CARROLL GARDENS — Brooklyn's 76th Precinct has a new captain at the helm — making him the fifth commanding officer in less than five years.
Capt. Elliot Colon took over as head of the precinct roughly two weeks ago, introducing himself to those assembled at a community meeting in Gowanus Houses Monday night.
“I’ve heard a lot of good stuff about this command," Colon said. “I’m looking forward to working with everyone here.”
The previous commanding officer, Capt. Natalie Maldonado, left the post after only four months at the helm when she retired from the force in June, an NYPD spokeswoman confirmed.
Before Maldonado, Capt. Justin Lenz was commanding officer of the precinct for 17 months. His predecessor, Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff, was at the helm from May 2012 through September 2013. Before that, Captain John Lewis headed the precinct from September 2010 to May 2012.
Colon has been on the force for 21 years after starting out as a police officer in South Jamaica, he said. He then worked as a sargeant in Crown Heights and later as a lieutenant in Bushwick and East New York.
He was promoted to captain while working at a Bedford-Stuyvesant precinct and was most recently the commanding officer of Brooklyn North Borough Crime, he said.
The 76th Precinct covers Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, and parts of Boerum Hill and Gowanus.
