An increase in car break-ins has some people worrying that the 61st Precinct is being stripped of it cops.
“They are stretching the manpower that we have,” said Theresa Scavo, chairwoman of Community Board 15. “If we lose more, that’s when problems will begin.”
City policy provides police officers areas where they are most needed, and some say the 61st gives more than it receives.
“We are a donor precinct,” Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn) told the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association last week. “They don’t send us cops, they take cops.”
But the need for cops still exists, even in the relatively safe neighborhoods the precinct covers.
“People around here want more patrol cars on the streets, especially between midnight to 5 am, and a quicker response to 911 calls for these types of auto incidents,” said Ed Jaworski of the Madison Marine-Homecrest Civic Association — who claimed he observed two men breaking into a car on East 28th Street last week.
While grand larcenies in the 61st Precinct, headquartered at 2575 Coney Island Avenue, are down for the year, the lion’s share of them can be credited to car break-ins, according to cops.
Shrinking Police Academy classes offer little help — last year Patrol Borough Brooklyn South received just 25 new police officers, and none of them made their way to the 61st Precinct.
Captain Georgios Mastrokostas of the 61st Precinct did not respond to requests for comment.
But not all residents are raising the alarm.
“People are just leaving their cars unlocked,” said Edmond Dweck of the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association. “There were two incidents last week where people called me instead of 911. They’re asleep or don’t want to get involved with police.”
Some even said things are better now than they have ever been.
“Compared to a long time ago it’s beautiful,” said Yves Etienne, president of the precinct’s community council. “There’s a very low rate of crime and it doesn’t take them [cops] too long to catch somebody doing something crazy.”
— with Tom Tracy
