Suozzi should make sure his new police commissioner comes with an independent streak

Who will County Executive Tom Suozzi select to replace retiring Police Commissioner James Lawrence? What will Suozzi’s choice say about his relationship with Nassau County PBA President Gary DelaRaba? Should Suozzi pick from within the ranks of the NC Police Department or should he once again choose from outside the NC Police Department?

For years, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi has been telling voters that their county tax bill was high because unions had a choke hold on the police department. Boldly challenging the Police Benevolent Association and controlling the costs of law enforcement have made him a successful county executive.

Now, Suozzi has to choose a new police commissioner to replace James Lawrence, who announced his retirement last month. Whether Suozzi goes outside the department or chooses someone from within, the next commissioner must continue to hold the PBA in line.

A little history
When Suozzi, newly elected, tried to slay the budget beast in 2002, he struck his first blows against the police department. He deliberately crossed county lines to tap Lawrence, one of the top chiefs in New York City, to cut the size of the force and reduce overtime.

Can Suozzi really rely on someone who rose through the ranks in this pervasive union culture to suddenly cut those ties?

For five years, Lawrence delivered. He ran a scandal-free department as the crime rate dropped to the lowest in the nation among similar-sized municipalities. He opened precinct doors to the community and improved the information flow so his commanders could better track crime patterns.

The new commissioner deployed cops more efficiently while eliminating positions and cutting overtime. When Tom Gulotta left as county executive, there were 2,802 officers and a promise to the unions to hire more. Now the force stands at 2,660, including a new class of recruits. Lawrence's success didn't come easy. He was considered an outsider by Nassau's insular department, even though as chief of personnel in the city, he had a good track record with organized labor. Here, he was fought at every turn by the police unions, while Suozzi fought a high-profile war of words with PBA President Gary DelaRaba.

Abandoning the belligerence, Suozzi and DelaRaba have recently entered a "kumbaya" phase, a pact that benefits both of them personally but might also be the most pragmatic way to redeploy police officers sheltered by some of the most favorable work rules in the nation.

With this realignment, Lawrence, 61, who had been thinking about retirement for some time, put in his papers.

Inside or out
Selecting a new commissioner presents Suozzi with a knotty managerial and political problem. Appointing another outsider might be the best way to continue innovative practices while holding down costs. But it risks enraging DelaRaba, who for years has told anyone who would listen that he wanted Lawrence's head. DelaRaba could prompt the unions to use their muscle with the county legislature to again frustrate Suozzi's overall agenda.

Suozzi can't abandon his former hard line on the PBA ....... He would no longer be distinguished from the other elected officials in the county who are patsies for DelaRaba.

Nassau's insular department - where the commissioner and his top three deputies are the only representatives of management who aren't in a union - still resents Lawrence for taking a job they felt belonged to them. This time they want one of their own. But can Suozzi really rely on someone who rose through the ranks in this pervasive union culture to suddenly cut those ties?

By going outside - and there are eager candidates lining up - Nassau can again benefit from someone who has a fresh eye and no reason to protect the established order.

At the same time, there are advantages to promoting someone from within the ranks. Such a candidate already knows the ropes and can use those existing relationships, especially in an institution where trust and shared experience are prized, to get things moving quickly. The danger is that a career bureaucrat might be most comfortable reverting to business as usual.

The DA's partner
Regardless of the new commissioner's origins, Suozzi must find someone who can partner with the district attorney. Lawrence's openness to new ideas is best evidenced by his work with Kathleen Rice, another outsider to Nassau's criminal justice system who is more than willing to take risks. One of Rice's first changes was to get prosecutors working more closely with police at the earliest stages of a case to determine the proper charges to file. Lawrence agreed to allow assistant district attorneys to have a bureau at police headquarters, and a preliminary report shows the system is already resulting in convictions on more serious charges.

This same partnership will soon lead to the videotaping of police interrogations of murder suspects, a common practice elsewhere, that prosecutors have tried to implement for more than three decades in Nassau.

Reputation at stake
Suozzi can't abandon his former hard line on the PBA now without sacrificing his reputation as a tough reformer. He would no longer be distinguished from the other elected officials in the county who are patsies for DelaRaba.

Whether he promotes from within, finds someone who has left or again goes with an outsider as his next commissioner, Suozzi must pick a new police chief who can continue in Lawrence's tradition of independence and progressiveness.