A strong relationship between residents and police officers is often viewed as a key to reducing crime and keeping the streets safe. At Wednesday night’s 112th Community Council meeting, the Forest Hills based police precinct reintroduced the block watcher program, which encourages residents to be the “eyes and ears of the neighborhood.”
The program includes training for residents in observation skills, so a block watch volunteer can better identify the difference between reporting a minor disturbance in the neighborhood and calling 911 to report a crime. They are also given a confidential Block Watcher ID number, which helps police keep track of what neighborhood the crime is in.
Officer Dion Harris, of the Community Affairs Bureau, explained the program for residents. He said that the block watcher program helps police because people can report suspicious activity on their block or information that they hear from a friend or neighbor.
Harris stressed, however, that residents shouldn’t directly get involved to stop a crime.
“We don’t want you to go out and be the police,” Harris said. “We don’t want you to get personally involved; we don’t want you to get physically involved in anyway.”
As part of the training for the program, volunteers will watch a video that details what to do when they see something and the correct number to report the crime or incident to. Harris said that one reason the program failed previously was because residents were calling the wrong number to report something.
The program will be successful if residents can get their information passed along to the right people, Harris said.
After a resident asked when to call 911 instead of 311, Harris said that if you see kids smoking what appears to be marijuana, then calling 911 is appropriate because that’s a crime that the police can handle. In contrast, he said if kids are being loud and smoking cigarettes, call 311 because that’s a quality of life issue. Harris added that people have to make sure not to say “drugs” when describing people with cigarettes because police would think the situation is more serious than it actually is.
“Don’t create more to the scenario to get more of a reaction,” he said. “Because you just put those kids in a place that they shouldn’t be.”
Residents who were certified to in the previous block watcher program have to go through the training again to be recertified. Harris said he is waiting for final approval from Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and is not sure exactly when the program will start.
Crime rising in the 112th Precinct
Also at the meeting, Deputy Inspector Chris Tamola reported the latest crime statistics from the 112th Precinct.
According to Tamola, crime has increased 14 percent compared to last year. Grand larcenies are the driving force of the increase as it is up 29 percent.
He also said that there has been an increase in cell phone robberies and identity thefts. Tamola calls crimes like stealing electronics a “crime of opportunity” as people check their cell phones while walking down the street. He added that it’s a difficult crime to solve because victims are often unable to accurately describe who took their cell phone.
As for identity thefts, Tamola said to beware of people who say that they are from the NYPD asking for donations and personal information, as this is something that the Police Department would never do.
The next 112th Precinct Community meeting will be on October 19th at 7:30 p.m. in the 112th Precinct Stationhouse at 68-40 Austin Street in Forest Hills.
By Luis Gronda
