MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (at podium) stands with NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton and Chief of Department James O’Neill briefing officers inside the 44th Precinct ahead of announcing the “Summer All Out” program. Photo by David Cruz
By DAVID CRUZ & BOB KAPPSTATTER
The 52nd Precinct is set to get a new batch of officers amid efforts to curb a rising gang problem west of Bedford Park.
The Five-Two is one of ten station houses across the city set to get new reinforcements as part of an NYPD initiative to quell a rise in violent crime. The initiative is dubbed the “Summer All Out,” implemented a month before its regularly scheduled launch to “get ahead of” a common rise in crime over the summer.
Police have labeled several of the recent shootings within the Five-Two gang-related, which has escalated over the last few months despite a ShotSpotter system installed within the precinct to detect gunfire.
Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton announced at a Bronx news conference on Wednesday, June 10 that the precincts will be receiving somewhere between 15 to 25 officers to patrol local hot spots. The group is a mix of officers new to the department or regularly assigned to administrative duties.
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, at news conference announcing the Summer All Out program, says the anti-crime initiative “has a proven track record.” Photo by David Cruz
The deployment of extra troops comes amid an increase in shootings over the last six months when compared to last year. Still, de Blasio reemphasized the city’s strides in combating crime, pointing to the six percent overall citywide drop in crime when compared to the same time last year.Officers will spend two days taking a refresher course in community relations and receive daily briefings on crime conditions within their assigned posts, according to police officials.
“We did it last summer, and it worked to reduce crime,” one desk-bound Bronx sergeant told the Norwood News. “We may not like it, but if it helps the community, we’re for it.”This marks the first time the 52nd Precinct, under the command of Inspector Nilda Hofmann, will be part of the program. The 47th Precinct, which saw a major spike in shootings and homicides, will continue to be part of the program, said police officials.
The 52nd Precinct has seen a dramatic jump in shootings over the past month. Latest available NYPD numbers for the 28-day period ending May 31 show a 600 percent bump up in shootings, going from one in the same period last year to seven this year. Fourteen persons have been shot so far this year, compared to eight for the same period last year – a 75 percent increase.
There have been three murders so far this year, compared to one for the same period last year, a 200 percent jump.
Overall major crime in the precinct so far this year is up 5.25 percent.
Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible.
Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7.
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The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students.
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