May 24, 2019 3 min read Bed Stuy

Four Brooklyn Precincts Get Extra Cops For Summer

Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan made an announcement at One Police Plaza about staffing and increases in manpower at certain precincts in the city for the summer. Todd Maisel/Bklyner

Beginning on Wednesday, May 22nd, cops normally assigned to desk duty hit the streets of 73rd, 75th, 79th, and 67th precincts as part of “Summer All-Out” program, Chief of Department Terrence Monahan said Wednesday.

Chief Monahan said the above precincts (as well as others across the city) will receive addition officers to patrol in areas considered “high crime” areas. The 73rd Precinct covers Brownsville and Bedford Stuyvesant, the 75th Precinct covers East New York, the 79th Precinct covers Bedford Stuyvesant, and the 67th Precinct covers East Flatbush and Flatbush areas.

Police officials say this will have no impact on other areas of Brooklyn that normally receive larger numbers of officers during the summer, including the 60th Precinct in Coney Island/Brighton Beach and the 61st Precinct, which covers Manhattan Beach and Sheepshead Bay. Both areas receive hundreds of thousands more visitors during the summer as residents and visitors head to the beaches to cool off.

The “Summer All-Out” program is aimed at continuing what officials said is turning out to be another low year for violent crime in New York. Four other police precincts in the Bronx and Queens will get more cops, along with two housing precincts. The subway system will also see additional cops, said Chief of Department Monahan at a news conference at Police Plaza.

There will be 287 police officers — 70 more than last year out on the streets. These cops, who normally do desk jobs, have been given quick refresher training on patrol tactics, and will work the streets through Sept. 6, three weeks longer than prior All-Out programs, Monahan said.

Chief of Department Terence A. Monahan, Chief of Patrol Rodney Harrison (L) and Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea (R). Todd Maisel/Bklyner

“Working hand-in-hand with community members and their fellow cops, these additional officers will focus on further reducing crime and violence,” Monahan said. “Also new this year, the Transit Bureau will receive an allotment of officers. Thanks to the hard work of the men and women in blue, New York City experienced reductions in both crime and violence during prior Summer All-Outs, and we look forward to a similar outcome this year.”

Monahan emphasized using more cops in the subway system, especially in light of several violent incidents, including one in which a woman was shot in the Franklin Avenue subway station when two men got into a shootout recently.

He also stressed that they are seeking at least one man for pulling emergency brakes on trains and using a key to open train doors. Police from the 13th Precinct in Manhattan arrested that man this morning (Friday), Isaiah Thompson, 23 of 153B Gates Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant. He was charged with reckless endangerment and public lewdness.

This is the fifth year that the department was taking desk duty officers and putting them onto the streets to augment manpower.

“They will all benefit from the infrastructure of Neighborhood Policing — neighborhood coordination officers and steady sector cops who will work with the All-Out personnel and inform them on local crime trends as well as quality of life conditions in the area,” Monahan said.