Proactive Protocols Inform Southampton Town Police COVID-19 Response, Chief Says - 27 East

Proactive Protocols Inform Southampton Town Police COVID-19 Response, Chief Says

icon 2 Photos
The dispatch center at Southampton Town Police headquarters.

The dispatch center at Southampton Town Police headquarters.

Court officers and sergeant prepare for a virtual arraignment.

Court officers and sergeant prepare for a virtual arraignment.

Kitty Merrill on May 4, 2020

In contradiction to the social media outcry, official complaints regarding the violation of the New York PAUSE executive order are fairly minimal according to Southampton Town Police Chief Steven Skrynecki. In a little over a month, from March 23 to April 30, officers logged 386 cases associated with the governor’s executive order.

Out of those cases, the chief said, there were 174 proactive visits made to retail establishments. “We saw there were some in need of guidance,” he said. “They didn’t understand what their obligations are.”

That was especially true when the orders changed as weeks wore on, he said.

The chief developed what he called “a valuable program.’’ The department asked local businesses to post a placard that informed visitors that it was an essential business operating in compliance with the executive order and working with the Southampton Town Police Department.

Retailers like it, the chief said, because it gives customers a sense of security while at the same time asking them to play their role in stopping the spread of the infection.

Of 184 calls related to stores, just 10 were complaints. Police also responded to 60 complaints about construction and landscaping operations in violation of the executive order, 41 calls about social distancing violations and one that fell into the “other” category.

The first response to any complaint is education, with an emphasis on public safety for police and any member of the public they interact with, the chief explained.

“We’ve been very, very proactive,” the chief said, reporting that his was the first department he’s aware of to mandate surgical face masks for dispatchers.

Describing that section of the Hampton Bays headquarters as “a hub of activity,” Mr. Skrynecki explained that shifts of dispatchers work the same consoles, phones and microphones.

“Very early on I mandated surgical masks to protect them,” he said.

He said he changed the dynamics of the section, which was generally a gathering spot. “It became off limits,” he said.

Next, the chief escalated the protocol to require masks for anyone in the building, unless he or she was in an office alone. In any common area, everyone needs a mask, he said.

On the street, the chief required officers to don N95 masks if they were in contact with anyone suspected of harboring the virus, then, he said, “It became N95 masks any time you breached the 6-foot social distance rule.”

The chief developed a strategy for “no contact” vehicle stops that allow officers to give tickets without touching any drivers or their documents. With the window rolled down just enough, the officer and driver may speak, as the officer asks the driver to hold their driver’s license up to the window. Using a cellphone, the officer would take a photo of the license and use the photo to do a computer check. The ticket is then slipped through the window.

“We put a lot of thought into how we do what we do,” Mr. Skrynecki said. “We never touch you, and you never touch us.”

The department has recorded the arrest of a COVID-19 positive individual. To undertake processing and an electronic arraignment, officers “suited up in Tyvek,” the chief reported.

The safety protocols underscore what the chief called “a pretty good number.” With just under 140 employees, there were to date just two confirmed cases in the department, with one case contracted on the job and neither patient in contact with other members of the department.

“I’ve very pleased with the senior staff here,” the chief said. In the days when the pandemic was just evolving, he said, “we looked at protocol changes and how we needed to re-tool.” And now, he said, “we’re operating very smoothly in a very different manner.”

For example, the chief and senior staff recently conducted an interview for a staff position — everyone sat 6 feet apart, everyone wore a mask.

“There’s a different feel and a different look … but we’re not curtailing anything, we’re getting it done,” he said.

As the crisis wears on, employers and leaders have spoken about operational alterations that may be carried forward even after the PAUSE orders expire. Asked if there are procedural changes his department instituted that he’d like to see continue, the chief said there were “tons.”

“We’re finding on our end that electronic arraignments provide a tremendous advantage over the old way of doing them,” he said.

Pre-coronavirus, an arraignment meant taking an officer off patrol to bring a defendant to court. Now, he said, court officers can come to headquarters and remove a defendant from the cell and put him or her on camera. Following a virtual arraignment process, a defendant may be released straight from headquarters.

“No officers are taken out of the field, “ he said. “That’s something to look into in the future.”

The chief also extolled frequent Zoom meetings with counterparts in other towns that the crisis has precipitated. Suffolk County chiefs traditionally met in person to exchange ideas. The virtual meetings allow for more frequent interaction without the disruption and time of driving to an oftentimes up-island meeting place.

“I’ve come to realize the benefit of these types of virtual meetings,” Mr. Skrynecki said. “Even if we are not in a pandemic situation, there could be merit to continuing to meet like this. That protocol is working.

“The retail inspection initiative was an adaptation to what we do,” he continued, listing the benefits of some changes. “It seems to be working very well and I like the community outreach. It’s increased through this [pandemic].”

“In a crisis like this, there’s a lot of trial and error,” he continued. Managing it “is all problem solving,” the chief explained. “You need to identify the big problem and the emergent problem. You consider your response, then monitor and create a backup plan just in case. And, as soon as you have one problem handled, there’s another one in front of you.”

Speaking of how the department has risen to the occasion, the chief noted, “the entire Town of Southampton has been functioning very well. We did not close government, we modified government.”

And the community has noticed.

“We’ve been thanked repeatedly,” the chief informed. Local school children have sent posters, and food establishments have sent meals.

“We’ve been the recipient of some very thoughtful people who took the time to acknowledge we are on the front lines and our people are not able to work from home,” he said.

You May Also Like:

Southampton Police Reports for the Week of April 3

HAMPTON BAYS — A Hampton Bays man was arrested by Southampton Town Police on April 1 in connection with a March 9 theft of a boat trailer from an East Quogue property. Anthony Colonna, 29, was charged with grand larceny, a felony, and conspiracy to commit a crime, a misdemeanor, for his role in the theft of the trailer, which was valued at $8,000. Police had previously arrested a Medford man, Christian Klemm, 29, in connection with the crime, who was charged with two felonies for possession of stolen property and grand larceny. 2 Apr 2025 by Staff Writer

Southampton DWI Arrests for the Week of April 3

Enrique F. Diaz Chocho, 36, of Flanders was arrested just after 6 p.m. on March 29 and charged with DWI after Southampton Town Police officers responded to a report of a two-car accident on Flanders Road near Red Creek Road and found Chocho had been driving one of the vehicles in an intoxicated condition. Nicholas Davis, 18, of Hampton Bays was arrested just after midnight on March 29 and charged with DWI after he was involved in a one-car crash on Oaktree Lane in East Quogue and was determined by a responding Southampton Town Police officer to have been drinking ... by Staff Writer

The Mountain

Southampton Town officials, it must be said, are very much on point when it comes to affordable housing. It’s not just lip service: The town is doing its level best to begin to address the ongoing crisis that is making it harder for the town’s workforce to stay here, and more difficult for the town’s business community to fill positions. It became problematic a few years ago, but today it’s probably the biggest issue Town Hall faces. And it appears that all hands are on deck. The town’s voters also have done their part, approving a new Community Housing Fund ... by Editorial Board

Final Hurdle Cleared for Algae Harvesters at Lake Agawam

The final hurdle standing in the way of green-lighting an algae harvester project at Lake ... by Cailin Riley

Eastport Tobacco Shop Closed After Illicit Cannabis Raid; Employee Arrested

Suffolk County Police arrested the employee of an Eastport tobacco shop last week for illegally ... by Staff Writer

April Express Sessions Will Focus on Pros and Cons of Historic District Expansion in Southampton Village

The delicate push and pull between preservation and property rights is familiar to many East End homeowners, as well as local government officials, and it’s an issue that’s been a particular flashpoint in Southampton Village recently. An analysis of a proposed historic district expansion in Southampton Village will be the topic of discussion for the next Express Sessions panel discussion, set for Thursday, April 10, from noon until 2 p.m. at Union Burger Bar at 40 Bowden Square in Southampton Village. The village received a $40,000 Certified Local Government Historic Preservation Grant from the state last fall to study the ... by Cailin Riley

Hampton Bays Cannabis Shop Roils Residents Right out of Gate

With objections to a proposal to open a pot shop in a former bank building ... by Michael Wright

Proposed Westhampton Beach Village Budget Would Increase Taxes by 9 Percent, Piercing State Tax Cap

The Westhampton Beach Village Board is poised to adopt a $14.4 million fiscal year 2025-26 ... by Bill Sutton

Southampton Village Union Alleges Mishandling of Sensitive Employee Records

The leadership of the Civil Service Employees Association, the union that represents much of the ... by Cailin Riley

Southampton Town Will Eliminate Red Lights on County Road 39 for Two Weeks as Experiment on Traffic Flow

Southampton Town will expand its “cops and cones” traffic management efforts with a novel experiment ... by Michael Wright