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Cops want to improve community relations in 102nd Precinct

The NYPD highlighted a new plan to improve community relations Tuesday, October 16 at the 102nd Precinct Community Council Meeting in Woodhaven.
NYPD drew up the plan after numerous complaints that New York City police officers were unapproachable and inaccessible.
“We want to increase the positive interaction between police officers and the community,” Detective Anita Jackson said. “We don’t want the only contact to be enforcement.”
Jackson, a community affairs officer for patrol borough Queens North and South, showed off the Community Partnership Program to the 30 residents and civic leaders in attendance. The goal of the program is improve interaction between officers and community members, and find new ways to sustain dialogue, Jackson said.
The program focuses on rookies who join precincts after completing training, Jackson said.
Part of the program involves approaching local merchants and asking about the problems they see in the community. Another aspect of the initiative has precinct community affairs officers taking rookies around to get to know various groups in the area, such as clergy, youth groups, and immigrant organizations.
The 102nd Precinct’s Commanding Officer, Captain Paul Piekarski, said he likes the program because it will provide residents with a chance to get to know their local officers. He recalled many instances in which locals seemed unsure of how to respond when he introduced himself on the street.
Piekarski said he wanted a good relationship with all the residents he serves.
The meeting also provided the police department a chance to inform residents of trends in their neighborhood.
Piekarski told the crowd that the precinct is facing three major issues at the moment. The first is a string of robberies involving young men in hooded sweatshirts. The robberies have been occurring after school or late at night, Piekarski said.
Secondly, there has been an increase in cars being broken into, the Captain continued.
Finally, the precinct has seen a problem with youngsters and phones. Either many phones are being stolen, Piekarski said, or kids are making up stories when they lose their mobile sidekicks.