NYPD Watchtower Goes Up At Caton Avenue & Parade Place

If you’ve passed by the Parade Ground lately, you’ve probably noticed a new addition to the area: the giant NYPD watchtower at the corner of Parade Place and Caton Avenue.

We spoke to 70th Precinct Detective Dominick Scotto yesterday about it, and he told us that the NYPD “rotates those throughout the precincts — they try to figure out where they need them; it’s a bird’s eye view of what’s going on.

“It’s to keep an eye on the Parade Grounds because some people said they didn’t see a police presence there,” he continued.

Several neighbors have inquired as to whether there was a shooting around the Parade Ground last Wednesday, May 6 because a police helicopter hovered over the area for quite some time during the evening. Detective Scotto said there was no shooting but the police were attempting to find a teen carrying a gun.

“They got the gun but not the kid,” Scotto told us.

What do you think of the watchtower — are you pleased it’s there, or would you like to see it go away?

In other police news, Scotto said 70th Precinct detectives are still working to arrest those responsible for the recent shooting outside a Flatbush Avenue church that left two men dead and four others injured.

If anyone has any information about the incident, you are asked to call the 70th Precinct detectives’ bureau at 718-851-5553 or call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577.