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Law enforcement in Washington, D.C. has become front-page news in recent days, as National Guard troops have been deployed to assist D.C. police as they tackle the growing crime problem. Law enforcement in Nassau County, however, has quietly taken on a more active role on its own to cut off criminal activity before it gets out of hand, specifically gang-related crime. 42 members of the notorious Salvadoran gang MS-13 were arrested were arrested over the prior week; 25 of them were illegal migrants who committed crimes in New York and now face prison time or deportation. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman appeared on 710 WOR’s Mendte in the Morning program to talk about the dragnet effort that made Long Island a little bit safer in the long run.
“Well, this started about a week ago,” Blakeman told host Larry Mendte. “We monitor gang activity very closely here in Nassau County to make sure that we do everything we can to eradicate gangs here in Nassau County. We saw a little spike in violence and we saw more gang activity, so we became very proactive. We put resources in the county to make sure that the gangs knew that we were serious.”
For certain arrests, Blakeman says it doesn’t hurt to have ICE on speed-dial for some assistance: “When we make an arrest, if we can hold that individual in our jail… then we hold them. But, if we can’t hold them because of the crazy cashless-bail laws here in New York, and they are here illegally, then we notify ICE. They come pick them up and get rid of them.”
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