By Helen Klein
A visit from the 63rd Precinct to Fraser Civic Association combined an overview of crime stats in the neighborhood with some good, old-fashioned advice for helping yourself in case you become the victim of a crime. Sergeant Christine Bastedenbeck, who is in the precinct’s community affairs department, told members of the civic association, gathered at Yeshiva Tiferes Yisroel, 1271 East 35th Street, for the group’s January meeting, that crime in the precinct was down, overall, 2.8 percent, “Which is great for us. We are really excited about that.” The number of police officers assigned to the precinct has gone up for 2006, said Bastedenbeck. Last year, she said, the precinct had approximately 96 officers. “As of yesterday,” she went on, “we had 136. We are going to put them in areas where we might need them, set up some specialized units to go throughout the precinct. It’s really good when we get extra cops out there.” The precinct, said Bastedenbeck, is still offering graffiti removal services. “If you sign a waiver giving the city permission, we can do that. We can either come out and do painting or there’s a truck from the city that can come out and do power-washing. That takes a little longer because there’s only a few that go throughout the city, but we can set up an appointment for that.” Bastedenbeck also urged her listeners to try and remember as many details as possible about their attacker, should they ever become a victim of a crime. “A lot of times it’s tough for us because people have trouble giving us a good description,” she said. “Start from head to toe, if you can remember any distinct thing about the person,” Bastedenbeck went on. “Is he wearing a hat? What color hair does he have? Is he wearing glasses? Is he wearing an overcoat? A major thing that you really want to look at if someone is involved in a crime against you, check their shoes. When people commit a crime, they throw their clothes off, but they’re not going to change their shoes. If you give us a good description of what kind of shoes they are wearing, that’s probably going to help us a lot.” If the perpetrator takes off in a car, “Always look at the license plate,” Bastedenbeck continued. “Even if you get a partial license plate, that helps us a lot.” VIN etching is a free service offered by the precinct that can help protect a car from being stolen. “You can barely see it but it is in the corner of each window,” said Bastedenbeck. “If someone steals cars for parts, they are not going to be able to use the windows. It takes five percent off your insurance and it’s absolutely free.” Another car part that can have the VIN number applied, said Bastedenbeck, is the airbag. “That’s huge,” she told her listeners. “Airbags are stolen all the time, and you can have your special number on it.” To set up an appointment for VIN etching, call718-258-1505.
