83rd Precinct To Shift Special Patrol
The 83rd Precinct has turned its focus south as it looks to designate areas near Broadway as an ‘IMPACT Zone’ where the command would receive additional resources in the form of rookie cops, according to officials at the 83rd Precinct Community Council meeting, last Tuesday, May 21.
Part of the NYPD’s Operation IMPACT, the IMPACT Zones are high-crime areas where recently graduated officers walk the beat to provide an additional police pres- ence. The zones are chosen by NYPD brass, and each year, individual precincts must apply to have an area designated an Impact Zone, according to Kevin Abernethy, executive officer of the 83rd Precinct. Designations are made in June when cadets graduate from the police academy, he noted.
Abernethy said Bushwick’s current IMPACT Zone-the blocks around Maria Hernandez Park-has seen a dramatic reduction in crime, and the resources would be better allocated in the southern end of the precinct.
However, as crime continues to decline in Bushwick (reported crimes are down 17 percent year to date, and city-wide, the precinct ranks fifth in overall crime reduction), there is a chance the impact zone will move to a more needy precinct, Abernethy noted.
At this point, it’s very likely Bushwick will get another year of extra help when cadets graduate this June, according to Abernethy.
There are currently 48 impact officers assigned to the 83rd precinct, and next year there will be roughly the same number, Abernethy said.
Mini-bike busted
Lt. Jack McCarthy of the 83rd Precinct’s Special Operations Unit said one of the individuals riding a motorized mini-bike up and down sidewalks had been jailed.
McCarthy said a resident complained about the mini-biker at the Apr. 16, precinct council meeting, giving details about where the perp was riding.
Minutes later, officers observed the individual breaking a traffic law and arrested him, according to McCarthy.
“He was locked up-probably before the meeting was over,” McCarthy said.
Job openings at DSNY
Capt. Ignazio Terranova of the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) Community Affairs Unit told the council that the department will conduct a round of hiring in the fall, and he urged everyone to apply.
It’s the greatest job in the world,” he said. “No one gets paid what we get paid just to deal with garbage.”
He said the last time the agency hired en masse was 2007-100,000 people applied for the job, 72,000 were administered the qualifying test, and just 3,200 people were hired.
He said the sheer turnout is an indication of how good the jobs are at DSNY.
This round, he expects even more applicants and said the city may even institute a lottery system to pick a manageable number of people just to take the test.
Refuse Reminders
Terranova reminded residents about new recycling regulations that allow for the recycling of all rigid plastics.
In anticipation of the summer months-when many people move- he also reminded attendees that they must wrap mattresses in plastic before putting them out with trash. Doing so prevents the spread of bedbugs, and failing to follow the provision carries a $100 fine.
One resident complained that several mattresses appeared in front of her house overnight. When she called 311 to have them removed, the agency told her it was her responsibility to bag them before pickup.
Terranova said they became her responsibility when they were dumped there. He likened it to littering- when someone throws a food wrapper in front of another person’s house, the homeowner is ultimately the one responsible for having garbage in front of his or her residence.
Terranova said it is important that the resident keep an eye out for the van and report it if she sees it again.
Blood drive in June
Nick Cutrone of the New York Blood Center told residents about a blood drive planned for June 13. The drive will be held at the precinct, located at 485 Knickerbocker Ave., between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
He said blood centers cannot wait for the massive outpouring of help after national tragedies like the Boston Marathon Bombings-it needs a steady flow of donations for day-to-day operations.
The unfortunate events in Boston served as a keynote for Cutrone’s presentation.
He noted that none of the donations after the bombings helped victims directly.
“It was the people who donated a week before,” he said. “Don’t wait for a tragedy to donate blood.”
Crime stats
While were significant jumps in felony assaults and grand larcenies over the last few weeks, crime is continuing its downward trend in Bushwick, police records show. All told, crime is down nearly 17 percent for the year in the precinct, according to crime reports.
The number of felony assaults doubled during the week of May 15- 19 versus that week last year, and grand larcenies nearly tripled that week, with 11 reported in 2013 and 4 reported in 2012, according to police.
While felony assaults are still down for the year-18 percent lower than in 2012-grand larceny is one of the only categories that isn’t improving in 2013, stats indicate.
Abernethy said most of the grand larcenies are identity theft cases involving ATM fraud and “shoulder surfing”-looking over someone’s shoulder to gain personal information.
He said a typical scenario plays out like this: A victim inserts their debit card into an ATM. Then, a suspect approaches the victim, tells them the ATM is not working, and directs them to a nearby ATM. The victim leaves the first ATM without ending the session-leaving card information fresh in the machine. The suspect watches the victim enter his or her PIN number on the second machine and uses it to access the victim’s account on the first ATM.
Abernethy said the scam accounts for the sharp increase in grand larcenies in the 83rd Precinct. He cautioned residents to keep an eye out for such activity and to always ensure that their session is ended before leaving an ATM.
The other crime category that has not improved over 2012 is rape. There were three reported rapes in the 28-day period between Apr. 22 and May 19-two more than during that stretch of 2012, reports show. The crime is up 16.7 percent year to date with 14 reported rapes this year and 12 reported by this time in 2012, according to police records.
Officers are still searching for a suspect in connection with a rape and several sexual assaults that occurred along the Ridgewood-Bushwick border in April.
Meanwhile, robbery, burglary and auto thefts continue their decline in the neighborhood-there has been a 20 percent reduction in robberies this year, and burglaries are down 43 percent since Jan. 1, according to police. Similarly, reports of vehicle thefts have decreased by 26 percent for the year, statistics show.
The 83rd Precinct Community Council typically holds its meetings at 6:30 p.m. on the third Tuesday of the month at the 83rd Precinct, located at 480 Knickerbocker Ave. in Bushwick. The next meeting is scheduled for June 18.
