Crime & Safety

Paci Challenges Police Stats

Huntington school board member says gunfire unreported.

Huntington school board vice president John Paci Monday again challenged Suffolk County Police crime statistics in the neighborhood of .

Paci said a shooting had occurred on Church Street recently, reported through the 911 system.

“Police did not write up a report on this,” he said. “There was a report of two-way gunfire. We’ve called the police a number of times and nothing’s come up.”

Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Paci had disputed police officials earlier when they came to a school board meeting and reported that crime had declined in Huntington Station.

“The violence continues and our town doesn’t help us out,” Paci said. “These incidents will continue to occur.”

Find out what's happening in Huntingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Suffolk County police did not immediately respond to a request for a response to Paci’s complaint.

The school board voted last summer to close Abrams to students because of concerns on the part of some parents that violence in the neighborhood around the school might pose a threat to pupils. Students who would have gone to Abrams were dispersed to or the primary schools as buildings were reconfigured.

The controversial move continues to come up at meetings, including Monday night with one speaker accusing the board of ignoring the majority of parents in deciding to close the school.

Referring to an idea that has circulated among some parents, Paci said, “It’s a ludicrous idea (to sell a primary school building) and move students here. We don’t have an issue with our primary buildings. Gunfire continues in this area,” he said. “We just basically let this go and turn our heads to it.”

After Paci was done speaking, board member Kim Brown said, to applause, “on my way in, saw the playground was full of kids playing.”

The building continues to have several uses, with winter teams using the gym for practices or competitions and the district’s administration is housed there.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.