By Stephen Witt
The 76th Precinct’s new commanding officer, Captain Michael Kemper, is taking a pro-active stance in fighting crime. Kemper, speaking at last week’s Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association meeting, said the cops plan on leaving some valuables — such as pocketbooks and bicycles, seemingly unattended to see if thieves pounce on crimes of opportunity. “We’re going to do sting operations and the bad guys should have in their head that they don’t know whose property they are taking and we’ll be watching them,” said Kemper. “The 76th Precinct is also recommending that people secure their personal property, and lock their car and house doors when they leave, not to leave personal property unattended,” he added. Among the areas Kemper said police will be watching is Carroll Park between Smith and Court Streets, and President and Carroll Streets. The park, which is often used as a teenage hangout, along with being a major recreation facility for young parents and their children, currently is locked every night at 10 p.m. by police. In the morning at dusk Parks Department workers reopen it. Kemper said that police are also paying attention to the Smith and Court Street corridors where there has been a rash of broken storefront windows with the perpetrator then stealing items from the storefront. Kemper said he has plans for catching the window breaking thief by changing police shifts particularly in the early mornings. “I’m still looking at shifts and crime patterns,” said Kemper, who just took over the precinct February 1, after serving at the 75th Precinct in East New York for the last three years. Among community complaints at the meeting was that students who have remedial classes after regular school at P.S. 142, at 16 Henry Street, are often very rowdy. One resident said they get out of school at 4:30 p.m., and he has seen them walking on parked cars on 2nd Place near the school. The late school hours are a result of the new teacher’s contract, which stipulates teachers must give 37 minutes of time for students who need help after the regular school days ends, said one resident. Kemper replied that he will look into the situation and deploy cops accordingly to remedy the situation. The precinct will also make sure youth officers and beat cops are stationed along the 2nd Place corridor, he said. Kemper said he will also contact the school to find out how many kids are affected from the late dismissal and will work with the school in alleviating the situation.
