50+ Years of Suffolk County’s Police Department

The story of the Police Department in Suffolk County goes back to the year 1960. Before that, the law enforcement system in this particular area was quote archaic—with constables working for local communities. If they managed to make any arrests or transported a prisoner from one place to another, they were paid a little extra. Most of these men had never had any training in the law enforcement department, and they had to work long hours for peanuts.

In short, they were like freelance constables and full-time bounty hunters, being paid sufficiently only when they made an arrest.

When It All Ended

The bounty hunting system went on for quite some time since the 1920s, and flourished. Then, the Second World War ended. And when it did, it brought death, destruction, and desolation to the country. Resources were scarce and the law was in shambles with so many off to war, taken prisoner, or dead.

Naturally, the crime rate rose dramatically. At this moment a total of 33 law enforcement institutions were functional in Suffolk County. As the situation went from bad to worse throughout the county, a county government was formed in 1958.

This paved the way for the consolidated Police Department to be born, with the western towns of Huntington, Brookhaven, Babylon, Smithtown, and Islip being a part of it. The Suffolk County Police Department also supports and provides assistance to the Eastern towns that had originally voted for separate police institutions of their own, these being: Shelter Island, East Hampton, Southampton, Riverhead, and Southold.

The New System

Under the new county form of government, every town that voted in favour of the consolidated police department turned over their existing agencies to the new one. A new, organized, and uniform range of services was established by the new agency.

These included three exclusive bureaus for Communication, Identification, Central Records, and Detective work. A brand new police academy was also established for the purpose of training new inductees and officers. Altogether, the new consolidated department was a well-organized and sophisticated law enforcement agency equipped with the right bureaus to handle the most demanding of cases anywhere in the country, let alone the county.

How to Get into the New System

As we have retold, the county and the law enforcement went through quite a few changes on its 50 years journey. Local communities are no longer responsible for appointing police officers and it is, instead, the civil service commission that does. And to get into the civil services you need to pass a series of extensive exams, beginning with a demanding written test.

You can prep for this test with the help of preparatory courses that are offered at various locations by the Civil Service Success and affiliated groups. If you’ve got any further questions, feel free to ask them!