By Courtney Dentch
The Safe Haven program, run through the New York Police Department, relies on stores to provide a secure location for children and adults who may need help because they are lost, sick or afraid someone may harm them, said Assemblyman William Scarborough (D-St. Albans), who is one of the project's coordinators.
“This is a community program designed to provide residents access to specific locations where they can seek help in an emergency,” he said at an informational meeting on the program last Thursday at IS 59 in Laurelton. “This program will be of value, certainly for the students who attend this school and the seniors who live in the area.”
The 105th Precinct is working with Scarborough and the Local Development Corporation of Laurelton, Rosedale and Springfield Gardens to activate the program on the Merrick Boulevard commercial strip, which stretches from Springfield Boulevard to the Laurelton Parkway.
The leaders also hope to establish the program on the 243rd Street business district in Rosedale, said Michael Williams, of the LDC.
“Our homes are beautiful. Our friends and family are beautiful,” he said. “We want our commercial corridor to be beautiful. We want the businesses here to be representative of the businesses where we want to shop. We'd like the foot traffic to return to the commercial corridor.”
Businesses that volunteer to be Safe Haven locations are checked out by the police and the district attorney's office, Scarborough said. Once the spot is cleared, the owner and employees get some basic training on how to handle emergencies and who to call for help, he said. They also get information packets detailing how to give a description, what features to look for and how to make an identification, he said.
“When somebody comes in needing help, they will be able to help them,” Scarborough said. “The booklets, along with the training the employees will get, will help keep our neighborhood safe.”
The Safe Haven program has been around for years, but there are no active locations implementing the decals, said 105th Precinct Police Officer Nicole Dean.
“This is something we've been trying to get started,” she said. “It was here in Queens, but the program has kind of laid dormant.”
Scarborough is also hoping to establish the Safe Corridors program run through the Queens district attorney's office. The corridor program designates a specific route with extra security for students to travel on their way to and from school, he said.
“At dismissal time, we have hundreds if not thousands of youngsters on the street and we have had conflicts,” Scarborough said, referring to an incident where students and adults were trapped in a post office after two groups of youngsters clashed after school last year.
“This is definitely something we can use for our students,” agreed Nathaniel Washington, president of School Board 29.
An informational meeting on the 243rd Street arm of the program was planned for 7 p.m. Thursday at Throop Memorial Church, 243rd Street and Memphis Avenue.
Reach reporter Courtney Dentch by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 138.
