What to Know
- Suffolk County PD will get $1M from the state to install and run 50 license plate readers at 20 locations in Brentwood
- Five teenagers have been found dead in the city and all of them are believed to be victims of gang violence
- No one has been arrested in any of the murders but police believe the MS-13 gang is responsible
Police are looking to technology to help a Long Island city that has been plagued by gang violence.
The bodies of five teens were found throughout Brentwood over a six-week period and police believe their deaths are connected to the MS-13 gang.
The Suffolk County Police Department announced Sunday that it will receive $1 million in state funds for 50 license plate readers in Brentwood.
Assemblyman Phil Ramos secured the funds, which will go towards installing and maintaining the license plate readers. They will be installed at 20 locations throughout the community, police said.
The license plate readers will capture plate information that can then be checked against a list of wanted suspects, missing people and stolen vehicles.
The body of 18-year-old Jose Pena-Hernandez was the latest to be found in Brentwood. His body was discovered earlier in October and was identified last week. Pena-Hernandez was a known MS-13 gang member, according to police.
Local
The bodies of four other Brentwood High School students were found in the weeks before Pena-Hernandez’s body was discovered. Police had been scouring the grounds near a state-run psychiatric hospital in connection with those four students’ deaths when they came across the body of Pena-Hernandez in a wooded area.
Oscar Acosta, 19, and Miguel Garcia-Moran, 15, were missing for several months before their bodies were found near Long Island Railroad tracks Sept. 26. Authorities said that the two were victims of gang violence.
Two young girls, best friends with a passion for basketball, were found dead two weeks before Acosta and Garcia-Moran. On Sept. 13, the day before her 16th birthday, Nisa Mickens' brutally beaten body was found on a tree-lined street in Brentwood. A day later, the beaten body of her lifelong friend, 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, was discovered in the wooded backyard of a nearby home. Investigators suspect they too were victims of gang violence.
Police have been putting pressure on the more than 25 known MS-13 gang members previously in custody on various charges — some felonies, some misdemeanors — as part of a larger gang takedown. None of the dozens of gang members arrested were charged in the murders but they're facing state or federal RICO charges — meaning they need to cooperate or face lengthy prison sentences.
This month, Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy Sini told residents that "You're going to hear helicopters more often. That doesn't mean we're actively searching for anyone. We are engaging in proactive patrols and that includes by our schools, certain hot spots and in the air."
