Neighborhood policing has come to the Lower East Side. The NYPD’s initiative to put cops in closer contact with local residents was unveiled last night at a community meeting.
The model has been implemented in neighborhoods across the city, including in the East Village (9th Precinct). The police department credits neighborhood policing with driving violent crime downward in the past year. Here’s how it will work in the 7th Precinct, which hosted last night’s meeting at Gouverneur Health.
Below you see a screenshot from the 7th Precinct’s web page, which now includes a searchable map. The precinct has been split up into three sectors (A, B and C). Sector A is the area below Grand Street and East Broadway, including the Two Bridges neighborhood. Sector B incorporates the Grand Street cooperatives, the Grand Street Guild, Seward Park Extension and several blocks between Essex and Allen streets. Sector C covers the part of the Lower East Side between Delancey and East Houston streets. Here’s how the NYPD explains the program:
Neighborhood policing divides precincts into (a few) fully staffed sectors that correspond, as much as possible, to the boundaries of actual existing neighborhoods. Sector officers work the same neighborhoods on the same shifts, increasing their familiarity with the local residents and local problems. The radio dispatchers, supervisors, and sector officers work together to maintain “sector integrity,” meaning that the sector officers and sector cars do not leave the boundaries of their assigned sectors, except in genuine emergencies. Neighborhood policing seeks to foster a sense of ownership among sector officers for the people, the problems, and even the perpetrators in a particular sector; a sense of geographic responsibility and accountability.
Each sector also has two Neighborhood Coordination Officers (NCO’s), who act as liaisons between cops and the community. You can find your sector and look up assigned NCO’s here.
There’s a separate website, Build the Block, which residents can use to find sector meetings. You can also sign up for email and text alerts from this site.
Last night, police officers said they’re hoping to open a dialogue with people in the community who don’t normally participate in regularly scheduled community council meetings or who have negative impressions of the police department. The sector meetings are just now being set up, so you probably won’t see many details about upcoming events for a little while.
The community came out in full force to hear about Neighborhood Policing in the @NYPD7Pct. Learn more about it: https://t.co/htjNP4Ys8n pic.twitter.com/ebD9kI9bDf
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) October 3, 2017
Neighborhood Coordination Officer (NCO) program being introduced to the @NYPD7Pct Community by @NYPDChiefPatrol pic.twitter.com/6TJyc9vvML
— NYPD 7th Precinct (@NYPD7Pct) October 3, 2017
