Spurred on by a Norwood News campaign, Councilman Fernando Cabrera introduced legislation this month that would force the New York City Police Department to publish neighborhood crime statistics each month.

On its website, the NYPD provides updated crime statistics for each of the city’s precincts. But police also generate statistics for several neighborhoods within each precinct. Those more detailed and localized statistics are provided by some precinct commanders. But most, including the those in the 52nd Precinct, force you to file a Freedom of Information Law request to obtain the statistics. The NYPD can take anywhere from a few months to more than a year to fulfill most FOIL requests.

Cabrera says providing the statistics to the public is “not an option, it’s a necessity.”

For politicians, nonprofit organizations and other community leaders, the statistics are equally important, he says. Without them, “As an elected official, I don’t know how to target my resources.”

In addition, Cabrera says having the statistics “empowers the neighborhoods to take initiative.”

Though the bill was only introduced two weeks ago, Cabrera says it has the strong support of “18 or 19” council members. To avoid the possibility of a veto, Cabrera says the bill needs 34 members to vote for it. Over the coming weeks, he will be lobbying members, setting up meetings for organizations to lobby other members and preparing for a hearing on the legislation.

“I can’t imagine why a council member would not want to know where the crimes are taking place,” he said.

The focus on public safety becomes especially important, given that the Police Department is down some 7,000 officers from its peak force only a few years ago.

“I don’t buy that we can do more with less,” Cabrera said, adding that, “There’s a critical mass point where that’s all you’re going to get.”

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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. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.