Before Kevin Catalina was sworn in, he worked to put gang members and terrorists behind bars and helped the Gilgo Beach Task Force.
One week on the job so far, and the new Suffolk County Police Commissioner has hit the ground running.
"We had a homicide, we had a terrible domestic assault, so things that have actually kept us busy," Catalina said.
In a county with nearly a million and a half residents and 2,400 police officers, the 57-year-old says he is thrilled to be doing the exciting work he loves.
"I think as a young person I recognized that in myself, I was always an adventure seeker," he said.
With a 27-year history at the NYPD, there's been no shortage of that.
He started as a patrol officer in 1992 at the 103rd precinct in Jamaica, but quickly moved up to at least five other posts in different boroughs, where he was a commander, handling gangs and intelligence.
All of it was followed by his next job, second to the Suffolk County Sheriff Errol Toulon Jr., but the Suffolk police commissioner was his dream job.
As for priorities, with violent crime drastically down, Catalina says Suffolk's roadways are now a place for more resources. Street takeovers are now the target as well as drunk drivers and those under the influence.
"We are moving forward within the next couple of weeks, gonna add a significant number of officers to our highway patrol, so the Long Island Expressway, Sunrise Highway," Catalina said.
On the topic of immigration:
"If you're the victim of a crime, we will never inquire about your immigration status," he said. "If you're a criminal, we will go after you regardless of your immigration status."
He said that unlike Nassau County, there are not currently plans to deputize his officers to work with ICE.
Catalina, with a career that spanned nearly everything in law enforcement, included a few bumps, like one very early on when he was only three years on the job. He was among many at a national conference that became national headlines when too many cops got drunk, unruly and a couple even got naked.
Catalina was asked to identify them.
"So when they wanted me to have seen something and I didn't see it, they accused me of being too drunk to see it," he said.
He was disciplined, put in an administrative position, and stripped of his gun for five months.
"I got a call from internal affairs, he apologized to me and said, Kevin, we shouldn't have done what we did," Catalina said.
And so nearly three decades later, this top cop has risen to the highest position in the county he calls home.
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