12. Thomas Spota

Having won a fourth term thanks to a court ruling that overturned a three-term limit and having no opposition once he’d obtained the Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Independence lines on the ballot, Spota could have taken it easy and coasted into retirement. But this 72-year-old crime fighter has been all over the news waging a battle on a wide front against a range of issues, from the mysterious attempted murder of Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius to the scandalous illegal dumping of more than 50,000 tons of hazardous materials, including asbestos, arsenic and DDT, uncovered in Islip Town. He’s also cracked down on drunken drivers and boaters, busted cocaine rings and investigated police misconduct on LI. And he’s been unafraid to prosecute shenanigans perpetrated by politicians of any party. During his tenure, Spota has helped restore the reputation of his office to a luster that it had lost before he took office. We rest our case.