“It’s ladies’ night, tonight.”
With those four words, Deputy Inspector Ralph Monteforte introduced the 69th Precinct’s “Cops of the Month” for April, during that month’s meeting of the precinct community council.
Addressing the group gathered at the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, 77 Conklin Avenue, Monteforte described the top-notch police work accomplished by the trio of honorees.
P.O. Kethly Jean and P.O. Deborah Thompson, he said, had earned the recognition for their actions the prior weekend. Responding to a 911 call of narcotics sales in the East 80s, the two officers, Monteforte recounted, Jean and Thompson had gone to the scene.
“There’s a person out in front of the house, that’s kind of abandoned, and he has a police scanner on,” Monteforte said.
“It’s illegal,” Monteforte continued. “He gets brought into the stationhouse. While he’s in the stationhouse, they go back to the location, because they want to still look into the narcotics call. They find eight guys smoking marijuana.
“They approach the eight guys,” Monteforte went on. “Two guys run from them. They chase after the two guys. While the two guys are running, they drop handguns to the floor.”
At this point, Monteforte said, the two officers called for backup. Then, “While they are placing those bad guys under arrest, another call comes over” about a robbery.
Hearing the physical description of the alleged perpetrators, Monteforte added, the officers, “Realize that the people they have are probably one and the same. They bring the victim over and the two guys that ran are the two guys that just committed that robbery.”
In addition, Thompson and P.O. Jamie Blandeburgo were recognized for their efforts in apprehending a group of individuals who were in possession of a loaded firearm.
In this case, Monteforte said, the two officers were not responding to a specific call, but rather to general “complaints of people hanging out in alleyways and common driveways, maybe committing some kind of illegal activity.
“They’re investigating
