By Stephen Witt (Exclusive update version from Our Time Press)
Public Advocate Letitia James’ office confirmed today that she’s working to thaw the frozen relationship between police precinct community council presidents and NYPD Police Commissioner William Bratton.
The community councils are made up of community members that meet monthly to foster better relations between the community and local police precincts.
James stepped in after several of the presidents in the Brooklyn Borough North police command complained that Bratton has yet to meet with any of the councils. Additionally, they have complained that the de Basio Administration has been relying more on citywide figures like Rev. Al Sharpton than with local community civic leaders that are in the trenches working on improving and maintaining existing relationships with local police.
“Public Advocate James will be seeking to facilitate a meeting with our city’s Precinct Police Community Council Presidents and NYPD Commissioner Bratton to bring the concerns from local community members directly to the department leadership,” said James spokeswoman Aja Worthy-Davis. “The Public Advocate has consistently worked to enhance community-police relations, and is proud to work with the NYPD to help elevate community voices.”
Among the precinct community council presidents who have been critical of both the NYPD and the de Blasio administration is John Rodriguez, president of the 75th Precinct Community Council in East New York. The 75th Precinct is the largest in the city in terms of manpower.
“There is no relationship with the mayor’s office and the police commissioner. To my knowledge there still hasn’t been one meeting between the police commissioner (William Bratton) and any of the community council presidents citywide,” said
“How is it the mayor brings certain individuals like Al Sharpton to City Hall to talk about public safety and no one from the community? It’s about votes and not public safety anymore. We feel abandoned here.”
Rodriguez, who has been with the council for the past 18 years including the last four years as president, said the council feels de Blasio has abandoned the work the council does in bridging any gap between the community and local police.
He also reported that there was a slow down among the rank-and-file police in the precinct, but policing is getting back to normal in the community despite continued low morale among the police.
Dr. Kim Best, the longtime president of the 79th Precinct Community Council, said the relationship between the local precinct and the community remains very good and has always been that way in her tenure.
“We have great monthly meetings with large turnouts from the community,” said Best. “People are putting out terrible comments (about the local community relations with the precinct), but it’s not true.
“Bratton and de Blasio are reaching out to the wrong people. They need to reach out to the people in the trenches. We’re the ones meeting with both police officers and the community. We’ve been doing this for years,” she added.
Best acknowledged there was a police slowdown following the recent funerals of the slain police officers, but that things have recently returned to normal.
Anthony Newerls, president of the 73rd Police Precinct Community Council in Brownsville, said there have been a few complaints about a slow down, but that police doing a serious slowdown is a myth.
Just yesterday Det. James Tillman apprehended the alleged killer of a security guard in the community in an incident that happened just before Thanksgiving, Newerls said, and he went beyond the call of duty in working hard and talking to the community in apprehending him.
James Caldwell, president of the 77th Precinct Community Council, said Police Union President Pat Lynch was expected to be at this week’s community council meeting, but at the last minute canceled as he was meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo. He also said Lynch has always worked with the local community in getting toys for disadvantaged children in the community at Christmastime.
“New York City has always been a union town and people have to do what they have to do to have their membership taken care,” he said, in response to questions regarding his inflammatory comments towards the de Blasio administration.
Caldwell said the relationship between the police in the 77th precinct and the community remains good, but also is dismayed that Bratton has yet to meet with any of the precinct community council in the NYPD’s Brooklyn North division.
Caldwell praised James for her work in trying to bring Bratton and the presidents together in the last several month. There may finally be that meeting in February, he said.
