July 10, 2004
Activists call for more cops
Police union claims city's 2 biggest precincts
are not adequately patrolled
By JEFF HARRELL
It's not "uncommon" for only two patrol cars to cover each of the
city's two largest police precincts -- both located on Staten Island
-- according to a police union official.
According to numbers released by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association,
New Dorp's 122nd Precinct, which covers 27 square miles and a population
of 191,090, regularly schedules four patrol cars for each of three
eight-hour shifts. The precinct covers the largest geographical
area in the city.
Tottenville's 123rd Precinct, the city's second-largest precinct
area and the fastest-growing, with 17.5 square miles and a community
population of 89,772, utilizes four patrol cars per eight-hour shift.
But, according to Albert O'Leary, a spokesman for the PBA, "It's
not at all uncommon to see where [the 122nd Precinct and the 123rd
Precinct] can put out only two cars per shift.
"It's a real problem," O'Leary said of a police-staffing
dilemma that boils down to too many emergency calls and not enough
cops to respond.
"It's a problem around the city," he said. "It's
a problem mitigated by the perception that crime continues to drop.
Frankly, we contend that that's a numbers game."
While the North Shore's 120th Precinct covers only 14.1 square
miles, it is the Island's busiest precinct. Police statistics show
a total of 810 offenses handled by the 120th Precinct through June
27, compared to 582 at the 122nd and 197 at the 123rd.
The PBA said five patrol cars are scheduled during the day shift
at the 120th Precinct, and six each for the 4 p.m. to midnight and
the midnight to 8 a.m. shifts.
However, according to law enforcement sources, if an arrest is
made by a 120th Precinct patrol officer for a minor offense, such
as public drinking, "they're basically taking that car off
the street and losing 20 to 30 percent of their patrol force"
in the borough's busiest precinct.
The number of police officers has been dropping since Mayor Michael
Bloomberg took office in 2002. According to the PBA, in 1999 the
city employed 27,000 patrol officers in the NYPD's 75 precincts.
Today, there are 22,000, or about 70 fewer officers per precinct.
"The NYPD is constantly re-evaluating its resources and assigning
personnel as needed," said Paul Browne, the department's deputy
commissioner for public information, in a statement to the Advance.
"Our strategies are proving successful."
Activists counter that the number of cops on the Island has been
in steady decline for almost a decade.
At a rally yesterday in front of the 122nd Precinct, Victoria Fagan,
president and founder of Victoria Fagan of Citizens Outraged with
Puny Police Services, said, "I want to meet with [Police Commissioner
Raymond Kelly] to have him address issues of our concern."
Patricia Lockhart, a teacher at PS 57 in Clifton who lives in Dongan
Hills, brought students to the rally to show that kids care about
cops, too.
Ms. Fagan said top administrative sources in the department revealed
to her that the Island would be assigned approximately 50 new cops
from the Police Academy's recent graduating class.
She called it a start, but not a solution. She was hoping for 75.
When asked if she would prefer more cops or a fourth precinct for
the borough, as has been proposed, Ms. Fagan responded: "Staff
the existing precincts in the meantime, before the fourth building
goes up."
Michael Arvanites, legislative coordinator for City Councilman
Michael McMahon (D-North Shore), said the councilman's priority
during the past budget cycle was helping to secure $36 million for
the new, state-of-the-art 120th Precinct stationhouse, planned for
Hill Street in Stapleton.
The North Shore precinct is currently headquartered in an aged
building on Richmond Terrace, opposite the Richmond County Bank
Ball Park at St. George.
"We'd love to get a new precinct with the staffing to complete
it," Arvanites said. "It's certainly something to look
at."
Arvanites said McMahon's feelings on the matter are, "The
cops we have go above and beyond the call of duty, we just need
more of them."
Joe Valentin, president of the 122nd Community Council, worries
that the Island's overworked officers are going to burn out.
He said that if a major incident occurred, calling for a large
police response, parts of the borough would be virtually unprotected.
"The guys are doing more with less," he said. Valentin
added that he wasn't surprised when police sources told the Advance
there wasn't enough manpower to handle all the fireworks-related
phone calls on July 4.
"We've been saying that all along," he said. "[Cops
are] not machines, they're humans."
Jeff Harrell and Doug Auer cover police and fire news for the
Advance. They may be reached at harrell@siadvance.com
and auer@siadvance.com.
|
