Norwood News

Statistics indicate crime in the 52nd Precinct is down. But the residents of a troubled neighborhood say they experience a different reality.

At a forum hosted by local church leaders and community groups at Our Lady of Refuge Church, residents told Deputy Inspector James Alles, the commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct, that not only did they feel like crime was worsening around them, but also that crime reports weren’t being filed.

Local groups organized the forum at Our Lady of Refuge Church on Briggs Avenue and East 196th Street following a string of murders and a fatal police shooting in November, all within a concentrated area surrounding the church. Just two weeks ago, a woman was found dead, her body burned and dismembered, on the roof of a nearby apartment building. (See story on page 8.)

For years, the area has been besieged by robberies and blatant drug dealing.
“It’s no mystery why we’re here today,” said John Garcia, a longtime resident who heads Fordham Bedford Children’s Services, housed in the church’s former convent.

Garcia facilitated the forum, first outlining the history of problems in the area and then translating as a half dozen residents (mostly Spanish speakers) testified about their experiences as crime victims in the area. Two people said the precinct couldn’t produce the documents for the crimes they had reported.

Alles called the missing reports “disturbing” and said he would look into them. “That’s not the way we do things in the Five-Two,” he said.

Others said they were discouraged when attempting to file reports at the precinct. Alles responded by giving out the phone numbers for his two “right-hand men,” lieutenants Steve Phalen and Thomas Hammer, who attended the meeting.

Hammer encouraged residents to act promptly if they felt discouraged during any part of the filing process. “If you feel like an officer is brushing you off when you’re trying to make a report, ask to speak with a supervisor,” Hammer said. “Don’t wait until four months later at a forum.”

Local resident Jesus Cortes, 34, speaking in Spanish at the meeting, attended by about 90 people, said he was attacked by a trio of teenagers in November. They stole his bookbag and wallet, threw him to the ground and beat him. When police arrived, they interviewed him and apparently wrote up a report.

Cortes said that when he went to the precinct soon after and asked for the report, the precinct couldn’t produce it and even discouraged him from filing a new one. Friends who spoke better English asked for it, too, but had no success after at least 10 tries, Cortes said.

Another man, Carlos Tomoyo, said that after his son was assaulted, the police interviewed him and took a report. But when he asked for a copy, officers at the precinct couldn’t produce it and wouldn’t let him file another one.

Alles repeatedly said he would look into the missing reports, but also said there is going to be human error given the volume of reports his precinct deals with — some 20,000 every year, he said.

Garcia and others weren’t convinced, saying the missing reports were more trend than anomaly. In addition to the two people who spoke at the meeting, church leaders say several others have had similar experiences.

“When you have that many people saying they couldn’t get their reports, the question that begs to be answered is: Is this thing endemic? Is it systemic?” Garcia said.

“I believe they aren’t filing the reports,” said Guillermo Zepeda, a catechist and leader at Our Lady of Refuge who helped moderate the meeting. “[Alles] is making it seem like unfortunate incidents. But that’s too many [incidents].”

Alles announced the area would not be designated an Impact Zone, which would have flooded the streets with rookie cops on foot patrol. But he did say they would beef up patrols within the next three weeks. He also agreed to attend — or send one of his lieutenants to — regular meetings at the church three or four times a year.

“On a personal note,” Alles said, “it’s my sincere hope and promise that we will do our best to make this neighborhood safer for you to live in. But we can’t do this alone. We need you to be our eyes and ears out there.”

After the meeting, attendees were cautiously optimistic, having gone through this before, including a similar meeting in November 2007.

“We’ll see if it makes a difference,” said Garcia, who’s lived in the neighborhood since 1979. “We’ve done this before and nothing’s really changed. The important thing is that [Alles] came out. We’ve been trying to get him out here since late November.”