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Residents Rally Against Community Policing Plan In Nassau County

ELMONT, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Residents in Nassau County are vowing to fight a cost-cutting plan to take police officers out of their precincts and put them on patrol.

Dominique Ringold lives near the Fifth Precinct in Elmont. That proximity, however, didn't prevent her grandmother from falling victim to a crime.

"My grandmother was actually mugged right in front of my house," she told CBS 2's Ann Mercogliano.

That precinct in it's current form could soon become a thing of the past, if a community policing plan goes through.

"Are my parents going to be safe here?" she said.

On Saturday, outraged PBA members and residents came together to fight a proposal to revamp four precincts, turning them into community policing centers.

The plan would keep two officers staffed around the clock, but residents say that won't deter crime.

"I don't believe in this plan, I think it's going to hurt our community," one protester said.

County Executive Ed Mangano says the plan would save about $20 million and says police patrols would not change.

"The plan keeps all police buildings open, all police cars on the streets and adds 48 officers to community policing positions," said Brian Nevin, Nassau County Senior Police Advisor.

The four precincts that would change over include the First Precinct in Baldwin, the Fifth Precinct in Elmont, the Sixth Precinct in Manhasset, and the Eighth Precinct in Levittown.

The plan would also reportedly cut about 100 administrative jobs.

"That's just a drop in the bucket," said Norman Oshinsky. "There's things to be done all across the board."

Oshinsky says the cost of living in Nassau County is out of control, and is all for the plan.

"The taxes are way out of whack and, you know, money is not flowing the way that it used to be," he said.

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