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Crime Prevention Tips From The NYPD
Filed under: 11211, 11222, Criminal Activity, Greenpoint, Greenpoint Brooklyn, Greenpoint Magic, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn
Yesterday I attended a hastily convened meeting at the 94th Precinct regarding crime trends here in Williamspoint. Apparently there was a spike in robberies last week— and this obviously being a source of concern— local neighborhood groups were invited to discuss the matter. Most of the meeting can be summarized by the annotation on the flier to the left: don’t be an idiot. Nonetheless, I will outline the more salient points in this post.
Exercise Vigilance
70% of all crimes in the 94th last year were grand larceny/property crimes. These range anywhere from losing unattended property to smash and grabs; burglary and robbery. All more or less have two thing in common: they’re crimes of opportunity and appear to be perpetrated by a handful of serial offenders. D.I. Fulton cited one such example of this: a group of men who managed to rob three people in a single evening.
Although this is common sense I am going to list a few tips:
1. Watch your property
2. Do NOT leave valuables in your car
3. Refrain from talking on your cell phone and/or texting when walking our streets. Not only does negotiating around such people (who tend to weave around) piss yours truly off in a big, big way, but it makes you an easy target for robbery
4. When going out at night go in groups and refrain from being intoxicated. Public drunkenness makes one a sterling target for robberies and, as D.I. Fulton noted, one should not be impaired when negotiating the marginally secured construction sites hereabouts.
5. LOCK YOUR DOORS AND WINDOWS. This too is common sense, but Mr. Fulton recounted to us a robbery where the woman’s apartment was accessed via a window on her fire escape. If you think you’re not an easy target because you reside on a higher floor, think again.
6. If you see suspicious activity, call the police.
Arrests
Although D.I. Fulton pointed out crime was down 6.7% last year (there were a total of 1,651 arrests last year lest you are wondering), he did list a few areas where more arrests and/or citations are being made:
1. Robberies (as I have already mentioned)
2. Graffiti
3. Truck traffic summonses are up for a third year in a row.
It was also noted that they are also cracking down on derelict bicycles. Which brings me to what is probably the most useful piece of information I gleaned from this meeting: the 94th Precinct is registering bicycles. This service is totally free and anyone interested should contact Elizabeth Moulterie at (718) 383-3879. The 94th’s Community Liaison, Carlos Ortiz gave me a compelling, if darkly amusing, example why bicycle owners should register their rides. He was once contacted by a gentleman whose bike was stolen… and turned up locked to a gate a few doors down on his block! How’s that for chutzpah? Despite his protestations that the vehicle in question was in fact his, since he had not seen the thief take it and there was no serial number engraved on it there was nothing they could do about it.
In closing, I’d feel remiss if I didn’t mention a little chicanery I encountered on the way to this meeting. On Manhattan Avenue between Java and Kent streets a 20-something woman hocked up a loogie— and noticing that she got my attention— tried to sell me a can of Folgers coffee for $5.00. Hot coffee. I was also equally impressed (if that is the most appropriate word to use) to learn at this meeting that apparently some of our local drug dealers are cutting their “product” with sheet rock excavated from the walls of their apartment building. The entrepreneurial moxie of the more criminally-inclined people in this neighborhood never ceases to amaze me.
Miss Heather
P.S.: I have recorded most— but not all— of the proceedings. Given the sensitive matter of some of the material discussed, I did not film the people present. I simply pointed my camera at the ceiling (so as to capture the audio and preserve the attendee’s anonymity). The sound quality is less than spectacular, but here it is.
1. General introduction, Crime rundown
2. Crime rundown, tips for crime prevention, Q & A
3. Q & A, continued. NOTE: last week’s “suspicious death” and Violeete Kryzak are touched upon at the very end. I advise you to give this a listen.
4. More Q & A: concerns about narcotics activity are aired (Speaking for myself, I have observed increasing evidence of heroin use along Manhattan Avenue north of Greenpoint Avenue.)
5. Concluding remarks
Comments
5 Comments on Crime Prevention Tips From The NYPD
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OldStyleNo10 on
Thu, 28th Jan 2010 4:06 pm
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missheather on
Thu, 28th Jan 2010 6:28 pm
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OldStyleNo10 on
Fri, 29th Jan 2010 9:28 am
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d on
Fri, 29th Jan 2010 7:22 pm
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Rebecca11222 on
Fri, 29th Jan 2010 8:20 pm
Please, Miss Heather, please. Please stop using the term Williamspoint. Please. There is no Williamspoint. There’s Williamsburg, there’s Greenpoint.
I do not wish to sound impertinent, but I don’t see what the big deal is. It is simply a descriptive short cut which means Williamsburg and Greenpoint. That’s it.
Of course I could use Greenburg if that’s more palatable! 🙂
Not to sound all Old School, but Williamspoint smacks to me of real-estate-driven neighborhood name changes. The Lower East Side becomes the East Village, Hell’s Kitchen becomes Clinton, South Brooklyn becomes Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens, Bushwick becomes East Williamsburg. Now I know that is not your intention, but I just find it jarring.
C’mon, Heather, it’s just 13 more characters to type. b-u-r-g- -a-n-d- -G-r-e-e-n.
But if you must, I kinda like Greenburg better. Priorities and all.
It’s tongue-in-cheek, what’s the big whoop? 😀
As someone who had to flee her apartment near the corner of Calyer at Eckford because the heroin junkies (1 being the landlady’s 46-yr-old son) who illegally lived in the basement threatened physical harm to her and her family, and who actually moved to Yorkville because a) now cheaper rents than those in Greenpoint, and b) there she wouldn’t be targeted (threats were made to that effect by son and his heroin-nodder friends), I find this meeting disconcerting.
Did I file complaints at the 94th? Yes.
Did someone die of a heroin overdose in my basement in May of 2009? Yes.
Did my landlady file a complaint against her son (whose notoriety is such that he was thrown out of the local soup kitchen because of his violent behavior) because of his drug activity and harassment of my family? Yes.
Would she evict him even though she witnessed threats against me and my family (Threats made because I went to the police)? No.
Did I tell the 94th Precinct Community Liaison all of this, PLUS the fact that I suspected the basement of my building was a bicycle chop-shop (why would you need to spray-paint a bike to sell it?)? Yes. Liaison response: call NYPD narcotics, threats are not a crime, and if you fear for your life, LEAVE.
Why is the 94th so reticent to put two and two together and do something to PREVENT crime, rather than waiting until someone is hurt (or worse)?
To post pics to your 911 or 311 call: http://www.nyc.gov/apps/311/allServices.htm?searchUrl=%2Fapps%2F311%2FsimpleSearchResults.htm%3Fsearch%3Dpictures&requestType=about311Service&serviceName=Video+or+Picture+Upload+Information
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and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!
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