The Q at Parkside

(for those for whom the Parkside Q is their hometrain)

News and Nonsense from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Lefferts and environs, or more specifically a neighborhood once known as Melrose Park. Sometimes called Lefferts Gardens. Or Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. Or PLG. Or North Flatbush. Or Caledonia (west of Ocean). Or West Pigtown. Across From Park Slope. Under Crown Heights. Near Drummer's Grove. The Side of the Park With the McDonalds. Jackie Robinson Town. Home of Lefferts Manor. West Wingate. Near Kings County Hospital. Or if you're coming from the airport in taxi, maybe just Flatbush is best.

Monday, August 20, 2012

71st Precinct On a Crime Busting Spree

Congrats to the 71st on the following, via Vinny Martinos. Glad to see that the Civilian Observation Patrol was helpful over on Kingston, but for the love of God when are we going to start patrolling over here? It's been over a year since Ben Edwards and company started signing up recruits. Let's get that thing rolling, along with the nifty jackets and sporty vehicle.


Cell Phone Arrest

08-15-2012 at 9 AM There was a cell phone larceny on Brooklyn and Maple in which a cell phone was snatched from victims hand by a perpetrator on a bike. After a brief canvass a positive ID was made and the perp was arrested.

08-16-2012 at PM 1115 PM Three Perps surrounded victim at Montgomery and Utica. They then forcible removed her cell phone. A canvass was immediately conducted and all three perps were positively ID at E92 and East New York Ave.

Firearm Arrest

08-16-2012 at 9 PM front of 1106 President Street a Perp was arrested for a loaded handgun and marijuana POSSESION.

08-17-2012 at 140 AM in the rear of 1663 Carroll Street a Perp was arrested for possession of a loaded firearm and resisting arrest.

08-17-2012 Gun shots were fired on Nostrand Ave at approximately 5 PM (No one was injured) The perp was ID by the 71Precinct Detective Unit and was brought into custody Saturday afternoon.

Burglary Arrest

Wednesday 08/15/2012 at approximately 1100 PM a member of the Civilian Observation Patrol noticed an individual walking down Kingston Ave. acting suspicious. As he followed the individual he noticed him enter an apartment. He immediately called 911. When NYPD arrived the individual was placed under arrest and charged with Burglary. The perp has confessed to nine other burglaries. Excellent work by COP.

ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ON ANY CRIME PLEASE CALL 71 PRECINCT DETECTIVES AT 718-735-0501

THANK YOU


P.O. Vincent Martinos

71st Precinct - Community Affairs
New York City Police Department
421 Empire Blvd
Brooklyn, New York 11225

Phone: (718) 735-0527
Fax: (718) 735-0518
email: Vincent.Martinos@NYPD.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Umm... okay, so, Ben Edwards. Nice guy. 100% ineffective. Find a new leader and the patrol might take off.

Anonymous said...

Without laying into Edwards, maybe we could step back and say that the leader of the Lefferts Manor Association is not necessarily the right fit for leading C.O.P., which is supposed to cover everyone, not just the single-family home owners. It's time we ALL took a more active role in the safety of our neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

Dear Q,

Thanks for putting the crime report together, it is nice to know what is happening around the neighborhood. I am wondering if you or your readers know what the best way to get in touch with someone at the 71st is to register a complaint? I live in one of the (many) buildings in the neighborhood that has a problem with kids hanging out in the lobby smoking weed and making noise. I tried to call the 71st using the main number and then also the community affairs number tonight to let someone know that this was happening tonight (not that tonight is much different than other nights here) but because of the cooler weather they must be busy. The phone just rang and rang. Any other good ways to get in touch?

Thanks so much.
Maple Street

Clarkson FlatBed said...

You could call 311 if want nothing to happen. You could call 911 and nothing still might happen, but if there's a crime going on (yes, smoking pot is a crime, as is excessive noise) then by all means. That's what it's for. I don't buy this nonsense that it "ties the lines" for more serious crimes. Cops make decisions based on 911 calls - both in the short term and long term. Frankly, I wish people would call it more often rather than thinking someone else will.

You could email these guys:

Vincent.Martinos@NYPD.org - for Community Affairs matters, or to talk about general stuff
Michael.Falk@NYPD.org - he's in charge of the beat cops, wherever they are.

I'm loathe to print the precinct commander's cell phone # here, but if you email me off-blog I'm happy to share it. timothyjamesthomas@gmail.com.

tim

Anonymous said...

Sounds like the building I live in! And I'm not on Maple!

MadMommaCarmen said...

I've been calling 911, 311 and the precinct itself regarding young men who are blatantly selling drugs next door to my building. I've e-mailed with the officers over a dozen times and you know what's happened, NOTHING. The police come every once in a while and minutes after they leave, the guys regroup and its business as usual. Myself and the tenant of my building are extremely frustrated at the lack of response from the police. When they do finally show up (if they show up), they act annoyed, and sometimes they don't even get out of their vehicle. From my experience, the police are completely inefficient and none of the offenders around here seem the least bit concerned about the cops, which says a lot.

Clarkson FlatBed said...

That's unacceptable. It might be time to ask the commander to come and meet with concerned residents SPECIFICALLY about drug related loitering. Actually, from what I've heard from other neighborhoods, it may be D.A. Hynes who is better equipped to deal with it. Various neighborhood groups wrote a well-written letter to Commissioner Kelly about this and other PLG safety issues, and it would appear our letter got lost in the shuffle, because I have yet to get a satisfactory response from the Commissioner's assistant that they received it or are taking action. Sigh.

Jean said...

I used to live in one of the big apartment buildings and called 311 almost every night to complain about excessive noise from the teenagers hanging out outside. Nothing was ever done. One night I mentioned that they were smoking pot; I was immediately transferred me to 911 and the cops showed up 4 minutes later. I felt pretty bad about calling the police for marijuana use, and I don't really want anyone getting arrested for that. But if you're at your wits end, this could be an effective option.

Anonymous said...

I really have come to the conclusion the only way to make the precinct and local reps address the blatant drug dealing in this neighborhood is to videotape it, put it on youtube, send it to the New York Daily News and shame them all into finally taking action. Because as Carmen describes literally nothing else has motivated them to do one single thing. The dealers are totally back on the corner of Maple at Ray's Grocery btw. Shut that grocery down. In any other city in the country that business owner would not be allowed to encourage dealers to hang out in and outside his establishment.

Anonymous said...

Has it occurred to anyone that the
egregious drug dealing in front of
Ray's could be in the financial interest of those who allow it to occur?

Bob Marvin said...

Ray's or the NYPD? I doubt the latter as things are just too tightly controlled for that kind of corruption to exist any more.

I've long thought that a large delegation of residents sitting on folding chairs outside of Ray's, smiling and waving to the dealers and their customers, would go a long way towards solving the problem.

Clarkson FlatBed said...

Bob: I was thinking the EXACT same thing just yesterday. That is the sort of "Take Back Our Communities" stuff that could really make a difference. If we could organize this, it could be a model for all the trouble-spots in our neighborhood. It would be incredibly important to organize and publicize it well, so a true representation of the neighborhood was involved. I would support it 110%.

MadMommaCarmen said...

So how do we start organizing this?

Anonymous said...

Pick a night, any night, and publicize it. Just like the neighborhood clean up. Get a big group, bring kids for the early part of the shift. Stay as long as you can and just peacefully hang out. I will bring cookies. I think this kind of this is exactly what is needed. There are actually plenty of people here who give a damn, they just need to see that others care too.

Anonymous said...

Bob, cool idea. Maybe we could sort of model it after "Occupy Wall Street" e.g."Occupy Ray's Drug Bodega", or something.

Bob Marvin said...

I like the name! This will require quite a bit of planning--I wouldn't want to see anyone get hurt, since we are dealing with potentially violent criminals.

I think the goals can be twofold (at least)--to disrupt the drug dealers and/or their customers and (maybe more important) to embarass the PD into taking action--the "ongoing investigation" excuse has been used for FAR too many years IMO.

Anonymous said...

Has the neighborhood ever worked with the NYPD Civil Enforcement Unit (CEU)? The CEU is the legal bureau of the NYPD that upholds the New York Nuisance Abatement law. Since Ray's grocery store is a commercial space that is acting as a drug den this may be an option the neighborhood could pursue with the help of an attorney.

The NYPD'S civil enforcement lawyers apply in Supreme Court where the property is located for a temporary closing and restraining order, usually without notifying the business operator and building owner of the application. If the court grants the order the City can keep the location closed for up to one year, also known as a permanent injunction and impose daily fines. The City sues the landlord, the operators of the establishment or occupants of the premises and even the land and building.

Below is the nyc.gov website about the CEU:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/legal_matters/dclm_civil_enforcement_unit.shtml

Bob Marvin said...


RE: civil enforcement, about 20, or so, years ago this was used to shut down a notorious drug location called something like the Dynamite Lounge, on Flatbush @ Maple--the location that later was home to Mike's International and is now vacant.

IIRC the club was indeed padlocked for a year. Ithink the landlord actually cooperated with the police, possibly because the club/drug front had stopped paying rent. Also, again IIRC, there had to be a number of drug arrests at the location first. If this is still required, the lack of police enforcement at Ray's might be a problem.

Anonymous said...

Hi, sorry so late (way late!) to the game but I just came across your blog. Curious if there was any organizing done regarding this?