By Stephen Witt
With crime continuing its downward spiral in 2005, the always busy 67th Precinct is bolstering 2006 with state-of-the-art police tactics and 60 new cops. The 67th Precinct’s commanding officer, Inspector Robert Boyce, began his monthly briefing before the community council last week by announcing that violent crime was down for 2005 as compared to 2004. Murders were down 24 percent, rape was down 25 percent and shootings were down 10 percent, said Boyce. Boyce said the new police tactics is to install cameras on the roofs and entrances to the 59 buildings that make up the Flatbush Gardens housing complex. The complex, once known as the Vanderveer Houses, is bounded by Nostrand Avenue on the west, Brooklyn Avenue on the east, Farragut Avenue on the south and Newkirk Avenue on the north. “The use of cameras is the policing wave of the future,” Boyce said. As for the 60 new cops, Boyce said 28 of them came from the 70th Precinct with six months of experience and the rest are fresh cadets from the police academy. All these new cops will be utilized in the Impact Zones, so called because police flood certain areas that are deemed to be high-crime areas. In the case of the 67th Precinct, Boyce said the Impact Zones currently are around Glenwood Avenue and Avenue H as well as the Junction. Boyce said the Impact Zones move around to address crime trends, but generally speaking they are in the commercial hubs such as Rutland Road and Winthrop Street, the site of a recent shooting. Other commercial hubs where Impact Zones are contemplated include Church Avenue in the East 30s and the East 50s, he said. Boyce said the new cops will all be walking the street and most will go on the 4 p.m. to midnight shift, which is when most crime is committed. Looking ahead to 2006, Boyce said he has issued a zero tolerance to the proliferation of large trucks utilizing local roads for parking and shortcuts. The legal truck route is Linden Boulevard and each officer has been given information on which truck routes are legal in the community, Boyce said. Boyce said that since January 1, 2006, police have issued 90 parking violations to the illegally parked trucks. There are still two major problems in the precinct, with the first being the proliferation of gangs committing violence, he said. Boyce said a lot of the gang activity still centers around schools, including Samuel Tilden High School, 5800 Tilden Avenue, and Meyer Levin Junior High School next door. The schools have many students from other neighborhoods, and it is important to get them on the bus back to their own neighborhood as soon as possible, Boyce said. The other problem is career criminals coming out of jail and back into the neighborhood. Boyce said the BAT (Burglary Apprehension Team) recently nabbed two such career criminals, and the cops remain on the lookout for other crimes of this nature.
