By Daniel Dunaief

Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina is constantly looking for ways to ensure the safety of residents and improve upon a force he believes is the best in the nation.

After a recent visit to an intelligence center in Nassau County that tracks potential school threats, Catalina created a similar threat matrix in Suffolk.

Earlier this week, he described an incident at Brentwood High School Ross Center in which officials found bullets.

During an active investigation, the SCPD plans to determine who brought those bullets to school. Once they do, they will follow up with an ongoing assessment of the risk anyone might pose to students.

“Based on that matrix, we determine how often we’re going to visit that individual to determine whether that threat level has changed,” Catalina said. “If somebody was willing to bring bullets” to school, that person is “probably somebody that’s going to be high on the threat matrix,” said Catalina. 

As he continues in a role he took last month and that he has described as his “dream job,” Catalina plans to take several measures to improve the safety of county residents.

In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview, Catalina shared his thoughts on reducing traffic accidents and injuries, enhancing school safety, recruiting officers from a range of communities and developing and promoting his senior staff.

‘Too many’ car accidents

“Road safety is first and foremost,” said Catalina. “There are way too many accidents with injuries and fatalities on our roadways.”

Catalina, who is a native of Sayville and has 33 years of experience in various New York police forces, plans to bolster the highway enforcement division.

In addition to building on a street takeover task force, he’s starting a program where he’s bringing in precinct commanders on a biweekly basis to discuss accidents and accidents with injuries.

He’s looking for ways to improve on the deployment of personnel to use enforcements actions that make the roadways safer.

The Suffolk County Police Department is partnering with Sheriff Errol Toulon, Jr. and with the state police in this effort.

The department is also looking at changes in Driving While Intoxicated numbers over time.

“We’d always like to see improvement,” Catalina said.

The county has experienced an increase in drivers who are impaired from marijuana.

Detecting drivers affected by pot is challenging, Catalina said.

Under Catalina’s leadership, the department is planning to increase training that would help officers recognize the effects of people who are high while they are driving.

Current recruits will spend an additional few days in the police academy to “give them a base level training in that kind of skill,” Catalina added.

Cell phones have also become a hazard. Catalina would like to see increased enforcement of laws that prevent driving while texting.

Cars are swerving around the road as drivers stare at their phones while sending a message to someone else, who also might be driving.

The SCPD is also training officers on the use of body worn cameras, making sure the footage they collect is usable and available for prosecutions.

Catalina is confident the academy prepares recruits for their work. He sees opportunities, however, to enhance field training.

Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in the 2020 killing of George Floyd, was a field training officer.

“I know we don’t have any Derek Chauvins in the Suffolk County Police Department,” said Catalina. “The lesson for everyone in law enforcement is that those training officers are incredibly impactful.”

He wants to ensure that the “right people are delivering the right messages,” he said.

Opioids

Even though the numbers are down, Catalina believes the county has “way too many opioids deaths. One is too many.”

He is working closely with District Attorney Ray Tierney and is in regular contact with him, which can include several phone calls each day.

“Not only are we going to target the horrible people that sell that poison and prosecute them in connection with the DA’s office,” but the department will also work with service providers to help people in need affected by addiction, Catalina said.

School safety

The SCPD offers a service to all the schools to provide active shooter training.

The officers explain what to do, what not to do, and how to harden infrastructure to prevent the kinds of tragedies that have devastated communities around the country from happening in the county.

He recognizes the need to be judicious about deploying additional school resource officers, as the department needs to be careful about taking resources away from other programs.

Catalina provides information to schools about safety, leaving it up to each district to create their own plans.

Police recruitment

Catalina emphasized the importance of having police officers who can relate to people who live in the communities they serve.

“When somebody calls the police, it puts them at ease to see people that look like them or people that can speak their language,” said Catalina. “It’s also a tremendous recruitment tool for people to see people who look like them.”

The SCPD doesn’t want to compromise when it comes to the quality of the officers.

“We feel we can still get quality officers and do a better job of recruiting people who will come from the communities in Suffolk County that are underserved and underrepresented,” Catalina added.

Catalina believes the department has made progress with Latino, Asian and female officers, but feels the SCPD is “still struggling with recruitment of African Americans.

Catalina has been working with the Guardians Association, an organization comprised primarily of black law enforcement professionals. He also visited El Salvador with Sheriff Toulon, where he got some “good ideas on recruitment” that he hopes to institute next time around.

Staff promotions

Catalina has been reorganizing his executive staff, which he believes will enhance the department

The elevation in rank for these staff is merit based, driven by aptitude and performance.

Milagros “Millie” Soto has become Chief of Operations, a three star designation, and is the first woman in the department to hold that rank.

A 37-year veteran of the department, Soto has held a variety of roles.

“I’m thrilled” with this promotion, Catalina said.

Catalina also promoted William Doherty as Chief of Detectives.

Doherty “brings a tremendous amount of experience” and has run “quite a few places in the police department.”

Among other promotions, Apryl Hargrove has become the commanding officer of the hate crimes unit.

“Any time there’s a hate crime, it can devastate a community,” said Catalina. Hargrove is “an incredible person” who recently retired from the Army.

Hargrove, who is now a detective sergeant and is the highest ranking female African American officer in the department, is “going to do a phenomenal job,” Catalina said.

While Catalina is encouraged with the department, he believes these promotions help “build a really strong team.”