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Emma Gutmann

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Technology revolutionizes emergency preparedness

By Emma Gutmann

On Dec. 29, Steve Bellone (D) capped off his 12-year run as Suffolk County executive with an announcement about the advent of a technology that promises to revolutionize emergency preparedness and response across the county. 

Through Tableau — a data visualization and business intelligence tool — several dashboards with unique specialties were launched simultaneously. The Fleet Management Dashboard, Emergency Operations Dashboard and Snow Fleet Readiness Dashboard will work together to provide immediate and comprehensive data to the county’s Department of Public Works and the Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services. 

Rather than muddling through manual data entry and slow-moving communication, DPW and FRES staff will now have a constant stream of accurate statistics at their fingertips. This operational efficiency will not only save valuable time during emergencies but also boost cost savings and informed decision-making. 

The Fleet Management Dashboard will be an asset to several departments from Public Works to Highway & Grounds Maintenance for its insights into vehicle readiness, maintenance schedules and the operational status of the county fleet. With a countywide view of fleet activity, management can monitor trends over time and optimize operations.

Increased access to fleet availability through the Emergency Operations Dashboard will allow the Emergency Operation Center staff at FRES to view fleet readiness during urgent situations. The dashboard aims to enhance resource allocation and, thus, response efficiency for daily operations as well as Office of Emergency Management activation.

According to an infographic from New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, the OEM activates the State Emergency Operations Center “based upon the scope and magnitude of an incident, and the level of capability needed to effectively respond to the event.” There are four levels of activation that can be called if state-level monitoring or response is required: Enhanced Monitoring, Partial Activation, Full Activation and Full State/Federal Response. The Emergency Operations Dashboard is designed to bring about the quickest and most efficient response in these statewide matters and local matters alike.

Amid winter months, county personnel will benefit from the Snow Fleet Readiness Dashboard as well. This trailblazing technology is slated to save fleet staff approximately four hours per week by streamlining winter readiness reporting.

“In snow or other major weather events, we are able to see the in-service fleet status — fuel and salt levels — in real time,” FRES Commissioner Patrick Beckley said. “We can direct plows to areas in need and we can verify that roads have been plowed when in question.” 

Since their launch less than a month ago, the dashboards have already proven valuable to the Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services and Department of Public Works. 

“During the recent trench rescue in St. James, we were able to quickly identify the closest vacuum truck in the sanitation fleet and contact that division supervisor quickly,” FRES Commissioner Beckley said. “We are looking forward to the development and buildout of other fleet related dashboards.”

“Before the launch of the dashboards, our reporting process was manual, time-consuming, and reliant on multiple channels of communication such as emails, texts and calls, as well as various excel spreadsheets,” DPW Deputy Commissioner Leslie Mitchel said. “While we had the capability to generate reports, the process involved coordination between various DPW divisions and extensive manual data entry, consuming valuable time and carrying the risk of data inconsistencies due to basic human error and less user-friendly reporting tools previously utilized.”

Department heads are pleased with the new additions’ efficiency and are optimistic about the future of fleet and emergency management. The dashboard’s comprehensive view of previously scattered data, which is refreshed nightly, allows the workforce to focus more on strategic planning than tedious data entry.

With this innovative update to emergency procedure, Suffolk County is moving toward more data-driven decision-making for the convenience and safety of the public and personnel. It is the hope of the government that more dashboards will be added to this series to save time and provide guidance in other specialized areas.

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Footage of sideshow participants jumping on police vehicles near the intersection of Ocean Avenue and the Long Island Expressway on Oct. 28, 2022. Photo courtesy Suffolk County Police Department

By Emma Gutmann

Concerned community members joined representatives of the Suffolk County Police Department at Hauppauge’s main firehouse at 855 Wheeler Road on Thursday, Sept. 28, discussing the local impacts of street racing, sideshows and raucous partying at the Hauppauge Industrial Park.

David Regina, SCPD 4th Precinct inspector, presented numerous social media clips of the conditions caused by these sideshow events. Footage included 100-yard radius donuts, handcuffed drag racers fleeing from officers and men jumping on police vehicles.

Regina’s report also included statistics of tickets and arrests for reckless driving and 911 vehicle/noise complaints in the industrial park over the past two years.

Although two notable occurrences this September at HIP prompted the meeting, Regina said that this has been an issue across Long Island and even nationwide. He claimed the sideshows and large-scale music gatherings cropped up in February 2022, while others in the audience insisted that these disturbances have been going on even longer.

An attendee from Dix Hills said she has been enduring continuous unrest since her high schoolers were young children in 2015. She lives 2 miles from the Deer Park train station, where deafening parties occur every Friday and Sunday until midnight.

As the second largest industrial park in the country, open all night with no security cameras, HIP is also an easy target for sideshows. The perpetrators — typically males ages 18 to 25 — have been able to thwart police by posting coded alerts on social media, which warn the group to move to a predetermined backup location.

To initiate enforcement, Regina said officers must convince two business owners to fill out extensive paperwork in the middle of the night to sign an affidavit. Since the industrial park is not fenced in, residents and police officers at the scene cannot accomplish anything on their own.

Suffolk County Legislator Steven Flotteron (R-Brightwaters), who attended the meeting, assured residents that he is exploring potential changes to the law to avoid such loopholes.

“You need two residents to sign an affidavit,” he said. “In some cases, the people having the party might be in a gang, and neighbors do not want to sign an affidavit. How do we ever get it stopped?”

Flotteron added, “Before, we needed two people here to sign an affidavit, and the police officer couldn’t do anything. Now, it could be a police officer or a peace officer that can write the noise complaint.”

The community meeting became heated as community members began asking questions, sharing their experiences and offering suggestions to help. Given this crime phenomenon’s severity and ongoing nature, a fissure has developed between residents and law enforcement since the sideshows started.

Several attendees mentioned that they are told to call 911 when events break out but are made to feel dramatic and unimportant when they do. Citizens questioned how police have been unable to discover and break up such rowdy gatherings before they become townwide headaches. 

Suffolk County Legislator Leslie Kennedy (R-Nesconset) advised those who report these sideshows to avoid putting themselves at risk and stay out of the line of harm.

911 operators “are not supposed to ask you to go find the place,” she said. “None of you should be putting yourself in a situation where you could be killed.”

Members of the audience agreed that the police department often does not have the resources to deal with these outbreaks, but that they would like to help them remedy that. With more resources and more effective laws and penalties, officers will not be so easily overpowered and endangered, restoring order to a dangerous situation locally.

Flotteron and Kennedy closed the discussion by promising to speak to state representatives and other officials in the morning to bring greater awareness to this issue, put legislative changes in motion and propose the crowd’s idea of adding cameras to the industrial park.

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Work by East Setauket Pond Park is expected to be completed by the end of June, according to Brookhaven’s Highway Department.. Photo by Emma Gutmann

By Emma Gutmann

Construction on East Setauket Pond Park has spilled out onto Route 25A and into the town parking lot beside Se-Port Delicatessen.

On weekday mornings and afternoons, one lane at the intersection of Main Street and Gnarled Hollow Road is coned off to accommodate the first phase in the pond park project. 

The work has its roots in the Setauket Harbor Task Force, an environmental not-for-profit organization founded by George Hoffman and Laurie Vetere in 2014. The group’s board shared concern over the contaminated appearance of Setauket Harbor and gathered any information they could find on the historical body of water.

Since other governmental entities handled the greater Port Jefferson Harbor complex, tackled nonenvironmental issues and often worked independently, the task force narrowed its focus on environmental work to ensure Setauket Harbor received the attention it needed.

As a result, former New York State Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) secured a $1 million NYS grant for the Town of Brookhaven “to fund projects aimed to improve water quality in Setauket Harbor and the surrounding watershed,” according to a town press release in 2016. Additional funds have since been acquired with the help of town Supervisor Ed Romaine (R) and Councilmember Jonathan Kornreich (D-Stony Brook). 

In a phone interview, Hoffman said the two town elected officials are very supportive of the task force and have been instrumental in advancing the pond park project. “Whatever we ask for, they find a way to help us,” he said.

Kornreich reported by email that the following components were recently installed: both water quality units, pipe connections to the units and culvert crossing under the road, the outfall that empties into the pond and three catch basins on Route 25A. Suffolk County Water Authority completed the water main offset necessary to the project’s new installations a month ago.

In an email, town Highway Department PR assistant, Kristen D’Andrea, said she expected an early conclusion to this stage of the work. “The water quality improvement project at East Setauket Pond Park is about 90 percent complete,” she said. “Crews hope to finish by the end of June.” 

In addition to Romaine and Kornreich, Hoffman also credited the project’s success to the support of town Highway Superintendent Dan Losquadro (R).

The town’s plans do not stop at clean water conducive to clamming. With each hurdle overcome, the park is a step closer to eventually becoming a centerpiece of the downtown area. 

 As for the work directly in the road, Kornreich said the team still needs to install the last catch basin and restore the sidewalk and road. Conversations with the state Department of Transportation are ongoing to coordinate night work and lane closures. The construction will pause from Friday, May 26, through Monday, May 29, for Memorial Day weekend and the local parade.

In response to drivers inconvenienced by the temporary traffic flow, Hoffman said, “Keep the faith. You’re going to see great improvement in the Setauket Harbor in terms of water quality and it will also help us move forward on a beautiful park that could be there in the next couple of years. If clamming comes back, we’ll have accomplished what we set out to do.”

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