By Joy Bergmann
It’s never been easier to add an Officer Friendly to your smartphone contacts and Facebook feed, 24th precinct residents learned at last week’s community council meeting.
Capt. Seth Lynch continued his push for increased engagement between locals and cops. “Please like us on our new Facebook page and meet your section’s NCOs [Neighborhood Coordination Officers],” he said. “We do need feedback from the community.”
The NCO program launched several weeks ago with the aim of creating individual connections with officers, building trust and improving the kind of communication necessary to prevent and solve crimes. Capt. Lynch introduced residents to the two officers assigned to each of three sections in the 24th – most with over 10 years experience working in the area.
PO Paige Hilbig and PO Jovani Soto cover Section A, everything between 86th and 110th Streets west of Broadway.
PO Lindsey Robles and PO Nelson Gomez cover Section B, everything east of Broadway between 86th and 100th Street.
PO Henry Lopez and PO Harold Mauras cover Section C, everything east of Broadway from 100th to 110th Street.
In addition to on-the-beat conversations, officers encouraged emails from residents and will provide their cell numbers to anyone who inquires.
“We take our work phones home with us and are available to be called,” said Officer Robles. Added Officer Hilbig, “We’re here to help and are excited to work with all of you.”
Resident Anna Wiley welcomed the initiative, “I’m very happy and supportive of it. I think it will help the local community have a more personal relationship with the police.”
Capt. Lynch also reviewed the most recent crime stats during the meeting.
Though grand larceny complaints remain basically even with last year, Capt. Lynch said there’s been a recent uptick in identity theft, often related to mailbox fishing and check washing scams that have plagued the Upper West Side for at least two years. The precinct has worked with the USPS to retrofit over 50 mailboxes in the 10025 zip code with smaller slots, but complaints of intercepted checks do continue coming in.
Lt. Carlos Medina urged residents to protect themselves – especially during tax season – by following these safety tips:
- Order high-security checks from your bank and use only Uniball 207 gel ink pens to write them in the most indelible manner.
- Deposit check-containing mail inside post office buildings whenever possible.
- If using a street mailbox, deposit mail close to the posted pick-up time.
- Keep a record of your mailing times and locations. Should your mail be intercepted, that information is crucial to NYPD’s ability to retrieve any nearby video surveillance and apprehend the culprit.
Or, avoid mailing altogether. “Set up a direct deposit system,” said Lt. Medina. “It’s the most secure, safest way.”
thank you WSR for covering this. this is “pro-active policing” and is a welcome change from the old authoritarian racial-profiling-based “stop and frisk.”
And, guess what? Community policing works!
I personally look forward to meeting POs Robles and Gomez, who patrol my district.
And some “props” to Captain Lynch, who is obviously implementing community policing on the UWS as an “all-in” program.
i just wish the districts were smaller… maybe half the size. They need twice as many NCOs in the 24th.
Agree with you 100% Bruce and thank you WSR for covering this!
Racial profiling works too – take it from a woman of color who has actually lived in crime ridden neighbourhoods.
Excellent article. WE all have to pull together to make this NCO effort a success, but we will get more out of it if we put more into it. Please communicate with your NCO officer, email is easy and the officers will be quick to respond. Feel free to call me if you have questions at 212 709 9475
Tom Burnett, President of the 24 Precinct Community Council
They take their phones home! That’s going to be interesting!
Community policing isn’t a panacea. There are drawbacks. I spoke to a former police officer who told me that in his neighborhood, the criminals who know where an officer lives don’t exactly respect them or their families, if you know what I mean.
When will this program expand downward to the 60’s?
Here’s a tip to catch photocopying crooks.
Only use BLUE ink to sign documents. Black ink can be photocopied easily. Courts will rule that a document signed in blue is valid, while a black signature is debatable.
I sure like to like you on my Facebook but I gave up Facebook for Lent… just too much “Trump dump shit”.
But I wish you guys the best keep up the good work!!!
Just once, I would love to see a police offer giving someone a ticket for letting their dogs soil our public sidewalks.