More Cops Coming to Your ‘Hood

by Kofi Ayim

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is poised to make Neighborhood Policing a top priority for improved quality of life in New York City. This assessment was given by Police Commissioner James O’Neill at a meeting with ethnic media September 14, at 1 Police Plaza. Mr. O’Neill, who was sworn in September 19, 2016 as New York City’s Police Commissioner pointed out that Neighborhood Policing is a crime fighting model that has the potential to create safer environments. He added that adequate resources are being churned out for police officers to handle their jobs with more professionalism. He said the model which is typically a courted relationship between the community and the police enhances interaction between the Police and the community because cops and the community become “neighbors.” The model employs same officers to walk the beat in the same neighborhood, at the same tour of duty and in a given period of time. This approach, he explained, facilitates familiarization with the environment and the people within. Commissioner O’Neill who has more than 33 years of police work under his belt added that officers on he beat would be complemented with detectives who would be able to identify and mitigate troubled spots in a given neighborhood. He observed that Neighborhood Policing is embedded in meetings with the community and coupled with the liberal latitude of discretion from police officers. He emphasized the mutual responsibility of the community and the police to fish out bad nuts within. He remarked that in its 16th month of existence, visible signs of success in the Neighborhood Policing Plan have been observed. Mr. James O’Neill, who until his promotion to the top job was Chief of Department lamented shedding his Police uniform for a civilian suit as required by protocol. Earlier in a brief introductory re mark, the outgoing Police Commissioner William J. Bratton highlighted the point that the strength of the police is the community through its support, awareness, transparency and critiques. He insinuated that safety is a shared responsibility of the police and the public. He said experience has shown that traditional police work of running to hot spots does not offer effective engagement with communities and long lasting solutions to many a problem.

Posted by admin on Oct 14 2016. Filed under top stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry