(WHITE PLAINS, NY) After a several month standoff that ignored the requests and needs of law enforcement officials, County Executive Astorino announced yesterday that he would hire three police officers that he had initially proposed to cut during the most recent County budget negotiation.  

As the Chairman of the Board of Legislators’ Public Safety and Social Services Committee, Legislator Ben Boykin (D-White Plains) has advocated strongly for a greater investment in the county’s public safety efforts.  

“I’m thankful that we hired these officers but remain agitated that the prioritization of the county’s public safety has clearly fallen in the mind of the County Executive; it should not have taken this long to fulfill already reduced public safety operations,” Boykin reacted.

Boykin, along with many other Legislators on both sides of the aisle, advocated for hiring these police officers during the budget negotiation by adding the police positions back into the budget after they were eliminated in the County Executive’s proposal.  

“Many of us voted against the budget because we felt it failed to take certain actions that would put us in a position to hire more than 3 cops and do a better job protecting our communities.  Our law enforcement officials have told us what their needs are and I believe this still will not satisfy them.  As the Chair of the Board’s Public Safety Committee, we will continue to work with the County Police and other law enforcement agencies to remain vigilant on how we can improve public safety efforts including adding additional police around the County,” Boykin concluded.