September 2010 Meeting Minutes

70th Precinct Community Council
September 2010 Meeting Minutes

E-mail: 70PctCC@gmail.com
Blog: http://70PctCC.blogspot.com
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Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
7:30 PM
United Cerebral Palsy New York
175 Lawrence Street, Brooklyn, New York
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Officers Present

Ed Powell, President
Rosanne Boland, Treasurer
Mary McRae, Secretary
Nathan Thompson, Assistant Secretary
Mavis Theodore, Sergeant-at-Arms


NYPD, Elected Officials & Other Guests

Inspector Ralph Monteforte, Commanding Officer
Captain Peter Venice, Executive Officer
Captain Michael Giovanelli, Executive Officer
Det. Dominick Scotto, Community Affairs
P.O. Kim Walker, Community Affairs
Lt. Jacqueline Bourne, Community Affairs
Delsie Lawson for Council Member Mathieu Eugene
Roz Sokol for Assembly Member Steven Cymbrowitz
Joe Basso for Community Board 14
Father Michael Perry Our Lady of Refuge
Rafael Samanez Vamos Unidos
Eli Slavin for Congresswoman Yvette Clarke
Ed Powell for Assembly Member Rhoda Jacobs
Pinny Ringel for Public Advocate Bill Diblasio
Joseph M. Burke, Kings County District Attorney’s Office
Shawn Campbell for Assembly Member Jim Brennan


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The regular monthly meeting of the 70th Precinct Community Council was called to order at 7:47 p.m. President Ed Powell greeted all and invited everyone to join him in the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. President Powell then acknowledged the various representatives of elected officials and other distinguished guests present at the meeting (see above).

1. Message from Council Member Mathieu Eugene – Delsie Lawson
Council Member Eugene is having a reception tomorrow, September 16th at Borough Hall (209 Jerome St.) from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. for six (6) students from Haiti who will be attending MCNY College in Manhattan for eighteen (18) months to learn disaster/survival training and ways to help rebuild Haiti.

2. Message from Assembly Member Rhoda Jacobs – Ed Powell
Council Member Rhoda Jacobs wanted to thank everyone for going out to the polls and re-electing her.

3. Message from Vamos Unidos - Rafael Samanez
Vamos Unidos is an organization of street vendors, which has approximately 800 vendors throughout the city. Their focus is on advocacy for vendor’s rights and injustices against street vendors. They are working with several precincts, the 40th, 46th, 52nd, 115th and are looking forward to working with the 70th Precinct to address their concerns and they hope to build a good relationship with the precinct.

4. President Powell asked all the officers of the Precinct Community Council to come forward so that everyone can meet them. The entire board was re-elected. On behalf of the board, President Powell wanted to express our appreciation for your confidence in us and wanted everyone to know who the officers are.
Ed Powell President
Beverly Kirkpatrick Vice President
Rosanne Boland Treasurer
Mary McRae Secretary
Nathan Thompson Asst. Secretary
Mavis Theodore Sergeant-at-Arms

Ben Waltzer announced that he set a Flatbush Parade yahoo group. He would like people to join the group so that people can speak online about things going on within the precinct, near the parade grounds especially and beyond that as well. If you would like to join please add your name to his list and he will send you an invite.

Father Perry announced that on Sunday, September 26th, 2010 at our Lady of Refuge on the corner of Ocean and Foster Avenues, with a government agency, will be doing a Drug Buy Back The drugs are not illegal but prescription drugs. If you have any prescription drugs that are outdated or that you don’t use, they are asking you to not put them in the water, throw them in the garbage or put them somewhere that young children can get them.

President Powell wanted everyone to be aware of the flood victims in Pakistan. A community organization, Council of People’s Organization (COPO) is collecting money, food, clothes, supplies etc. for the flood victims. COPO contributed to the people of Haiti after the earthquake. He asked that everyone please try to help regarding the disaster in Pakistan.

5. Report from the Commanding Officer. Commander Monteforte announced crime is down by 1 ½% it is not a big number but nonetheless crime is down more than last year. Our precinct is leading the way. We are down by 6% which means that there are 80 less victims of crime this year. We are doing better than the rest of the city. School is just starting and of course, that is a concern at the 70th Precinct. We will do as we have done the last two years. When school is dismissed we will have more patrol officers on those routes to insure the safety of the kids. We want to take the bad kids off the streets and protect the good kids that are going home.

He wished the Muslim friends Happy Ramadan, He wished the Jewish friends, Happy New Year. He stated that there are 9 Mosque, 76 Synagogues and 72 Churches in our command. Commander Monteforte continued by saying just think how diverse this precinct is with that many churches, synagogues and mosques and everyone gets along extremely well, and that is because of our special liaisons.

In honor of Chief Patrick Brennan who once was the 70th Precinct Commander back in the 90s, every year an award is given in his name to the best police officer in Brooklyn South, which has about 4,000 police officers. The ceremony takes place in front of the 67th Precinct on October 26th. Chief Brennan’s family gives the award to a deserving officer. The officer receiving the award this year is our own Det. Dominick Scotto.

At the beginning of the summer, although crime was down, we had a little bit of increase in violence especially around 23rd Street and Clarendon Road. There were quite a few instances of shots fired from mid June to mid July. The two captains the lieutenant and the whole precinct paid close attention to that area because people were getting shot and some were innocent victims. With all the attention from our precinct and other outside units within the police department, that neighborhood had quieted down tremendously. He thanked all the officers and the two captains for spending time in that area and making sure all the residents were safe. For the last three months we have had only two shootings.

Cops/Detective of the Month
Detective Kevin Stumpf
Captain Peter Venice
Captain Michael Giovanelli

Thursday, August 19th, approximately 9:30 p.m. inside of 2388 Nostrand Avenue, Yosef Robinson was shot and killed during a robbery. Detective Kevin Stumpf with the assistant of the 70th Precinct squad and the homicide squad quickly identified the suspect and apprehended him five days later.

The second award is a little bit of a surprise. He stated he has been out for approximately three months and there are approximately 450 workers in the 70th Precinct which includes uniformed officers, civilians, auxiliary officers and school crossing guards. It is one of the largest commands in the city. The three months that he was out both Captains had to take over for him, and they did an excellent job. They have been working all summer long from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., and sometimes beyond, to make sure the streets were safe at night especially after the rash of gunplay. They are also in charge of the IMPACT officers. as well as traffic in this command. They know how many accidents occur in the command, how and where they occur, and what we need to do to stop them.. These are some of the factors that they study to find ways to reduce the amount of accidents in the command. Commander Monteforte stated we have the two best Captains in the whole city. Because of the dedication they demonstrated, in getting the job done while he was away, he presented them with awards to thank them.

6. Open Forum with Inspector Monteforte.
Members of Vamos Unidos wanted to have a private meeting with the Commander to talk about their problems. A lot of vendors in the parade grounds are allegedly being assaulted, some at gun point. Commander Monteforte suggested that they report crimes to the precinct whether they are working legally or illegally.

A member spoke on problems with drug trafficking on East 17th Street between Newkirk and Ditmas Avenues. He stated that it calmed down in June, but the activities have started again. Fridays are like a party that starts at 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. or more. Captain Giovanelli stated that during the week they met with the specialty unit and arrested five people from that area.

A member stated that in April there was a violent murder with a machete at the Parade Grounds. A week or so later about 50 yards away, a livery driver was killed. The 70 precinct responded with more officers. Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs, the 70th Precinct, Ed Powell and other agencies did a walk through at the Parade Grounds and discussed strategies to improve safety and security at that location. One suggestion was video cameras to observe and identify perpetrators of criminal activity. According to the member, one week later there was a shooting at the same exact spot. He felt that a camera would have prevented it.

Commander Monteforte stated the machete incident with the 18 year old was a gang assault. An arrest was made shortly after that. The cab driver incident had nothing to do with the park. The third incident was reported as shots fired in the park but no one was injured. At the corner of Parade Place and Caton Avenue is the Dillon Stewart Playground, named after one of our brave cops killed in the line of duty. It is part of our impact zone. There are more cops there this year than last year because; last year it wasn’t part of the impact zone. This year, our precinct has close to 1500 major crimes. Of 1500 crimes, 14 crimes were committed in the parade grounds. One is the horrible homicide that occurred. This year three robberies were reported in the Parade Grounds. All three times the perpetrators were arrested. Last year there were nine robberies in the Parade Ground. Grand larceny, which is stealing somebody’s property, is down by six this year, in comparison to thirteen last year. Felony assault is the only crime that is up in the Parade Grounds. Last year there was not one felony assault. This year, there have been four. The first two were with regard to two cops being assaulted going into the parade ground making sure that people get summonses who need to get summonses. The third was regarding a child who was pushed, fell to the ground and got hurt; and the fourth was the reckless endangerment from the shots fired incident, mentioned above.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 27th, 2010.



Respectfully submitted,

Mary McRae
Nathan Thompson