Additional Cops Coming To Parade Ground And Flatbush Avenue, Update On Newkirk Avenue Fatal Shooting & More Notes From The 70th Precinct Meeting

Following the fatal shooting of 27-year-old neighbor Raphael Kurton at Newkirk Avenue and E. 17th Street Tuesday night, Executive Officer Anthony Sanseverino said at Wednesday’s 70th Precinct Community Council meeting that police have “identified our bad guy.”

There has not yet been an arrest of the individual who shot Kurton, but Sanseverino said “he’s already wanted.”

“I know everybody’s concerned,” said Sanseverino, who spoke at the meeting in place of Deputy Inspector Richard BiBlasio, the precinct’s commanding officer, who’s on vacation. “This wasn’t a random event… This is a dispute that goes back years ago.”

For neighbors who would like to remember Kurton and take a stand against violence in our neighborhood, you can attend a community peace gathering at 6:30pm tonight. For more information, please go here.

Other highlights from the May 27 community council meeting include:

• The precinct has assigned two Parade Ground posts, which means there will be four cops working there “pretty much from morning to night,” Sanseverino said, noting that’s “something we’ve never been able to afford.”

• Flatbush Avenue, from Parkside Avenue to the Junction, has been added to the precinct’s Impact Program — meaning there will be additional police presence in the area during the day, Sanseverino said.

• A neighbor said after her daughter was attacked at 800 Avenue H, between E. 8th and E. 9th Streets, during the day on May 9, she saw him on the street and called 911 twice, but police did not respond. Eventually, the mother said the NYPD did arrive after the mother called. “We have a video of him in the building. Police looked at it; they took a report. A week later, I find out the case is closed… This man is just walking around like nothing happened.” Sanseverino said they will work with them on the matter, and he stressed that police do respond to all 911 calls, but some responses take longer than others. “We have to prioritize,” he said. “Sometimes we come in two minutes, sometimes we can’t.”

• After neighbors Dr. Farhat Shireen and Zafar Temuri, who live on Turner Place in Prospect Park South, told Deputy Inspector DiBlasio at last month’s meeting that they were frustrated with the police’s response to a burglary that happened in broad daylight at their apartment in April, Community Council Secretary Nathan Thompson asked Sanseverino what kind of follow up there has been. The executive officer responded that they have been working on it but that “it takes time to run an investigation.” Shireen and Temuri said more than $25,000 worth of items were stolen from their home, including MacBooks, jewelry and smartphones — and the criminal, or criminals, stole items located just next to the couple’s teenage daughter, who was sleeping at the time. After reporting the crime, the neighbors said police did not reach out to them for weeks — something which DiBlasio said at last month’s council meeting was inaccurate and that an officer had come not long after the burglary to perform a crime prevention survey.

• While Sanseverino said the precinct is down 13 percent in crime since last year, there has been “an uptick in youth on youth crime.” The executive officer encouraged parents to involve their children in different activities, including the precinct’s youth Explorers Program. “Have the conversation with your kids — if you’re gonna have an iPhone, don’t walk around with it out,” Sanseverino added.

• Jacob Gold, of Councilman Jumaane Williams’ office, announced the lawmaker’s Not In My Hood Anti-Violence March will be held on Saturday, May 30 in East Flatbush. The march will start at 12pm at I.S. 285, located at the corner of Ralph and Tilden Avenues, and will end at Flatbush Gardens, located on Foster Avenue between New York and Brooklyn Avenues. Following the march, there will be a resource fair held at Flatbush Gardens. For more information, call Monique Waterman of East Flatbush Village 718-826-0807 or email MWaterman@eastflatbushvillage.org.

• The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office will hold events on June 19 and June 20 at Emmanuel Baptist Church (279 Lafayette Avenue) to help individuals resolve outstanding warrants for issues such as drinking in public, urinating in public, jumping the subway turnstile, and unleashed dogs. The events will run from 9am-3pm each day. For more information, please call the DA’s office at 718-250-2340.

• The 70th Precinct will hold a blood drive on June 11, from 2-6pm in front of the precinct station, located at 154 Lawrence Avenue.

• Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte, Councilman Jumaane Williams, Councilman Mathieu Eugene, state Sen. Kevin Parker, and Assemblyman Jim Brennan will host a housing resource fair at Brooklyn College on June 13 from 10am-3pm.

Following the formal portion of the meeting, NYPD Detctive Joe Agosto allowed neighbors to try what’s called the Ti Training System, a firearm simulator which police recruits use as part of their training. Essentially, the training system allows individuals to use a fake gun and taser while responding to different interactive situations presented to them on a screen. Ultimately, police said the training system is meant to teach appropriate force.

Sanseverino, Agosto and other police said they wanted to bring the training system to the public to better inform individuals what it is like to be a police officer.

“How long does it take for the average gunfight between a police officer and armed adversary?” Agosto asked ” … The answer is four seconds.

“The worst thing that can ever happen to a cop is to get shot; the second worst thing is to have to shoot someone,” Agosto continued. “… It’s a very traumatic experience in real life — it takes very little time for an experience like that to happen.”

“How often is a cop killed in this country? Every other day,” he said. “Police work is very dangerous; it’s very fast… that’s what we’re training for.”

Neighbors were presented with a number of different scenarios, including 70th Precinct Community Council President Ed Powell and Vice President Tamika Williamson facing off with a hostile gunman.

“Ed and Tameka fired 13 rounds in about four seconds, including a couple rounds after the man has dropped his gun,” Agosto told Wednesday’s crowd.

The next 70th Precinct Community Council meeting will be held Wednesday, June 24 at 175 Lawrence Avenue.