Sometimes policing has nothing to do with walking the streets and enforcing the laws.
Just ask Coney Island cop Jennifer Greco, who was honored recently for not following the city’s penal code, but her heart.
Inspector Robert Johnsen, the commanding officer of the 60th Precinct, told community council members last week that Greco, the precinct’s domestic violence officer, was going about her business last December when a woman walked in with a heartbreaking tale.
The woman wanted to learn how she could give up her child, whom she could no longer support.
The single mom said that she recently lost her job. Everything she did have was in the process of being repossessed.
Instead of simply handing her the number of the Administration for Children’s Services, Officer Greco took action.
“She took it upon herself to talk to her and find out her situation,” Inspector Johnsen explained.
After learning that the woman’s claims were indeed true, Greco started a collection to get the woman on her feet.
She also reached out to the community to get the woman some furniture as well as a cell phone so she could set up job interviews.
Most importantly, Officer Greco explained to the woman that no matter how hard times were, her life wasn’t over and her family can remain whole, Johnsen explained.
Last month’s 60th Precinct Community Council meeting was filled with big-hearted people like Officer Greco.
Also honored were “Civilians of the Month” Leonid Granovsky and Alexander Fishman of Neptune Auto Repair, 1606 Neptune Avenue.
Longtime friends of the 60th Precinct and the 60th Precinct Community Council, the team at Neptune Auto Repair bend over backwards to help both the cops and their neighbors with everything from a charitable donation to a battery boost, Police Officer Hank Stucken, the precinct’s Community Affairs Officer, said.
“When people are stuck, they go out of their way to help out,” Stucken said, adding that if someone comes to a cop or a precinct saying that they locked themselves out of their car or that their battery had died, Neptune Auto Repair is the first place that comes to mind.
Granovsky and Fishman are also a major asset in keeping their police cruisers humming along.
While dead police cruisers are usually repaired by the NYPD motor pool, Neptune Auto Repair helps get the vehicles working to the point that they can be brought over to the NYPD repair station, Stucken said.
Other honors went to Police Officer Neil Pereira, who was honored for a high number of DWI arrests in 2008, and Police Officer Robert Bosiacki, who also had a high number of arrests during the midnight tour in 2008.
The 60th Precinct protects residents in Coney Island, Brighton Beach and Seagate.
