New Voices Showcased At The 66th Precinct Community Council Meeting

For the last few years, Kensington activists attending Community Board 12 and the 66th Precinct Community Council meetings often noted that holding monthly meetings only in Boro Park, where the community board and the precinct are headquartered, shortchanges residents in its other communities. (The two have the same boundaries, which include Midwood, Kensington, and Boro Park. The eastern perimeter runs along Coney Island Avenue to Avenue P, up 60 Street, Eighth Avenue, and on the north along 39 ^Street/Ft. Hamilton Parkway/Caton Avenue.)

Until about a year and a half ago, suggestions to hold the meetings elsewhere were blowing in the wind. Then, Deputy Inspector Michael J. Deddo, the commanding officer at the precinct, began holding events and meetings at the far corners of the precinct’s command, including Kensington. For even the most dedicated council goers, these locations were a discovery—including to a few of the electeds. With the meetings being held throughout the precinct, an increasing number of organizations representing diverse populations have been able to become better acquainted with the 66th Precinct and the council.

Last week’s monthly 66th Precinct Community Council meeting, held Thursday, October 23 at the Royal Banquet Hall on Coney Island Avenue (between Cortelyou and Dorchester roads), was another first: the first time the precinct held a meeting at a Pakistani banquet hall and the first time—duly noted by an audience member—the precinct met at what some locals have dubbed the precinct’s “wild west” frontier for its failure to routinely enforce parking rules along Coney Island Avenue’s west side.

Announcing that this was the first time he’d seen so many cops at this end of the precinct, an audience member said he’d come to complain about how Coney Island Avenue’s auto-repair shops have colonized the sidewalk and street to use as workspace, forcing him, his granddaughter, and other pedestrians to walk in the street. Judging from the license plates, these auto-body shops attract customers from many states. Their double-parked cars are a road block. This isn’t the first time neighbors have complained about this issue – and in his 2008 novel, Netherland, Joseph O’Neill even  called it a “shoddily bustling strip of vehicles double-parked in front of gas stations…”

For Commander Deddo, these meetings are a way to introduce the precinct and its services to a new audience—as well as introducing precinct residents to a nearby, but perhaps, unfamiliar community. In his opening remarks he said, “I want to get our Pakistani community more involved. I take this opportunity to meet and great you in your neighborhood.”  The meeting was indeed packed with a diverse group, including individuals from the Pakistani and Bangladeshi community, as well as members of the NYPD auxiliary, the Shomrim, and the Brooklyn Asian Safety Patrol.

The commander has his presentation down pat and waltzed in a bevy of cops to showcase the precinct’s work. Among those who spoke was Patrol Boro Brooklyn South (PBBS) Deputy Chief Jeffrey Maddrey. PBBS has jurisdiction over the 13 precincts in South Brooklyn, including the 66th.  He testified to what a good job Commander Deddo was doing at the precinct.

As part of its Vision Zero traffic enforcement, Traffic Safety Specialist Sgt. Lesley Charles said the precinct engaged in the three Es: education, engineering and enforcement. During the two-week period in which the precinct set up a temporary tent on Ocean Parkway, it talked to schools and handed out 12,000 flyers.

Many people from the area, Sgt. Charles continued, have ideas on how to improve traffic safety and flow. These are passed on to NYC DOT, which then comes out to investigate. As to enforcement, Sgt. Charles said handing out speeding tickets on Ocean Parkway “actually works.” If you make your traffic complaints  directly to 311, he added,  you can track their progress. And thanks to public comments about cyclists riding on Ocean Parkway’s pedestrian path on its east side Deddo said the precinct is now enforcing the no-biking rule on that path. At the moment there aren’t any visible signs to indicate it’s a no-biking area. Don’t forget the new 25 mph speed limit starts November 7.

The precinct is looking for four more people to join its NYPD Explorers team, which currently has about 30 people, for next year. If you’re interested, you can call (718) 851–5601. Three of the women introduced at the last Community Council meeting and again at the most recent meeting, Jenny Saquinaula and sisters Sofia Ahkter and Suma Akter, touted its benefits. They said the program offers challenging, new experiences, bolsters courage, increases confidence, trains leaders. Participants make friends and have fun, too. It includes a two week classroom training at Fordham University and a one week boot camp in upstate New York during the summer. Speaking as a father of a teenager, Commander Deddo encouraged parents to consider it.  It looks great on a college resumé, he said, and you don’t have to become a police officer to participate.

The auxiliary police volunteers are the extra “eyes and ears” of NYPD, but have no enforcement power. They help out at street fairs and festivals and with accidents and traffic. They also perform foot, bike and vehicle patrols. At the moment, they are holding a recruitment drive. For more information or to get involved, you can call (917) 882-5610.

Officer Hernandez and Sgt. Zaleski, of the Domestic Violence team, spoke to audience members. An audience member asked how the precinct “handles the pressure on women in tight-knit communities not to come forward.” Answered Officer Hernandez: “You offer them advice.” Commander Deddo said, “You’re there, the way the Domestic Violence team was just now—at Maimonides Hospital with the victim. While you might not be able to change that culture, nonetheless, if the community sees a beacon of light—or hears a voice….” Officer Hernandez added, “We might get info later from a second or third source.” Deddo continued: “We want to keep all our citizens safe.“  In addition, he said, many communities have organizations to address these issues. A man from the audience volunteered, “We can learn too.” For more information about the domestic violence team, call (718) 851-5667.

“Cop of the Month” awards for July 2014 were presented to two members of the anticrime (plainclothes) unit: One to Officer Pulawski, for “two outstanding arrests including a rape. Also nice pick up robbery arrest two weeks later,” Commander Deddo said. The second was awarded to Officer Dave Shum, formerly the Kensington beat cop, for an arrest in a “forcible” robbery of a cell phone in Chinatown. Nadeem Ahmed received a special “Collaborative Policing Award” for helping the precinct with community issues.

A man from the audience asked what the precinct was doing about motorcyclists on Ocean Parkway who ride 10 to 15 miles above the speed limit.  Deddo said, while motorcyclist enforcement is up, “it is hard to get them for speeding. Instead, the borough is working as a team, setting up checkpoints and checking for licenses,” since many cyclists don’t have them.

As the meeting wound down, the compliments increased. D.A. Aaron Nottage, from the Kings County District Attorney’s office Grey Team, which works closely with the 66th Precinct and attends its meetings from time to time, seconded Deddo’s guided tour of the precinct. “As meetings have moved, you hear different voices,” he said, which was followed by lots of applause. Soon thereafter the meeting adjourned. Some people rushed over to talk to Commander Deddo, while many others lined up to fill their plates with that multicourse Pakistani meal set up on the table at the rear, and crowned by a not-to-be missed rice pudding.  Next meeting is Thursday, November 20, 7:30 pm at CB 12 offices, 5910 13th Avenue.