Under a darkening autumn sky and deep-blue cloud cover, on Oct. 9 at 6:40 p.m., a middle-aged couple sat in a golf cart at the entrance to the school parking lot, their dark clothes silhouetted in the headlights of oncoming traffic, waiting to pull out onto Main Street.
On Sunday, Sept. 30, the peace and quiet of an autumn afternoon in East Moriches was pierced by four-letter words exchanged between a homeowner and an ambulance driver trying to get around the parked landscaper’s truck blocking his exit on Benjamin Street. Although the lights were flashing an emergency, it was insufficient to the homeowner’s need for tree trimming and yard maintenance that day.
Other landscapers have also been trimming trees on Sundays in the area.
And, just days before, as reported on NEWS12, community members had gathered to hear members of the Suffolk County Police Department respond to their concerns about a recent spike in crime in Center Moriches. The meetings at the high school were organized by county Legis. Jim Mazzarella.
A public brawl on Main Street. Lewd activity outside the elementary school. Open-container liquor consumption on the street brought increased police presence, including officers patrolling Main Street in pairs, on foot.
But what of other recent activities that are cause for concern and affecting our quality of life? Things like public defecation, used prophylactics left on pavement where kids and their parents walk to music lessons, construction noise and freight deliveries on weekends and holidays? What of the huge freight trucks racing up residential streets where kids ride bicycles, mothers push strollers and people walk their dogs?
While some of these are criminal offences and some are public safety or code enforcement issues, all are a source of concern as residents assess the effect on their sense of security and their quality of life here.
To get a better sense of how residents can effectively voice their concerns, David Moran, Brookhaven Town acting commissioner for Public Safety/Code Enforcement, provided some guidelines and explanation.
According to Moran, town public safety officers have zero authority to make “custodial stops” like traffic violations. “The town’s geography—as large as Nassau County—means violations of code occur every day, but there are not enough people to catch them,” he said.
“At any given time we have four to five cars on the road. We don’t police if nobody complains.” He noted that while dispatchers are on call 24 hours daily, field agents are available only during the day, often starting at 10 a.m. weekdays, noon on weekends.
As for the golf carts on Main Street, which are prohibited from being on public roads in New York State, he said his office has zero jurisdiction except in cases where they’re used in town parks. Asked for examples of areas his department covers, he listed noise, tickets for cars parked in fire zones in shopping areas, barking dogs/dog bites and loud parties; in short, three to four sections of the 80 town code regulations.
He also pointed to successes with town quality-of-life concerns: overcrowded housing; squatters; day laborers crowding into houses; dumping on public land; loud parties.
“The Town of Brookhaven Division of Public Safety and Code Enforcement responds to constituent complaints regarding primarily noise, litter and parking. It is important to note that our town Public Safety agents do not have police powers, cannot make custodial stops and cannot enforce the penal code,” he said. “Secondarily, they provide backup support to the Suffolk County police for traffic control, and respond to vehicle impounds.”
As reported by Gary Haber in The Suffolk County News last November, Brookhaven Town passed its 2024 $335.5 million budget without debate, which maintains services at levels current in 2023. It increased taxes by 1.36 percent, added 7 positions, 3percent raises for town officials, including the supervisor and town board members, as well as $47.9 million for street lights, roads and drainage improvements.
Asked to address issues of speeding freight trucks in town, an SCPD officer encouraged anyone who has a problem to contact police.
“We’ve had complaints,” he said, “and I’ve ticketed some of the trucks. If you see something else of concern, call. We can give you an incident report. Then you can take it to the town and maybe they’ll do something.”
A full list of town code regulations is available at www.brookhavenny.gov
To report a crime to 7th Precinct SCPD (631) 852-8700/ non-emergency issues (631) 852- COPS
Brookhaven Town Public Safety/Code Enforcement (631) 451-6161
Suffolk 311 non-emergency call center contact for county services, information and other issues not requiring emergency attention
Suffolk 911 Emergency calls
