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Medical copays reduce health care access in MS prisons; Israel planted explosives in pagers sold to Hezbollah according to official sources; Serving looks with books: Libraries fight 'fast fashion' by lending clothes; Menhaden decline threatens Virginia's ecosystem, fisheries.

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War of Words Heats Up Over Response to Hate Crimes in Suffolk County

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Wednesday, January 26, 2011   

NEW YORK - The war of words is heating up over the issue of hate crimes in Suffolk County. County Executive Steve Levy's communications director has issued a 12-point defense of the administration's handling of hate crimes. The written response was issued Monday after a local detective went public with allegations that the administration is downgrading such offenses.

Maryann Sinclair Slutsky, director of Long Island Wins, says it's important to remember the officer's allegations are in addition to charges that the administration inappropriately edited a Hate Crimes Task Force Report.

"It seems like every day, there is more and more evidence that's being made public that Suffolk County, with Levy as its leadership, is still so at-risk of continued hate crime activity and anti-immigrant policies."

Communications officer Dan Aug confirms he wrote the 12-point "fact sheet" that accuses the officer of knee-jerk classification of incidents as hate crimes before such incidents were investigated. The officer, Detective Sargent Robert Reecks, told Newsday the administration often "sanitized" hate crimes in reports to the public.

If the officer's allegations prove true, says Slutsky, immigrants are faring worse in Suffolk County than perhaps anyone had imagined.

The Suffolk County Ethics Board was already reported to be looking into allegations that the administration edited critical comments out of a report from the local Hate Crime Task Force. Slutsky says she doesn't expect much action from the board, because in her view, it is dominated by supporters of County Executive Levy.

"Independent oversight needs to happen, where it is not populated with 'Levy people' – where these people are independent and neutral, and they review this whole situation with the Hate Crimes Task Force Report."

A Levy spokesman declined to comment on the makeup of the ethics board, and the board does not comment on pending cases. Slutsky says she wonders why Steve Levy is not speaking out for himself, relying instead on written defense of his actions.



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