An uptick in shootings in the Village of Hempstead has prompted the county's police commissioner to call for a larger police presence.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder has proposed a plan to have state troopers help Hempstead Village police patrol the streets.

"We had the murder just last week. We had an additional shooting on Saturday and we've had the murders earlier in the year, so we're looking at three shootings - three homicides so far this year in the Village of Hempstead," says Ryder.

The commissioner spoke with News 12 after speaking with our partners at Newsday about what he hopes to accomplish.

"When you put more cops, crime always goes down and I think that's what we're trying to do here," says Ryder. "We're just trying to stop the bleeding right now."

Ryder says if the plan is approved, state troopers would work alongside village police and Nassau police in patrolling the streets and showing the community that there are more officers available to help get the people who are committing the crimes off the streets.

Ryder says he just met with Hempstead Village Police Chief Paul Johnson Thursday to talk about a strategy.

As News 12 has reported, Johnson was accused of helping to fix traffic tickets before he was promoted to chief.

However, Ryder says he's not focused on that.

"It's not our business," says Ryder. "We don't stick our nose into it, but we gotta work with our village and we gotta work with the community."