Petty criminals can run, but won’t be able to hide from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams‘ new initiative known as Operation Safe Shopper.
The initiative aims to fund the deployment of security cameras at “strategic corridors” in neighborhoods across the borough to assist in the investigation of local crimes.
Yesterday, Adams, along with City Council Member Mathieu Eugene (D-Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush, Ditmas Park), were on hand for Operation Safe Shopper’s latest installation of a security camera at Almac Hardware in Ditmas Park. The store is located in Newkirk Plaza, an area of high foot-traffic that has seen its fair share of petty crime.
“Not only are cameras great deterrents for crimes but they also catch those who participate in crimes. This [initiative] cuts down on the police operation, it cuts down on the need to search for whether there is a camera or not and it really expedites an investigation,” said Adams.
Almac Hardware owner and President of the Newkirk Plaza Merchants Association, Javier Saez, was already helping with the investigations of petty crimes in the area through his own personal security system when he was approached with the opportunity to join the initiative and has even been able to bring on more businesses in the area into the program.
“I already started my own system that I had up when I was approached by Robin (President of Flatbush Development Corporation) about adding another camera facing the plaza in order to help my fellow merchants. We have already helped in the investigation of three crimes, one of them being solved when the guy got captured. It was a case involving an 80-year-old women who got her necklace snatched off her neck,” said Saez.
The initiative was born out of a need to protect children who were being harassed in Park Slope seven years ago as they made their daily trip to and from school. Residents found that by putting cameras up the children were less prone to being victims of crimes with the added security in place.
The initiative has spread to multiple neighborhoods including Crown Heights and Brooklyn Heights, specifically in the corridor from Joralemon and Court Street down to Brooklyn Bridge Park.
“Security of the people of the community is very important to the quality of life. Not only are we making the community safer but by protecting business, we are protecting the investments in our community. If people are not safe in the community, than businesses are going to fail. If people don’t feel safe in the community, then people are going to leave. It’s about quality of life,” said Eugene.
Captain O’Malley, Executive Officer of the 70th Precinct, was quick to point out that the type of crime in the area is mostly property crime, in the form of bicycle thefts, unattended property crimes and document and credit card crime. Violent crimes are at a historic low in Brooklyn.
“We aren’t chasing the numbers [of crimes], we are chasing the criminals because we want to decrease the number of crimes. The goal is Vision Zero for crime, no innocent person should be the victim of a criminal act,” said Adams.
