be] given to all of those who have reliably never been exposed. [There are a] lot of logistics: Having enough and having it distributed well and having it distributed equitably are different parameters. While this all gets figured out, the virus will hop along and continue to spread to the extent we give it the opportunity to spread. 

TBR: Are people who get the virus getting reinfected? Are some antibodies not providing resistance?

Donelan: That is not clear. There are different kinds of antibodies. With a neutralizing antibody, you get infected or you get vaccinated, the antibody you develop neutralizes the virus when it comes calling again, or when it comes calling for the first time. There are antibodies that are just kind of bumper stickers in your immune system. They show that you’ve been exposed. This is early in the pandemic, It’s really not clear at this point what types of antibodies most people are going to develop and how helpful they will be when the virus comes knocking at their door. 

TBR: Anecdotally, we’ve heard that some people may be less susceptible to the worst of the viral symptoms, if they have a certain blood type, for example. Do you know if any of that is true?

Donelan: I’ve seen tidbits here and there — you can be willy-nilly and not careful. I would caution anyone who picks up these reports to not assess their own individual risk in such a way that would make them less likely to follow the basics of trying to avoid getting sick or transmitting it.

TBR: Would a second wave be milder than the first because more people would have some resistance?

Donelan: I’m hesitant to declare if we had a milder second wave it’s the virus as opposed to other factors. In the 1918 [Spanish flu] versus the 1919 wave, the 1919 wave was bigger.

TBR: How did the protests affect infections?

Donelan: The protests are one of many, many instances of people with lacking social distancing, perhaps not wearing masks or wearing masks incorrectly. It’s maybe the most public one, not the only one. Every time I go out, I see people being noncompliant. As I understand from recent data, New York has an R0 [the average number of people who will get a disease from a single infected person] of under 1. We know that there’s going to be a slow creep in the infection. We’re right up against 1. That’s clearly less than the R0 of 2 or more that was early in the pandemic. By the time we see a bump in hospitalizations, a bump in positive cases, the protests are going to be muddled in with the graduations, the beach parties, the bars and the restaurants. 

TBR: What don’t people know about the disease?

Donelan: The biggest misconception about utilization of face coverings, is that the face covering is for me. I think it must be really be emphasized. I wear my face covering to protect you. You wear it to protect me. 

TBR: What do you think of the risks in youth sports, which are starting up again?

Donelan: There’s no uniform understanding of what’s right or wrong. There are other countries that have been ahead of us in terms of the pandemic and then are now easing themselves back into a more normal society. I think that those of us who are interested in what happens in sports, might keep a clear eye on what’s going on in those countries. Any time you interact, it’s not a zero-risk concept.

TBR: What do you think about schools?

Donelan: I’m working with the state and the campus and my own local school district on what school will look like. I have two kids that are heading to college, another one heading for a Ph.D. program. I have a particular interest in what’s going on. I think the schools have been working hard to optimize social distancing, with mouth and face coverings to the extent that each student at different levels is able to. I told them a couple of months ago, at the state and local level, I don’t see how schools cannot plan on having a hybrid learning platform [one that includes a mix of in-person and remote classes]. 

TBR: What advice would you give schools?

Donelan: The most important thing is to make sure however school looks like for the next two or three semesters, [that there is] a hybrid learning platform, with the ability to pivot quickly to a full-distance learning plan.

TBR: How do you think this will play out for colleges?

Donelan: [Many schools will] start in August. Come Thanksgiving, kids will go home and don’t come back [until the next year as influenza-like illness starts to circulate.] Thanksgiving is the first great cross-pollinator event in the winter season, with people traveling, coming back, picking up whatever is going on wherever they traveled to. I wouldn’t want students coming back to school after Thanksgiving recess, then cross-pollinating more. If there’s anything that people should be encouraged to do, it’s get a flu shot — and get it early.

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Police Set New Guidelines for Protests

Stock photo

With Suffolk County entering Phase 4 of a planned reopening, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) provided his final daily media update on the county’s response to the virus. The County Executive had conducted 122 such updates, as residents suffered personal and economic losses that extend far beyond the daily numbers and statistics.

“We reached the final stage of reopening” today, Bellone said. The county has gone “up the mountain and made it down the other side. In the process, we’ve seen terrible tragedy and acts of extraordinary heroism.”

Entering Phase 4 marks a “new stage” in this unprecedented event,” Bellone added.

Even as the county executive is pleased that the county has moved to Phase 4, in which people can gather outdoors in groups of 50 instead of 25 and some businesses that had remained closed can reopen, he is still aware of the additional work necessary to open other enterprises that remained closed, such as gyms, bowling alleys, catering facilities and movie theaters.

Gyms have presented plans for reducing risk, such as individual workout sessions and class-based reservations that would allow contact tracing to reduce risk, Bellone said.

Asked about reopening schools, which will affect so many families and teachers across the county, Bellone said he thinks schools “need to reopen. That needs to be done safely.”

He suggested that putting together those plans was complicated, but that it shouldn’t be a divisive or political issue.

“We know it is good for kids to be in school,” Bellone said. “We can not have a whole generation of kids that are falling behind. We know the devastating impact that would have.”

The county executive called on the federal government to provide relief to schools to prevent them from having to cut areas that he deemed critical, such as arts, music, sports and staff. Reopening schools will require additional expenses, as schools will not be able to operate normally.

“Right now, schools are worried about paying for the basics,” Bellone said. A federal government that didn’t provide disaster assistance would be “absolutely unconscionable.”

Viral Numbers

The number of people who tested positive for the coronavirus was 69, which represents a 1.7 percent positive rate for new tests. While that percentage is higher than the recent average, which is closer to 1.1 percent, Bellone said he doesn’t put too much stock in any one day’s data.

The total number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 is 41,799.

The number of people who have tested positive for the antibody but who didn’t have symptoms of the disease is 20,104.

The number of people in the hospital declined by seven to 50, which is “an amazing number considering where we’ve been.”

The number in the Intensive Care Units is nine.

Overall hospital bed occupancy was at 68 percent, while ICU bed occupancy was at 59 percent.

Six people were discharged from the hospital in the last day.

The viral death toll held steady at a revised 1,984, as no residents died from complications related to the coronavirus.

To prepare for a possible second wave of the virus, the county developed a contact tracing program and has worked through procurement to stockpile some personal protective equipment.

Police Rules for Protests

The Suffolk County Police Department put several new rules in place in connection with any future protests.

For starters, demonstrators need to contact the SCPD at least 24 hours in advance to indicate the route they plan to take. They can call (631) 852-6110 between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. from Monday through Friday.

Protests are prohibited from congregating in the street and disrupting the flow of traffic. Police said people who don’t comply with this rule are subject to enforcement action.

Demonstrators cannot block vehicular or pedestrian traffic and may not enter private property without consent.

Demonstrators may also not walk in the traffic lanes of a roadway when prohibited.

Finally, people who are older than two years old who can tolerate a face mask medically is required to wear one in situations where maintaining six feet of social distancing is not possible.

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Suffolk County will enter Phase 4 tomorrow of its economic reopening with the tail wind of strong public health numbers.

The new phase “means that certain low-risk outdoor and indoor activity will begin to open up,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said in his daily conference call with reporters. Some arts, entertainment, media and sports will restart.

Residents are permitted to gather in groups of 50, up from the 25 from the previous phase. Houses of worship, meanwhile, can go to 33 percent capacity.

The Long Island Aquarium, the Maritime Museum, and the Children’s Zoo, among others, are all reopening.

“I encourage people to call directly to make sure that the places are open,” Bellone advised. Some of these facilities might have specific restrictions and may have limited hours.

In the last 24 hours, 45 people tested positive for the coronavirus, bringing the total to 41,730. With 4,226 people tested, the percentage of positive tests was about 1.1 percent.

At the same time, 20,003 have tested positive for the antibody to the virus, indicating that their bodies fought off COVID-19 without a positive test.

Hospitalizations fell six to 57, which is the first time since March that the number of residents who were in the hospital with coronavirus symptoms was below 60. At the same time, the number of people in the Intensive Care Unit was 14, which is a decline of two.

An additional nine people were discharged from the hospital and are continuing their recovery at home.

Hospital bed occupancy was at 64 percent, with ICU bed capacity at 60 percent.

One person died in the last day from complications related to the virus, bringing the total to 1,985.

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Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. File photo by Alex Petroski

Even as Suffolk County prepares for the final phase of its economic reopening this Wednesday, people came to Fire Island during Fourth of July celebrations, where they reportedly violated social distancing and face covering rules.

After all the work to reduce the spread of the virus in Suffolk County and the economic and personal sacrifices designed to save lives, County Executive Steve Bellone (D) was disheartened by images of people on Fire Island and in Montauk who ignored public health rules.

Bringing groups of people within six feet of each other without wearing face coverings is “just dumb,” Bellone said. “It doesn’t make sense. The way that we will undo all of the progress that we have made is to simply stop using common sense.”Such flouting of rules designed to protect the public “is unacceptable” and will result in enforcement actions, Bellone said.

Future incidents in which people don’t follow health guidelines can result in tickets from the police department. The tickets are a Class B Felony.

Bellone urged residents to remain safe so that the county can consider reopening schools and so businesses that have been able to survive the earlier shutdown can continue to rebuild.

The Suffolk County Police Department received 1,160 firework-related calls from Friday through Sunday.

Viral Numbers

The number of people who tested positive for COVID-19 was 43, which represents a 1.1 percent positive rate among the 3,812 people tested.

The total number of people who have tested positive for the virus was 41,685. The number of people who have had a positive antibody test, who have not had symptoms of the disease but whose bodies have developed antibodies, is 19,978.

Hospitalizations declined by three to 63, while the number of people in the Intensive Care Units was 16, which is also down by three.

Hospital bed use was at 64 percent. The occupancy of ICU beds was at 56 percent.

Over the last day, 13 people were discharged from Suffolk County hospitals.

One person died from complications related to COVID-19. The total number of deaths for Suffolk County increased to 1,984.

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Residents prepare July Fourth at-home firework shows in Port Jefferson Station in 2018. Photo by Kyle Barr

A man in Port Jefferson Station was injured just after 10 p.m. last night when he attempted to light a firework that explored and injured one of his eyes.

Carlos Diaz, 29, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious, but not life threatening injuries.

Additionally, a 29-year old man in Central Islip was severely wounded in the hand from an exploding firework. The man was at home on Tamarack Street when the injury occurred around 9:10 p.m. He was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital.

“Every year, we do these reminders and talk about the dangers of fireworks,” County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said in his daily media call. He shared his hopes that both people injured by fireworks will recover.

Suffolk County Police Department Chief Stuart Cameron said the county did have a higher incidence of fireworks-related calls, due to the limitations on large crowds at the usual fireworks shows.

While the number rose, he said the increase in Nassau County was “much higher.”

Earlier in the day, at 5:30 p.m., Second Precinct officers responded to a fire at the Rodeway Inn in Huntington Station. Canine officers located Raymond Pond, 50, whom they are holding overnight and charging with Arson in the second degree. Pond, who is a resident of the Inn, also has two outstanding warrants. While people were at the Inn when it caught fire, the police reported no injuries.

Viral Numbers

For the fifth time in the last seven days, Suffolk County reported no deaths from complications related to COVID-19. This lower mortality rate puts the county in a good position to reach Phase 4 of its reopening plan this Wednesday.

“We are moving into the new week in very good shape,” Bellone said. The low mortality rate is a “credit to everyone who has done amazing work in this county,” including by the public who he said has, mostly, abided by rules regarding social distancing and face coverings.

The number of new positive tests was 57, which brings the total number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus to 41,642.

An additional 19,960 people have tested positive for the antibody.

Hospitalizations declined by four to 66. The number of people in the Intensive Care Unit increased by two to 19.

Hospital bed occupancy was at 67 percent, while the percent of ICU beds in use was 60 percent.

In the last day, 10 people were discharged from county hospitals.

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As Suffolk County prepares to enter Phase 4 of its economic reopening, the county has reported the lowest number of weekly fatalities since March.

For for the fourth time in six days, no one died from complications related to COVID-19, which is a pattern County Executive Steve Bellone (D) said he hopes continues as the county fights to hold its hard-earned gains from the lockdown and new rules designed to protect public health.

The number of people who have died from the virus remained at 1,983.

“This is a real reflection of how far we have come,” Bellone said on his daily conference call with reporters. “All the sacrifices are ultimately about saving people’s lives.”

The number of people who tested positive for the virus was 47, bringing the total to 41,585. That represents 1.1 percent of the tests given over the last day.

Hospitalizations declined by three to 7. The number of people in the Intensive Care Unit who are battling the virus fell by three to 17. The two-day decline at the ICU was 10.

Hospital occupancy was at 68 percent, while ICU bed capacity was at 61 percent, both of which are within safe guidelines for continuing to march forward with reopening.

The number of people who were discharged from the hospital was five.

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Risco Mention-Lewis, left, was named deputy comissioner in 2012. She said she sees today’s protests as a genuine moment for legitimate reform. File photo

Risco Mention-Lewis, who has been a Deputy Police Commissioner since 2012, talked with TBR News Media about the recent protests on Long Island and about the relationship between the police and communities of color. The deputy commissioner supported the Constitutionally protected right to protest. Mention-Lewis was an assistant district attorney in Nassau County and has served as the first African American Deputy Police Commissioner in Suffolk County. In a wide-ranging interview, which is edited for space, Mention-Lewis offered her candid assessment of the civil unrest and the questions about police triggered by the killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd at the end of May.

TBR: Have you spent time at the protests?

Mention-Lewis: I have not spent a lot of time at the protests. If I can’t [be there], I know somebody who knows somebody. It’s six degrees of separation. I run a support group for previously incarcerated [called Council of Thought and Action, or COTA]. A lot of the guys in that population are marching. Some of them are in the heads of the group, next to the person leading. I can reach out and see if I can have a dialog.

TBR: You did go to Mastic [on June 1]. What happened there?

Mention-Lewis: The young people needed a little conversation and guidance. I was there for 4.5 hours. My knees were so crimped that I couldn’t get into my car.

TBR: What did you do in Mastic?

Mention-Lewis: When they started getting a little out of control, jumping on the Sunrise [Highway], I thought if I could get on the ground and have a conversation, I could help them rethink the way they protest. There’s nothing wrong with protesting. America wouldn’t be here [if we didn’t protest].

TBR: What is your role in these protests?

Mention-Lewis: I’m the Deputy Police Commissioner. The way I look at it, the time we’re in is the time I was born for. My whole career has brought me to be who I am in this moment in time. 

TBR: Can you offer some examples?

Mention-Lewis: All the things I’ve been doing my career are coming together. I’ve been talking about race my entire career. I’ve been talking about disparate treatment in criminal justice. [I have supported] more resources for previously incarcerated people and people of color my entire career. If we want to drive down crime, you have less reentry to do if you do more intervention. We’re focused on the back end, when we could do much more on the front end.

“People in Hauppauge don’t need a Department of Labor as much as people Wyandanch. Why not put resources where they are needed, where people don’t have cars?”

— Risco Mention-Lewis

TBR: What are some of the solutions on the front end?

Mention-Lewis: Police spend a lot of time in minority communities. They are learning to spend time in the community versus as an outsider. They are learning about the youth centers, resource centers. They are talking to those guys on the corner. When I first got here, I hung out on the corner more than I did anything else. I know that was weird. What is the Deputy Police Commissioner doing on the corner? That’s where you get your connections and your influence, getting to know people.

TBR: What sorts of resources do people need?

Mention-Lewis: Part of our job is to make information accessible, to make resources accessible. That’s why I work with [County Executive Steve] Bellone and [Babylon Town Supervisor Rich] Schaffer to make sure the resource center has what is needed in a resource center. If I have to travel two to 2.5 hours on a bus, I’m not getting that resume done. Go online? What if I don’t have Internet. What if I only have a laptop or a cell phone? The resource center needs to have computers. Some communities need a Department of Labor in the neighborhood.

TBR: Like where?

Mention-Lewis: It’s simple, common sense. People in Hauppauge don’t need a Department of Labor as much as people Wyandanch. Why not put resources where they are needed, where people don’t have cars?

TBR: Are protestors talking about any of this?

Mention-Lewis: A lot of protests are talking about [how they want] better. Okay, have you done the research?

TBR: Have the police been effective in making community connections?

Mention-Lewis: We’ve done a really good job of getting into our communities. It’s why we didn’t have incidents [during the over 100 protests]. We had people on bikes talking with people before the marches started.

TBR: Are the protests creating change?

Mention-Lewis: Humans navigating life in white skin have the privilege of not thinking about race, until now. However, because they have not thought about it, they often may not know how to think about it. I’m a practical person. I want resources in the community and also help the Police Department Command understand the framing in the moment.

TBR: Are African American residents skeptical of government resources?

Mention-Lewis: One of the largest things that the government and policing need to understand: because of the history of America, Black people, even if sometimes you bring the resources, [think] it’s a suspect resource. There’s the Tuskegee experiment [in which Black men with syphilis didn’t receive treatment, even when penicillin became the standard of care in 1947. The study continued until the press reported it, in 1972].

TBR: What’s the impact of the Tuskegee Experiment?

Mention-Lewis: There’s always this undercurrent of mistrust, and rightfully so. The Tuskegee experiment went into the early 1970s. We’re talking about recent impacts on Black communities. White communities are not aware all the time. When that body was found in Huntington, people think about lynching. The police may not know, but there are six across the country that Black people are paying attention to. If you don’t know the cultural context, it’s difficult to be having the conversation.

TBR: How do you create the cultural context?

Mention-Lewis: If there are suicides or murders, it [doesn’t matter] in the sense of cultural context. People are concerned, even if the police say they are all suicides. Even if the police say they are all suicides, people of color say, ‘we know they don’t always tell us the truth, especially when we die.’

TBR: What can help develop that cultural context?

Mention-Lewis: We talk to leadership. We talk to families. We have a press conference with all of us and not just the police. When we start thinking about cultural context, how do we communicate taking into account that cultural context? It’s the same with recruitment. We have a low number of African Americans in the police department. We have to talk about the 1,000 pound invisible elephant in the room.

TBR: What’s your focus in the Police Department?

Mention-Lewis: Criminal justice and driving down violence in communities.

TBR: How do you think Suffolk County has done in the police department?

Mention-Lewis: We are ahead of the game. We’ve been working with the Department of Justice for many years. The DOJ is saying we have one of the best implicit bias training programs. They asked us to teach the Ferguson [Missouri Police Department, where a white police officer killed Michael Brown in 2014]. We have been doing community relations in a different way for years. We know how to work with leadership, whether that’s minority, Muslim, Black, Jewish. We know to go to leadership in churches and synagogues to get and receive information to be culturally competent.

“We’ve been working with the Department of Justice for many years. The DOJ is saying we have one of the best implicit bias training programs.”

— Risco Mention-Lewis

TBR: What are you doing to improve the process?

Mention-Lewis: We are doing traffic stop data to look at whether the stops are fair and just. We are doing a community survey to ask how we are doing. How do you know unless you ask? 

TBR: Who is looking at the traffic stop data?

Mention-Lewis: The Finn Institute.

TBR: What do you expect the Institute’s research on traffic stops will show?

Mention-Lewis: That we have work to do, but we’re willing to do it. Most data will always reveal you have work to do.

TBR: What is the methodology of the Finn study?

Mention-Lewis: With the data collection, the study will show when an officer stops a car, the race, date, time and location [of the traffic stop]. If we look at this person’s history, there might be an issue here that we can fine tune.

TBR: The results could show a range of responses, right?

Mention-Lewis: You give the rules, you test to see whether the rules are in place, then you retrain or you congratulate, depending on what’s going on.

TBR: Are you pleased that the SCPD is conducting this study?

Mention-Lewis: We are not perfect. What we have in place are systems to check the system. The community is checking us, too. The community is not just complaining to one another. They are making complaints to us.

TBR: Why isn’t the SCPD using body cameras?

Mention-Lewis: The biggest reason is the cost. It’s millions of dollars for the cameras plus the storage. It’s a great idea. We should have them, eventually. They are going to be across the United States.

TBR: What do you think of the justice system?

Mention-Lewis: We are moving in the right direction as a county. The courts should follow suit because we know with sentencing, statistically, nationally, there are issues. All this is, is an opportunity for every aspect of society to look in the mirror and say, ‘what can I do and what knowledge do I need to do my best effort?’

TBR: How do you think the police has responded to protests?

Mention-Lewis: We don’t say we are a community response unit. We are not looking to respond when something happens. That’s not our relationship with the community. We do community relations. We want to have a relationship year-round. When something happens, that’s not the first time you’re talking to us. Whatever community we’re in, we’re looking to be a part of the solution, working with the community to problem solve. We have people on bike patrol getting to know the protesters at every march.

TBR: Do you think people believe the police are protecting and serving them?

Mention-Lewis: There’s two cultures in policing: the warrior and the guardian. The warrior is what many departments have become. The guardian is what is being promoted as what we should be. Those are just words. How do our actions correspond with that? Black communities in particular have had more of a warrior treatment. How do we partner with the community to listen and deal with problems differently in those communities, effectively but differently?

TBR: Do the police serve the variety of communities effectively?

Mention-Lewis: You should be able to sit down with us and express what you feel we should have done differently. We should be willing to listen. It doesn’t mean you’re always going to walk away satisfied. We will try to figure out how to do it better.

TBR: Have protestors asking for anything unreasonable?

Mention-Lewis: The Mastic kids were asking for a youth center, or some place where they can have activities. That’s reasonable. They were asking for criminal justice reform. Okay, do your research so you know what that means. Be an educated protestor. I haven’t heard ‘defund the police.’ If someone says, ‘no racist police.’ We shouldn’t be offended by that. If they say, no f-ing police, that’s offensive. Some people want to yell in people’s faces unguarded. We have to deal with that as professionals. They are not yelling at us anyway. They are yelling at the officer on the Internet. We are carrying ourselves well through the process.

TBR: How is the police department doing in recruiting people from all communities?

Mention-Lewis: We worked hard with the community to recruit people of color. In the last recruitment class, 34 percent of the applicants identify as people of color. That hasn’t happened in the history of the department. Right now, there are 2 percent [African Americans] in the department. We’re not perfect, but we are doing the damn thing.

TBR: What are some of the easiest things to change?

Mention-Lewis: All departments should have implicit bias training. Across the country, I didn’t know this, we banned chokeholds 30 years ago and there’s still people doing it today. We need national standards for policing so that when people across the country have other rules, they don’t affect our reputation. We’re not perfect.

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