Officer Retires After 28 Years

Newly-retired Village of Huntington Bay Police Officer Jay Verme. Photo/Danielle Cantanese

By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com

Officials and members of the Village of Huntington Bay community gathered Friday to bid farewell to longtime police officer Jay Verme, who has retired after 28 years of service with the village department.

“Officer Verme did an outstanding job for the village and surrounding area,” Mayor Herb Morrow said. “He was respected by every officer who served with him. On behalf of all of the residents of Huntington Bay, I thank him for his service and his unique contributions to this community.”

Verme, 53, of Halesite, said he adopted several traits during his time with the department, including patience, due diligence and intelligence.

He added, “If you know what you’re doing and you know you’re a professional, you can pretty much handle anything that comes your way.”

The most exciting part of the job, Verme said, was answering the telephone to take on an assignment.

“You never knew what you were going to end up with,” he said. “That is probably what I’ll miss the most: picking up the phone and not knowing where you’re going or where you’ll end up.”

Verme also reflected back on 2014, when Superstorm Sandy rocked Long Island’s north shore, including Huntington Bay.

“At one point we were trapped by trees that were down, and we had to literally cut our way out,” Verme said. The village hall generator had caught fire during the incident, causing officials and police officers to close village hall and relocate it to Halesite Fire Department headquarters.

“The village was in very tough shape -- no one had power,” Verme said. “Getting to emergencies was very difficult because a lot of the homes couldn’t be reached. It was a very challenging time for myself as a patrolman, but we got through it.”

Huntington Bay Police Chief Chris Jack, who worked with Verme for the past 14 years, called him reliable and said that whenever a big storm hit the area he would “probably be one of the first ones here” to help.

When he first came to the department, Jack said, Verme was someone he learned from and looked up to, adding that he wasn’t the only department member to do so.

“His morale was always up,” Jack said. “Even though we worked long hours and long days it didn’t really phase him, and it was definitely a clear indication that he loved his work.”

Verme was born and raised in Huntington, graduating from Huntington High School in 1983.

He went on to Nassau Community College where he studied criminal justice. During that time, he began taking civil service tests, a move that later helped him land a job with first the Northport Village and then Village of Huntington Bay police departments.

Verme hails from a family of Huntington Fire Department volunteers. He said he’s been an active member ever since he turned 18. His experiences with the fire department instilled a passion for helping, he said.

“That put me in the direction of getting a great feeling to help people and work in some unfit opportunities, in drastic situations,” he said. “It was a perfect fit for me and that inspired me to start taking civil service tests.”

Verme graduated from the academy in May 1987 and began working part-time with Northport Village while also running their marine division in the summertime.

At the same time he also began working for Huntington Bay, ultimately taking on a full-time position with the department in the early ’90s.

During his time as a patrolman, he was also the president of the PBA for around 15 years. He has also been a member of the Huntington Harbor Boating Club for the past seven years.

Now that he is retired, he will be splitting his time living with his wife in their home in Wellington, Florida and home in upstate New York. There, Verme hopes to get a part-time job with a Lake Champlain ferry company during the summer months.

“I always had an affection for the water -- always owned a boat, and had a captain’s license for 10 years now,” Verme said. “My father was a bayman, so part of my retirement plan is definitely to try and do something on the water.”

Along with pursuing a summer job on the water, Verme also has plans to relax and spend more time with his family.

“I have no regrets about anything with my career -- I enjoyed it thoroughly,” Verme said. “It’s a difficult process, but it was a very challenging and rewarding job.”