Whenever I cover a 69th Precinct Community Council meeting where a
police officer is awarded for taking weapons off the street, I obviously
wonder – how did they receive the word about the weapon? Anonymous tips
and chasing down a crook right after they’ve committed a crime seem to
be a common method of getting firearms off the streets. Besides the fact
that this is what police officers are supposed to
do – and not just patrol our streets and issue fines/tickets – it’s
hard to imagine that putting MORE officers on patrol will do any good
since there’s little “cracking down” taking place in our doomed borough.
Last week, the Daily News reported that over 300 cops will be reassigned to precincts in Brooklyn and the Bronx
in an effort to curtail gun violence. Our precinct supposedly got 40
more cops last week, which I was unable to confirm with anyone at the
stationhouse.
Sadly,
every weekend we can conduct a shooting roundup – there’s dozens of
incidents involving gun violence “within three days” or “within hours.”
If the cops that are out there NOW can’t catch the bad guys in a few
days or weeks, what will more
cops do? Chances are, the cops they add to our precinct will only get a
briefing on what they need to do. And if they’re cops from different
precincts – now assigned to Canarsie – they’ll first have to learn about our streets so they’re prepared to handle any situation.
I had an assignment in Bed Stuy last year when I interviewed the
mother of a toddler who was killed in a car accident. Seventy-fifth
Precinct cops swarmed the area – their cruisers parked in the middle of
Fulton Street. I had no idea where I was going or where the mother lived
– I only knew the street name, so I figured a police officer would know
the area they’re patrolling, right? Unfortunately, when I asked a
handful of officers where Hull Street was, none
of them had a clue! Okay….maybe some of the cops from that precinct
were outside of their sector… maybe some of them weren’t from the 75th
Precinct…But what if there was a shooting on that street? What if a
gun-wielding and “suspicious” person was on Hull Street? If officers in
the immediate area don’t know where the streets are, how can they
respond fast enough?
My question is – why does the NYPD think that putting more cops out
there will deter gunmen from “taking care of business?” We’ve already
decided that Stop-and-Frisk is an “unethical practice that promotes
racial profiling,” so what good is having those extra cops on the beat
if they’re not going to stop these young kids who are “packing heat” and
walking our streets? You don’t want to have random stops, but you’re
going to have even MORE cops just watching people walk by – possibly
with a gun hidden in their waistband? True, if a cop is on foot patrol
they could possibly – POSSIBLY – get the bad guy who fled a few blocks
away from the shooting.
What about shootings that take place inside someone’s home or in an
apartment building? Cops don’t have secret ways of knowing about a
shooting before it happens – if they did, OF COURSE there’d be less
crime. So, someone walking on Seaview Avenue
gets shot in the leg or arm…if the victim lives, they consider it an
“assault” and not attempted murder. How do authorities know that the
shooter didn’t intend to kill
their target? Thanks to our liberal system, we give criminals the
benefit of the doubt until it’s proven that they intentionally murdered
someone.
I honestly don’t think the NYPD has what it takes to prevent
shootings or decrease the violence. As much as they show a presence
where they need to, the city needs to focus on making more arrests and
putting more preventative measures in place. In most cases, shooting
victims don’t cooperate with police when it comes to telling them who
committed the violent crime. Preventative measures? How do you prevent
someone with a gun from carrying out a shooting?
The Daily News said that
Police Commissioner Bill Braton issued a memo on June 30th, detailing a
three-month surge dubbed “Summer All Out.” Really? As opposed to the
rest of the year when shooting statistics don’t matter all that much?
Let’s get real! I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again – no amount
of enforcement will stop someone who has an irrational vendetta against
their enemy. Stabbings are also up in the city – are cops going to be
able to stop a knife-wielding suspect from attacking their victims? If
the answer were yes, we wouldn’t be reading about the increasing number
of deaths resulting from senseless stabbings to begin with!
While cops are pulling over drivers and worrying about issuing minor
tickets, some thug out there is whipping out a weapon and adding to the
number of violent incidents and deaths in a community. It’s not like the
NYPD can easily infiltrate the community and eavesdrop on conversations
about plans to “pop a cap in someone’s a**.” As a whole, our country is
more focused on international investigations and deterring plans made
by our overseas enemies. Cops hanging out on the corner and keeping a
“watchful eye” for suspicious activity is only as proactive as the
officers are.
Go ahead – add as many cops as you’d like to our bloodied
sidewalks…And don’t forget, you still have two months of summer left to
tally up those shootings on your calendar.
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