GOP: Curran flip-flops on police support (Updated)

Nassau county executive Laura Curran

Nassau Legis. Steven Rhoads (R-Bellmore)

Nassau legis. John Ferretti (R-Levittown)



Nassau county and town Republican lawmakers are accusing Democratic County Executive Laura Curran of "flip-flopping" on her support of police during these tumultuous days when some leftwing protestors are demanding police departments be defunded.

The protests were sparked by the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer during an arrest two weeks ago.

The lawmakers point to a Newsday story yesterday that outlined elected officials stands on defunding the police departments.  While Curran issued a statement praising the police department's  "indispensable role" in responding to the Covid 19 pandemic, she  "did not indicate support for or against the calls to defund,"  Newsday reported.

Republican legislators immediately objected. 

"Today, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran refused to rule out defunding the Nassau County Police Department after being called on to do so by radical anti-police groups," Legis. John Ferretti (R-Levittown) posted on his Facebook page. "The County’s Police Department is one of the finest in the nation; our officers risk their health and safety to protect every Nassau resident 24/7, 365 days per year. I unequivocally support our police, and will fight any effort by the County Executive to ‘defund the police’ in this county."


Legis. Steve Rhoads (R-Bellmore), posted,  "It is unconscionable that County Executive Laura Curran does not ‘have the backs’ of the men and women who have been responsible for making Nassau County one of the safest large suburban areas in the nation. Radical reforms such as defunding or dismantling the police is a formula for disaster..."

Six more Republican lawmakers,  including Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) posted their own objections to Curran's declining to answer the defunding question.


Then Newsday updated the story in late afternoon to add this sentence: Curran spokesman Michael Fricchione said she is "100 percent against defunding the police."

So legislators and town board members accused Curran of flip-flopping while  posting screen shots of the two stories:

The lawmakers, including Republican Hempstead Town Council members Christopher Carini of Seaford and Dennis Dunne of Levittown, then posted this message:

"The Law abiding residents of Nassau convince County Executive Curran to 'flip' her position on 'defunding Nassau Police.' See the original article...Laura Curran refused to take a public stance on 'defunding the police.' After public officials and neighbors expressed outrage, she now says she does not support defunding Nassau's crime fighters (see updated Newsday quote). It should never have come to this. We deserve a fully-funded Nassau Police Department and safe communities."

Slapping back, Curran's spokesman Fricchione said today the Republican posts were "disingenuous and a complete fabrication of the truth."

He said the lawmakers in posting Curran's comments "interestingly" cut off the second part of the county executive's statement that says she favors community-oriented policing.

Here is the second paragraph: "Nassau County has spent years making important investments in community-oriented policing, which has yielded significant returns in the form of greater community trust,” Curran said, adding that the county “will continue to break down barriers by investing in proactive partnerships so police officers and citizens can identify and solve problems together.”

"Defunding and community-oriented policing are two diametrically opposed ideas," Fricchione said. He said you can't favor one without opposing the other.

"As soon as Newsday's error was brought to our attention," Fricchione continued, "we corrected it by calling them up and making it completely clear that she is 100 percent against defunding the police."

Curran in a way has already "defunded" some of the police. Both Nassau's Police Benevolent Association and the Superior Officers Association have been working without contracts since the end of 2017. The only new deal that Curran negotiated is with the Detectives Association.

And it would seem odd if Curran supported defunding the police because she has had a paid police security detail, with armed detectives driving her to and from county offices and providing security at her house, since before she took office in Jan. 2018.

Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder explained in Nov. 2017:

“Since it is my responsibility to protect all residents in Nassau County, it was my decision and strong recommendation to assign a security detail to County Executive elect Laura Curran. I have based this decision on current events and it has been our protocol to assign detectives within the department for protection of the County Executive.
"Ms. Curran is now a public figure at the highest level in the county and we need to protect our dignitaries.”


Hempstead Town Councilman Dennis Dunne

Hempstead Town Board Member Christopher Carini

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