Using Net To Mute Noise Polluters
The 106th Precinct was used Twitter this past weekend in an enhanced effort to crack down on noise in the area, just as the precinct’s commander warned last Wednesday night, June 11, during the 106th Precinct Community Council meeting in Ozone Park.
Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff is one of six commanding officers in the NYPD given authority to tweet precinct happenings. Schiff stated he is operating in real-time to fight crime in the 106th Precinct with Operation #SilentNight.
Noise complaints are a top priority for the 106th Precinct and Schiff invited the community to tweet him with any noise complaints for the weekend, June 13-15, in addition to calling 311.
Schiff shifted his working hours to 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. in order to combat noise in the neighborhood vowing to respond to every complaint.
“If you aren’t sleeping at night, I’m not,” Schiff said at the meeting. “We’re not playing games anymore.”
Residents were asked to go through the regular complaint channels by calling 311, but then also tweeting @NYPD106Pct to follow them on Twitter. Once the 106th Precinct starts following the individual, the complaintant could then post the problem location.
According to Schiff’s Twitter account, @NYPD106Pct, 31 complaints were addressed over the weekend, 18 summons were issued, and a block party was addressed and cleared. Most of the action was on Saturday, as the precinct received 19 complaints and issuing summonses to 11 individuals.
Police stated there were over 120 complaints to the 311 hotline. Approximately 22 summonses were issued for noise, the majority of which were for loud house parties. Several bars were also visited by police.
This is the first time trying this system for Schiff, who hopes to keep utilizing the tool in order to fight crime in the 106th Precinct and keep residents informed and safe.
Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder, spoke briefly commending the 10 th Precinct and Schiff’s use of social media, and encouraged the public to use the tool.
“Take advantage … This precinct is on the forefront of change,” Goldfeder said.
Schiff’s Twitter account has other posts and pictures of confiscated weapons, criminals at large, personal goods confiscated in robberies, arrests, events and real-time criminal activity.
Cop of the Month
June’s Cop of the Month Award went to P.O. Collin Dyer for arresting a gun-toting man at 111th Avenue and 120th Street in South Ozone Park.
Dyer and his partner saw the man walking along the road during a downpour without wearing a raincoat, which he reportedly had bundled up under his arm.
Due to the “totality of the circumstances,” according to Schiff, Dyer approached the man under reasonable suspicion asking him to shake out his raincoat. Reportedly, when officers inspected it, it appeared to have some extra weight to it.
When the suspect shook the coat, a .38-cal. revolver flew out of the bundle. Dyer chased the man to a Lefferts Boulevard location, where he made the arrest.
Schiff and Frank Dardani, president of the 106th Precinct Community Council, presented Dyer with a plaque donated by the Times Newsweekly for his efforts.
Other arrests
The precinct has been busy with major burglaries and big arrests in the southwest, northwest and central corridors of the 106th Precinct. Eighteen arrests for burglary were made in the past month, Schiff stated, which is up 500 percent.
The suspects arrested include the following:
– Howard Garcia, called a lifetime burglar, was found leaving a house he allegedly broke into in South Ozone Park. After his arrest, police searched his car and found gold chains, necklaces, rings, watches, a play station, and other jewelry from multiple burglaries.
Schiff posted the items on his Twitter asking residents to call if anything looked familiar.
– Claud Clark, 24, was arrested behind a Liberty Avenue location for an alleged knifepoint robbery and was charged with robbery and criminal possession of stolen property.
– On May 3, on Liberty Avenue three 17-year-old males were arrested on robbery charges. One displayed a knife to threaten victims, while another got the victims valuables, and the third acted as a lookout.
– Another arrest was made after a man conducted four robberies in one day two of which were in the 106th Precinct the other two in the 109th Precinct.
Other news
Schiff informed residents that La Bella Vita, a catering hall at 106-09 Rockaway Blvd., was shutdown after a joint investigation between the 106th Precinct and the State Liquor Authority discovered the owner had been operating under a forged liquor license.
Capt. John Gavley, the 106th Precinct’s executive officer, heads the traffic program and informed the meeting of the precinct’s first pedestrian fatality of 2014 at 130th Street and North Conduit Avenue, where a man was struck crossing the intersection against the light.
In light of the mayor’s Vision Zero program, Gavley’s traffic detail has been cracking down on drivers texting and using their cell phones while driving. Texting tickets are up 157 percent and speeding citations are up 250 percent in the last 28 days.
The precinct is also up in collisions and injuries which Gavely partly attributed to cell phone use, but mostly to victims not using their seat belt.
“[It] only takes a second, and it could save your life,” said Gavely on seat belts.
The next 106th Precinct Community Council meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, July 9, at 8 p.m. at the stationhouse located at 103-53 101st St. in Ozone Park. For more information, call the 106th Precinct Community Council at 1-718-845- 2228, or follow the precinct on Twitter, @NYPD106Pct.
