106th Precinct Plans Summer Crackdown
The 106th Precinct area has been noisy lately, and police and residents are gearing up to take action as the summer months near and parties go into full effect, as discussed at the 106th Precinct Community Council meeting last Wednesday, May 14, in Ozone Park.
According to Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff, the 106th Precinct commander, noise has been a major complaint in the area for many years and he plans to curb it.
“We have work to do. We’re going to make sure that we take care of this problem,” he said. “I really want to see a dent in this noise complaint that people have been complaining to the 106 for an extended period of years now.”
The precinct has purchased a sound meter and will be training two officers to be qualified to use the device to meter decibel levels at parties and for loud music.
“Sometimes we want to get a handle on [the parties] right away and we want to close them down right away,” Schiff added.
The time of day will be taken into consideration when noise complaints will be addressed, but Schiff stated he wants the neighborhood relatively quiet around midnight. The commander stated he will utilize his officers to make sure noise is kept to a respectable level within individuals’ personal space.
One sign of progress has been at Gemini Field, where an individual was blasting music from speakers on top of his car. Schiff says he won’t tolerate it: “You’re free to use our fields, but if you’re going to blast music go into your own neighborhood … we can’t have that here.”
While the 106th Precinct can’t afford a 24-hour post at the park, Schiff is ready to confiscate the individual’s car, speakers and issue a summons.
There have be no additional complaints thus far.
Cop of the Month
The Cop of the Month Award went to P.O. Vincent Brites for an April arrest in which he and his patrol partner received a distress call for an assault against a woman, explained Lt. Frank DiPreta, the precinct’s special operations coordinator.
Brites and his partner made it to the incident, saw the perpetrator, and made an arrest.
“Just because we made the arrest it doesn’t stop there,” DiPreta said. The suspect was the woman’s boyfriend and with any domestic violence incident, they must go deeper and specifically ask if there is a gun in the house, it was noted.
Brites reassured the woman she was in good hands and got her to open up and confirm a household gun. She gave the 106th Precinct permission to go into the house and get it.
The perpetrator has 33 prior arrests. Thanks to Brites’ outstanding police work he is off the streets for a good while, officers noted.
Schiff and Frank Dardani, 106th Precinct Community Council president, presented Brites with a plaque donated by the Times Newsweekly for his efforts.
Crime notes
Schiff also summarized several other recent arrests made by the 106th Precinct:
– Rohan Vickers, 24, was arrested and charged with felony assault for shooting a paintball gun at three other vehicles who also had paintball guns in separate vehicles. They hit innocent bystanders which awarded the perpetrator the felony charge. Three of the four guns were confiscated.
– Maurice Stokes, 27 was arrested Apr. 29 after an officer stopped a man that appeared to have a firearm. When Stokes was approached, he ran, instigating a lengthy pursuit through backyards and over fences.
Officers were not able to recover the gun due to the distance covered during the chase. Stokes was charged with criminal trespassing and resisting arrest. He has five priors and has conditional discharge.
– Willis Fairbanks, 46, was allegedly rifling through a car when he was confronted by the owner. The woman got her husband who chased Fairbanks down the street and caught him after a few blocks and held him until police showed up. Fairbanks has 15 prior arrests.
Schiff said, “bad guys do bad things … these guys are opportunists. He knows we know him.”
– John Broome, 35, was arrested for stealing 12 separate Econoline Vans in Queens and Brooklyn and 11 on Long Island. Schiff hopes this will cut down significantly on the vehicle thefts in the area.
Crime overall is down for the month and year except for vehicle theft, which remains a problem for the precinct with an increase of 64 percent, stated Schiff. The incidents are not happening in a concentrated area, which he stated makes it difficult to track, but many incidents are happening south of Liberty Avenue and south of Rockaway Boulevard.
Ford Econoline vans are in high demand for auto thieves as the parts are easily used for other models and are used in committing other crimes, it was noted.
Schiff informed the room the NYPD is rewarding individuals up to “$1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons possessing or distributing fireworks,” as stated in an NYPD flier. For crimes in progress, call 911 and for information call 311.
Kudos for flood response
Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder praised the 106 and community leaders for stepping up during recent floods saying “we’ve been through a rough couple of months … [the 106] put a lot of families at ease just by being out there just by being visible at two, three, four in the morning and a lot of credit goes to Inspector Schiff who was leading the charge late at night and very early in the morning.”
The assemblyman is pushing for a clearer and more organized emergency plan during disasters and hoping to update evacuation signage in the area to be better prepared for future storms and floods.
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The next 106th Precinct Community Council meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, June 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the stationhouse located at 103-53 101st St. in Ozone Park. For more information, call the 106th Precinct Community Affairs Unit at 1-718- 845-2228.
