BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Bedford-Stuyvesant’s new Neighborhood Coordination Officers vowed to help create connections between residents and the NYPD with the kickoff of the area's new community-policing program.
“This is a perfect time for this, in light of events of the last week throughout the country,” said Assistant Chief Terence Monahan of the NYPD’s Chief of Department’s Office, addressing locals at a meet-and-greet Monday.
“This is the direction we as a police department need to take, this is the direction that communities need to go with us, this is a cooperative effort.”
Western Bed-Stuy’s 79th Precinct introduced the department’s community-policing model at the end of June. Specially-trained officers are assigned to neighborhood sectors to get to know residents and participate in community meetings.
The model aims to boost engagement between police and locals, as the same officers will be posted throughout specific areas of the precinct on a daily basis.
The Neighborhood Coordination Officers, or NCOs, will also set up work groups, in which they will collaborate with residents and stakeholders to identify problems and develop solutions.
Deputy Inspector John Chell of the 79th Precinct said the program is all-encompassing and that police will be able to focus on a range of crimes, whether it’s a gang-involved shooting or figuring out who trampled on a residents’ flowers.
Community members can have a direct line of communication to their NCO through officers’ cellphones and email addresses, officials added, and participating precincts will be rolling out their own Facebook pages.
Community surveys will also be conducted to evaluate the program's effectiveness.
Amid recent police-involved shootings and the killing of several officers in Dallas, attendees at Monday’s meet-and-greet brought up concerns of race relations between officers and residents in predominantly African-American communities.
“Are we going to be experiencing racism?” one Quincy Street resident asked, inquiring how officers would be trained. “An officer might be intimidated when I stand outside and I yell for my child, because I’m like that."
“You can’t hate up close, and that’s what this is about," Monahan replied. "Because I’m going to get to know you, it's not going to be the color of your skin, it’s going to be you."
Officers will be encouraged to introduce themselves to neighbors, and vice-versa, for a two-way dialogue, he added to applause from the crowd.
This week's meeting comes after someone slashed the tires of five police cars outside the Brooklyn precinct where an off-duty officer who shot a motorist is based, according to officials.
Locals expressed their support and condolences for police following the Dallas shootings, and sought advice for talking to their families on how to improve relationships with officers.
“This all starts with understanding and communicating, not rushing to judgment one way or another,” Monahan said.
“Ninety nine percent of the community is good, 99 percent of law enforcement is good. There are bad apples in the community, there are bad apples in the police department.
“We’re trying to remove the bad apples from our department and we’re trying to remove the bad apples from the community and, if we can get that done, then we’ll get closer to that utopia that we talked about.”
Residents ended the event by meeting with the NCOs designated to their neighborhood, many with whom they were already friendly.
Several officers and community members said they were optimistic, adding that the model would give them the opportunity for deeper engagement.
“You help us, we help you,” one officer said.
