Letters

Public safety is a critical element of any community. For a community to thrive and be vibrant, there must be a sense of security at home, in our schools, at work, and when we recreate.

Elected officials have one primary task: to ensure public safety. The many facets of law enforcement (police, corrections, building inspectors, fire marshals and bay constables, to name a few) perform complex tasks. The support of the Defund the Police movement memorialized in the Working Families Party platform and supported by many Democrats is misguided. As a president of New York State’s fifth-biggest police union, I opposed the ideology and policies that were pro-criminal and anti-victim policies.

Often overlooked but just as vital are our lifeguards, volunteer firefighters, ambulance crews and ocean rescue squad members. Our volunteer first responders are in crisis. The stresses of the East End’s high cost of living, the drain of our youth combined with that national sentiment that looks down on first responders, have taken a toll.

In my own family, in addition to being a retired New York State Park Police senior sergeant and president of the Police Benevolent Association of New York State, I am an exempt volunteer firefighter in both the Montauk and Springs fire departments. Of my six kids currently, I have one son, an East Hampton Town lifeguard active in the East Hampton Volunteer Ocean Rescue, and another son who was until he moved to North Carolina due to the cost of living. My daughter is a past East Hampton Town lifeguard, and another son works as a traffic control officer for East Hampton Village.

As your Suffolk County legislator, I will never support policies that defund our police, make our communities less safe, and diminish the services of our volunteer and public employees. I will advocate for all our first responders, paid and volunteer, and public employees. I will work closely with our village mayors, town supervisors, our next county executive, Ed Romaine, other county legislators, and our outstanding district attorney, Ray Tierney, to strengthen our law enforcement departments, volunteer first responders and public employees.

You can count on me to support all our public safety professionals and not the policies of defunding the police advocates that will make our communities unsafe.

I would love to hear from you by email at info@vilarforsuffolk.com or by phone/text at 631-324-0528.

Manuel Vilar

Springs

Vilar is a Republican candidate for a seat on the Suffolk County Legislature — Ed.