Public Commentary
Running late for a meeting is not an emergency situation

Dear Editor:

According to the newspaper, on January 16, 2007, County Executive Thomas Suozzi was being driven by NCPD Det. Frank Passalaqua, on his way to a 10 a.m. meeting with D.A. Rice. At about 10:10 a.m., Det. Passalaqua ran a red light causing a car accident. Last time I looked at the law, sirens and emergency lights may only be used in an "emergency." Traffic law, rules, codes, and traffic control devises may only be violated by emergency workers (i.e., police, fire department, ambulance, et al.) in an "emergency" as a privilege, and not as a right (this includes parking illegally). In an emergency, it must be done with extreme prejudice to ensure the safety of the public.

Being late to a meeting is not an emergency. NCPD Sgt. Anthony Repalone was quoted in the newspaper as saying: "the two detectives assigned to drive Suozzi have the discretion to decide what actions are needed to protect him." But they do not have the authority to override state laws, except in an emergency as a privilege. In this case, were they protecting him from being late and possibly the D.A. shaking her finger at him in shame for being late? The Suffolk County, County Executive did away with using police drivers years ago, so I have to wonder what protection a county executive really needs. I hope D.A. Rice stays true to her law and order campaign and ensures charges are filed (reckless endangerment?) and an investigation ensues.

Bottom line: Det. Passalaqua, in my opinion, acted outside of the scope of his legal authority and his job, and he should be personally liable for the damages. The taxpayers should not have to pay for this. There should be no more police assigned to Suozzi at taxpayer expense. If the detective states that Suozzi directed him to run the red light, then Suozzi should be liable too, but it is not a legal defense for the detective. I do hope that at the very least, a traffic ticket was issued to the detective, as the news article appears to show it is uncontroverted the red light was ran by Suozzi's car. Innocent people can die from such abuse of authority at taxpayer expense. Let's be glad no one did this time, but we cannot wait until someone does. Research this topic from years ago, and you'll find people already have.

Mace H. Greenfield, Esq. About the author: He is a family law attorney with an office in Jericho, and the former talk radio personality "Mace in your Face."

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