January 2010 Meeting Minutes

70th Precinct Community Council
January 2010 Meeting Minutes

E-mail: 70PctCC@gmail.com
Blog: http://70PctCC.blogspot.com
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Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
7:30 PM
United Cerebral Palsy New York
175 Lawrence Street, Brooklyn, New York
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Officers Present

Ed Powell, President
Beverley Kilpatrick, Vice President
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
Jonathan Judge, Community Board 14
Roz Sokol for Assembly Member Steven Cymbrowitz
Eli Slavin for Congresswoman Yvette Clarke
Ed Powell for Assembly Member Rhoda Jacobs
Pinny Ringel for Council Member Simcha Felder
Chaim Deutsch for Council Member Mike Nelson
Ernest Skinner for Council Member Jumanne Williams


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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 announced that the December meeting was a treat with an amazing performance by Nathan Thompson who amazed the kids. 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 Simcha Felder – Pinny Ringel
Council Member Simcha Felder wanted everyone to know that he will be taking office on February 1st as Deputy Controller. There will be a special election to replace his seat. He wanted to thank everyone for their support throughout the eight years he served in the community. He gave a special thanks to the Inspector and Captain for their support. When people called their office to complain about a police issue, people thanked them for resolving the issues however, for the past eight years, there were three people from the precinct supporting them in resolving issues. On behalf of Council Member Felder, Mr. Ringel presented awards to P.O. Kim Walker, Detective Dominick Scotto and Lt. Jacqueline Bourne.

2. Message from Assembly Member Rhoda Jacobs – Ed Powell
On behalf of Assembly Member Rhoda Jacobs, Ed Powell announced Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs is co-sponsoring an event with Council Member Mathieu Eugene: a gathering in solidarity in support of the Haitian community. The event will take place Thursday, February 4th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The doors will open and 5:00 p.m. President Powell suggested that everyone come early. The location is the Walt Whitman theatre at Brooklyn College. There are many people that wanted to help with the situation in Haiti but don’t know the best way to help. On February 4th, you will be able to make donations i.e. food, clothing, medical supplies, money etc. This is an opportunity to find out the best way you can help out as an individual. If you have loved ones in Haiti or know of someone that has, please bring their names. Every name will be mentioned at the ceremony. You will also be able to bring non-perishable items for the Haitian Relief Effort and they will be collected on the Brooklyn College campus at Campus Road. You will need ticket to enter the school yard which is free. Tickets are available at Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs’s office, you can call her office at 718. 434. 0446 or you can go on line at the college and you will receive a ticket. The capacity is 2200 people.

President Powell also announced that he had a meeting with Chief Fox of Brooklyn South regarding something that they use to do years ago, a talent show. Every precinct in Brooklyn South will have at least one representative that will perform. The event is on Thursday, March 11, 2010 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Brooklyn College. Tickets are $5.00 per person. He stated that he had tickets and if anyone was interested, they should see him after the meeting. Also, if anyone is interested in performing let him know. Auditions are held Wednesday, January 20th, Tuesday, February 2nd, Thursday, February 4th, Monday, February 8th, and Wednesday, February 10th. Please let him or Detective Scotto know if you would like to come.

3. Rabbi Perlstein presented Commander Monteforte with a birthday cake as a token of appreciation followed by a birthday cheer.

4. Message from Senator Eric Adams Office. He wanted to remind everyone that the Census is coming up and everyone will receive a mailer. Everyone should fill out the census mailer. Every person who is listed on that mailer represents $3,000 in federal money that will be coming into our neighborhood. For every person who is not counted, we will lose $3,000 for next 10 years. He also announced that Time Warner Cable is giving free phone calls to Haiti to their customers.

5. President Powell introduced P.O. Tim Mercer from One Police Plaza. Officer Mercer greeted everyone and announced they will be starting a Mentorship program. They are focusing on kids that may need help and asked if we knew of any kids to submit their names to the youth officer. He also announced that his territory has expanded to all of Brooklyn.

6. Report from the Commanding Officer. Commander Monteforte announced the Community makes him feel that he is part of the community and part of the family. Crime has been dropping and our relationships have been getting better and he owes it to the people in the community council. We are down 300 crimes compared to this period last year. It means there are 300 less victims of crime, which is a 12% reduction in crime. The difference between last year and this year is last year there were over 2300 victims of crimes and this year a little over 2000. Commander Monteforte asked if anyone heard about the story on WPIX and in the Daily News about a blue van on Webster Avenue in Brooklyn trying to pick up children. He clarified that the incident was not happening in Brooklyn, it was happening in the Bronx.

Commander Monteforte announced the two new graduates from the 70th Precinct, from the Citizens Police Academy, Tamika and Maureen Williamson.

Detective Scotto announced that the new classes for the Citizens Police Academy will start again in March and if anyone is interested please let him know. It is a 15 week program that covers topics such as police science, law and police strategies. Classes are one day a week. The Brooklyn South Task Force provides the transportation. Anyone who is interested should contact Detective Scotto at 718-851-5557.

Commander Monteforte introduced Captain Tom Pascal. If you have any information or questions regarding illegal drugs or drug sales, please talk to him because he is doing an unbelievable job for our community. He next introduced Captain Peter Venice. He is in charge of all the IMPACT cops in the IMPACT zones. The Commander spoke about his expertise and how he makes sure that crime is reduced in that area and he is doing a great job. Captain Mike Giovanelli is involved in several areas of the precinct’s work; but the two main issues that he is involved with is identifying and tracking bad criminals in the precinct, the guys that carry firearms, and those who are dealing drugs and doing robberies. He tracks them down and makes sure all the cops in the precinct know who they are. They make visits to them and keep in contact with them to let them know they are always being watched. Secondly, he is in charge of traffic stats within the precinct. He goes over all the accidents, where the accidents are happening, as well as where the summonses are issued, in order to help reduce the number of people involved in car accidents.

Cops of the Month

Officer Jay Richiez
Officer Gregory Gordon
On January 4th, 2010 at 1:00 a.m. Officers Richiez and Gordon observed a gray Nissan Maxima heading east bound on Avenue D changing lanes without signaling and a plate that was covered, which is unauthorized and a violation. As police officers they are trained to look for other things. When they conducted their car stop they noticed the dashboard area surrounding the air vent which was loose and hanging. They looked around in the car and found two loaded magazines on the floor. Both men were arrested. The precinct called the District Attorney’s office to get a search warrant for the car. Behind the loose air vent was a loaded 9 millimeter gun. The guy was charged. Shortly after the arrest, Homeland Security called the precinct and found out that the suspect was wanted for a 1999 shooting of a police officer in Florida. Both Officers Richiez and Gordon work in the Conditions Unit. This unit made 96 arrests last year. They are doing a great job.

7. Open Forum with Inspector Monteforte.

There was a question about whether it is legal to feed a parking meter on behalf of someone else. Commander Monteforte stated he did not know the nature of the summons that was issued which could be the time frame in which the car was there or if it was in a no standing zone.

It was noted that on Newkirk and 17th Street (Newkirk Plaza) the lights have been out where the cameras are located.

Several members reported that they are having problems with graffiti. The Commander suggested they give their complaints to the graffiti officers; Officer McMullen and Officer Dabosco and they would look into it.

It was asked if it was illegal to ride bikes on the sidewalk. Commander Monteforte answered yes and stated bikes have to follow the same laws as vehicles. They issue summonses for it, but they also use discretion. If there is a ten year old kid riding on the sidewalk and getting bread for his mother we will not bring him into the station. If there is a guy riding on the sidewalk and its drug related that guy will at least get a summons.

Some residents complained about the new traffic installation at Fort Hamilton Parkway and Prospect Park S/W circle, saying that they felt it made the circle less safe. Commander Monteforte stated that he will monitor the accidents. He also stated that the circle covers the 70th, 66th, 72nd, and 78th Precincts.

A member of the public complained about people not cleaning up after their dogs. Commander Monteforte suggested that if you give the Sanitation Department specific times and locations, they will have a Sanitation Enforcement Officer around to check for this. Commander Monteforte stated that someone can receive a summons for dogs not being on a leash and defecating on the sidewalk. He also brought up people talking on their cell phones while driving. Commander Monteforte mentioned that there were a 100 summons given out in one day in the 70th Precinct for this offense.

Someone asked what areas the precinct covered. Commander Monteforte pointed out the boundaries of the 70th Precinct.

Someone asked for an update about a shooting on the block. Commander Monteforte stated that the day after Christmas there were two homicides in the precinct. One was on Regent Place and the other one was on Flatbush, the northern part of the precinct closer to Woodruff Avenue. He stated that they are still doing an investigation on it and did not want to talk about it in public. It is a very serious incidence and please if you hear of any information on crimes in the precinct please let them know. If you don’t feel comfortable calling the detective squad, call Det. Scotto, Lt. Bourne, himself or President Powell because these are very serious crimes.

The Commander advised the Council that two females in the precinct were killed due to domestic violence this year and that we are down 25%. If you observe a domestic argument where people are getting really enraged wherein they could possibly hurt somebody, notify the authorities because we have a wonderful domestic violence team. They conducted over 1,000 home visits last year and that is why we have a very large reduction in domestic violence.

Last year Officer Shafidiyya conducted over 250 home visits for all of our young people that have been arrested for crimes (serious and minor offenses). Because of that, we were down 133 robberies last year.

There was information regarding Crips in our area. It is important to understand that you should have private conversations with the officers about such issues when you come to the meeting, in order to remain anonymous.

A representative of Prospect South Association complimented Officer Monck for his extraordinary work. Also Commander Monteforte acknowledged Sgt. Kramer for doing a great job managing the CPOP operations.

One member of the public complimented Officer Tommy Yang for doing an excellent job.

8. Council Member Jumaane Williams – Ernest Skinner. On behalf of Council Member Jumanne Williams, Mr. Skinner announced Jumanne William’s Inauguration and invited everyone to attend on:
Saturday, January 30th, 2010
6:00 p.m.
Midwood High School
2839 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn, NY

Their office is located:
4517 Avenue D
Between 45th and 46th Streets

A member made the following announcement:

January 30th, 2010
The West Indian American Carnival Association will be having a march in support of the Haitians. The event begins at 11:00 a.m. and starts at Church Avenue and Rogers Avenue. For further information please call 718.467.1797.

Detective Scotto announced that terrorism is still out there. Please keep an eye open. The number for terrorism is 1.888.NYC.SAFE.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary McRae
Nathan Thompson