Notes From the 70th Precinct Community Council Meeting
This month’s 70th Precinct Community Council meeting took place last night. There was cake (happy birthday to Ed Powell!), inexplicably early Halloween decorations and several important issues discussed at the meeting. Here’s some of what was covered:
• The head of Counter-Terrorism for Brooklyn South stopped by to stress the department’s need for public help in catching suspicious behavior. You can call 1-888-NYC-SAFE with any tip.
• Community interaction was a major theme from the meeting. Deputy Inspector Rodriguez reported that tips from the public led to several arrests related to the string of home burglaries earlier this year.
• Rodriguez also reported that crime is down 1% for the year. Crime has dropped 19 years in a row for this precinct, ever since the introduction of CompStat.
• However, “robberies and grand larcenies are being driven by electronics” such as iPhones and iPads. The importance of apps such as Find My iPhone were stressed.
• iPhones are stolen and then sold to stores. The 70th precinct conducts sting operations against businesses who buy stolen phones. The cops locked up two local males buying stolen phones as recently as Wednesday.
• A few stats from Inspector Rodriguez: There have been 11 shootings this year compared to 27 last year, a 60% decrease. 15 people have been shot this year compared to 31 people last year, a 50% decrease.
• Scams targeting the elderly are a concern. One of the most popular is a supposed illegal immigrant having won the lottery and offering half the money in exchange for use of your bank account. Another is a fake team of Con Ed workers entering homes and robbing it as one member of the team distracts you.
• Leonard Robertson spoke about a domestic violence incident that the cops took over an hour to respond to. Slow response times are nothing new in the neighborhood. The inspector said he’d have to look into the specific incident but that in general, response times were due to the priorities and man power available at the time of the call. The 70th Precinct is one of the busier areas in the city.
• Other issues brought up by attendees included cherry bomb throwing and continued loitering in the neighborhood.
• Council Member Mathieu Eugene talked about immigrants often being unable to pay for immigration services. His office will be offering free immigration services on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you know someone who would benefit from these services, let them know that services are available for free.
• Council Member Jumaane Williams discussed problems that occurred on primary day including the small font issue that vexed the elderly. Williams stressed that even if you are at the wrong polling location (another common issue since the locations changed), you can and should sign an affidavit ballot to have your vote counted. Do not leave without voting!
Next month’s meeting is October 24 due to Halloween falling on the usual last Wednesday of the month. As always, you can reach out to the 70th Precinct with your concerns by contacting Community Affairs at 718-851-5557. These meetings are an excellent opportunity to speak directly with the officers in charge about the things that are happening in your neighborhood but the precinct stressed that they’d rather hear from the community as incidents occur rather than waiting for a meeting.