As 2019 draws to a close, Deputy Inspector Thomas Alps, commanding officer of the 52nd Precinct, is hopeful it will end with a downward trend in crime. “We’re having a great 28-day period. We’re down 35 index crimes which is quite a lot in a period,” Alps said at the last 52nd  Precinct Community Council meeting of the year.

Two crime categories experiencing significant drops, according to Alps, are burglaries and car break-ins. Although these recent drops are promising the command is slightly up for the year in index crimes compared to 2018.

Crimes by juveniles has become of special concern to Alps and other community members.  Stabbings that originated at DeWitt Clinton Campus (DWCC), a recent shooting across the street from Walton High School, and the national attention that the murder of a Barnard College student allegedly by several teens in Harlem has produced an outcry for more police protection.

Local activist Sirio Guerino applauded the response of the 52nd Precinct in regard to the recent violence at DWCC. Guerino has asked for a more intense police presence around the Clinton campus.  He was promised three sector cars to patrol around the campus.

“I like [Alps’] math,” Guerino said.  “When I was there [at Clinton on Monday] there were more than seven [NYPD] cars floating around. He said three but I counted over seven.”

Alps says he is prioritizing the safety of these youngsters.  “We’re putting a lot of resources and support around these schools to keep these kids safe,” Alps said.

Still, Alps and others admit that more is needed than just adding patrol cars around schools to ensure school kids’ safety. Parents can play a role too, Alps noted.

Of the seven major crimes reported this year, murders and rapes increased 14.3 percent each, while robbery, grand theft auto, and felony assaults also increased from Jan. 1 to Dec. 15, 2019, according to publicly available CompStat statistics.

Responding to television coverage on teen violence, Brenda Caldwell-Paris, president of the 52nd Precinct Community Council, says it should concern her fellow residents. “When these things [violent acts] go on and you hear it on the TV, it stops you emotion[ally].  You just freeze … to see if it’s your precinct.”