84th Precinct Captain Not Optimistic About Getting More Cops for Brooklyn Bridge Park

By on May 22, 2015 12:13 am in brooklyn bridge park, crime

The Eagle reports that, at last Tuesday’s 84th Precinct Community Council meeting, Capt. Sergio Centa was “not as optimistic” as he had been at the previous Council meeting about his ability to get more officers assigned to patrol Brooklyn Bridge Park in response to his request that followed the shooting incident on Pier 2 April 15. The Eagle story quotes Capt. Centa as noting the rapid changes following new construction in the Precinct’s area, which includes Downtown Brooklyn, and as saying “I don’t write the checks. I can only make recommendations to my superiors.” He did note that extra details of cops have been provided when large crowds are expected at the Park.

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  • Concerned

    Well, DeBlasio kept the 1000 new cops, that were recommended, out of the budget. I like to think of myself as progressive, but the more I see true liberals in control, the more conservative I become. Common sense is not so common.

  • TeddyNYC

    Maybe we need the creation of a new precinct for Brooklyn Heights/BBP. Either that or the 84th Pct gets the manpower it needs to adequately serve the increasing population and new developments with the ability to concentrate some resources on “hotspots” like BBP.

  • EmilyPineapple

    NYC has more cops than the entire nation of France. I think we’ll be okay.

  • Concerned

    How many poor, downtrodden young men with little hope (and easy access to guns) does France have? What a ridiculous comment.

  • Sen. Bob Forehead

    And that’s working out so well for France. They have large areas of major cities where the Police are afraid of even patroling.

  • NeighboorHood

    LOL De Blasio bashing of course. Because the NYPD is so starved for resources! We do NOT need ore cops on the payroll just common sense and fair use of resources. I walked 1 end of the BBPark to the other Saturday. Not ONE cop. They could put 2 cops on foot or bike, patrolling from opposite ends and it would be a vast improvement.
    The NYPD is the biggest police force in the country, with over 34,000 uniformed officers patrolling New York’s streets, and 51,000 employees overall — more than the FBI. It has a proposed budget of $4.6 billion for 2013, a figure that represents almost 15 percent of the entire city’s budget.

    NYC’s population is a little over 8 million. That means that there are 4.18 police officers per 1,000 people. By comparison, Los Angeles, the second largest city in the U.S. with 3.8 million people, has only 9,895 officers–a ratio of 2.6 police per 1,000 people.

  • Willow Street Watch

    Finally some sense is heard! The Heights used to have the pct within 5he Heights (remember?) But then it just had to be moved the Gold st. The rye joke/observation at the time was to save gas with all the jobs in the projects as the drug era mounted. But of course there should be a WELL RUN precinct within the Heights. Why? Well first of all, we’re the victim/target community in this area. Hey, no one in the Heights is going into surrounding areas and robbing anyone. The abuse is ALWAYS INCOMING…. its just the basic history folks….

    But it is also the case that the downtown area needs a WELL RUN police facility. With all the considerable increase in population and the huge gap in income and lifestyle between the new residents and the existing darlings in the area its a perfect recipe for serious danger. As of now, just area resident victimizing other residents in the projects area accounts for the vast majority of police runs in the 84.

  • Concerned

    Every time any of you attempt to make your point about NYC having enough police “because one place or another has less police” is showing either a) your ignorance of how different NYC is from other cities, and/or b) your lack of ability in constructive debate. Other cities are NOT NYC. To compare the issues in NYC to other cities here would be a waste of time if you don’t know by now.
    As far as Deblasio, I voted for him. However, I see very little leadership skills in the man. Moreover, if you hire an expert for a job you know nothing about (like Bratton), you should probably listen to him and put your ego to the side.

  • Willows Street Watch

    What we need to insist on a principle which was first voiced in the 84 pct community councils in the 70’s which were often a shouting match between one Heights figure and the projects people who were augmented by the graduates of the Frankfort school who were always “elected” to the board. The principal became known as Jeff’s law due to its chief proponent. But it makes more sense now:

    If you increase the population/business/human activity of any type in an area….YOU WANT MORE COPS! There is NO substitute for high visibility uniforms on the street. Why? Because this results in the most valuable aspect of police presence: it stops incidents before they occur.

    When it comes to public safety, the amount of highly visible police on the street, what’s termed “patrol strength” in internal police dept management terms, is what counts. The units have to be deployed and managed by competent, honest superiors, not career builders, and arrests and summons for serious infractions have to happen. But there is no substitute for cops.

  • memeadjuster

    Yes, I do believe it would be very prudent and easily doable to have at least one or two cops patrolling that big park on a Saturday, preferably on a bike or scooter. Maybe one of the dozens of cops could be reassigned from Times Square or another part of Manhattan to do so.

  • miriamcb

    Today we walked down to the park for a quick visit on the weekend and it was the first time I’d seen an actual park security person stationed at the tot lots/smorgasburg intersection. We’re in the park 3-4 times/week, at all times of the day. I’m not sure why I don’t see more park personnel.

  • BadmintonGuy

    We’re at Pier 2 every Sat and Sun mornings at 9 am and we always see uniformed park officers there. Usually 2 who patrol together on bicycles.

    I’m not sure if the cops stand out because there are less people or if I’m paying more attention.

    Plus on weekends, there are always cops around the Front St / BQE intersections, right by Grimaldi’s.

    We were at Pier 2 one weekday evening last week, and there were a number of cops there too.

  • Brixtony

    Absolutely not true – been listening to Jindal and Cruz on Faux News huh?

  • DIBS

    What a moronic analogy

  • Sen. Bob Forehead

    Sorry your Fascistic self validating ideological orthadoxy was offended ¯_(ツ)_/¯