Looney, Francis B.

Commissioner of the Nassau Police Department from 1966 - 1971. On December 11, 2014 the Nassau County Police Department unveiled a new police booth in Great Neck at the intersection of Steamboat and Middle Neck Roads on the grounds of a newly constructed 7-Eleven convenience store. The new booth, which is about 350 square feet will be used by Third Precinct officers, replaces an older structure, which includes a work station, locker room and bathroom. The booth was dedicated with a plaque to Francis Looney who oversaw the building of Nassau's first police booths, a network that now includes about 50 booths.

Looney's widow, Mary Kay, and son, Daniel Looney, the county court trial bureau chief at the Nassau district attorney's office, attended the dedication. Francis died in 2013 at the age of 96.

Daniel Looney stated that his father wanted to have a professional and progressive police department to better serve the public. He wanted to take the police from being viewed as officers who enforce the law to one who really become part of the community. He saw these police booths as a place where the community could come and express their concerns to the police.

Acting Police Commissioner Thomas Krumpter called Looney an "iconic figure" in policing who "encouraged members to go to school and get educated." When Looney retired in 1971, 1,100 officers were enrolled in college.

Above information from NEWSDAY - Friday, December 12, 2014