106th Precinct Lands Four New Officers

After battling a rash of break-ins and thefts plaguing South Queens, the 106th Precinct welcomed with open arms four additional officers Tuesday.

Calling the new additions “great news” in an email to the community Wednesday morning, Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff, commanding officer of the 106th Precinct, said three of the four officers assigned to the 106th came from the Patrol Borough Queens South instant response team and the other from the 103rd Precinct’s impact unit.

“In the days to follow, the newly assigned officers will be out meeting with elected officials, clergy, and community members,” Schiff wrote.

Following an uptick in crime in March, no burglaries have been reported beginning March 22 – something residents and civic leaders have attributed to an increase in officers in the area. While there had been an influx of resources to the precinct following the spike in crime, the NYPD had to pull some of the extra support in recent weeks – making the news that new permanent officers would be at the 106th that much more welcome.

Following a meeting of the Howard Beach-Lindenwood Civic at the end of March, at which hundreds of concerned residents turned out to speak about burglaries in the neighborhood, the NYPD deployed the Queens South Task Force to work in Howard Beach in an effort to supplement the precinct’s patrol. Additional marked cars had also been in the area.

Speaking at the Community Board 10 meeting last Thursday, Schiff also reported that police would be “doing summons enforcement big time” on Liberty Avenue last Friday – which resulted in more than 70 vehicular summonses being issued.

As part of the summons blitz, police looked for “double parkers, cell phone talkers” and more, Schiff told residents at CB 10.

The initiative was part of the mayor’s “Vision Zero” plan to dramatically reduce pedestrian deaths in the city, and Schiff noted that 40 percent of the pedestrians struck in the precinct are hit on Liberty Avenue from 114th to the Van Wyck.

In addition to upping the ante when it comes to summonses, Schiff said at the same CB 10 meeting that he and his officers are making fighting noise complaints one of their top priorities this summer – a notoriously bad time for residents when it comes to loud music and late-night parties.

“We’re going to issue summonses and we’ll be seizing equipment,” Schiff said of such noise-producing items as turntables and iPods. “I’m not playing around.”

The deputy inspector also recently reported two high-profile arrests, including one in which his cops chased down a gun-wielding suspect for two blocks and arrested him at 111th Avenue and 120th Street on May 2. Officers from the 106th also made an arrest at 5 a.m. the next day, May 3, of a suspect who had been allegedly attempting a robbery at knifepoint at 134th Street and 107th Avenue.