By Joy Bergmann
Top NYPD officials — including Commissioner Dermot Shea — fielded UWS residents’ questions Thursday evening at a Zoom public forum hosted by Upper West Side Together (formerly Upper West Siders for Safer Streets). UWST, a private — and controversial — Facebook group with 15,000 members, formed last July “in response to rising crime and safety concerns” following the conversion of four local hotels into emergency homeless shelters.
An UWST administrator, Cristie Diamond, opened the event with this framing question: “How can we make our wonderful neighborhood safer for all?”
Two answers repeatedly emerged throughout the 90-minute discussion: More camera surveillance and better mental health services.
Clear video footage is a crime-fighting “force multiplier,” said Capt. Neil Zuber, commanding officer of the 20th Precinct, noting how surveillance imagery from multiple sites recently helped arrest a suspect in a spree of bank robberies. Zuber hinted at forthcoming arrests in two other high-profile cases, aided by video evidence.
Regarding the March 27th ambushing of a teenage clerk at the Laina Jane boutique, Zuber said, “The detective squad has done some phenomenal work to the point where we’ve established, what we feel is probable cause…to make the arrest.”
Shea apologized to Laina Hon, the store’s owner and mother of the teenager, for not keeping her apprised of the investigation’s progress. “In a case like this, what I would like to see is more constant contact between the assigned investigator to the case and you, the customer, the complainant in this case. Just the status check of where we are.”
Shea added that he’s launched a system for community feedback. “When you walk into a police precinct now you should see signs with a barcode that you can scan with your phone. And it’s basically: take a survey. How are we doing? How long did you wait for service? Was the officer or the civilian at the precinct polite? Did they help you with everything that you need? Are there other things that we can do better?”
Zuber also had an update on last week’s slashing of a man on 84th Street. “That investigation is progressing very well…through the use of private cameras…were able to actually track the person to where he goes.”
NYPD urged residents and business owners to connect with their precinct’s designated Crime Prevention Officers who are available to advise on optimal camera equipment, operation and coordination with police. Contact details for various specialist officers are posted on the 24th and 20th’s web sites.
The city’s mental health crisis figured into questions concerning homeless people who refuse social services, street encampments, anti-Semitic harassment and recent hate crimes that turned violent, as well as subway attacks involving emotionally disturbed individuals.
Chief Theresa [Terri] Tobin, head of NYPD’s new Bureau of Interagency Operations, outlined an ecosystem of seven interagency programs aimed at better serving people with mental illness and addiction issues — promoting public safety while treading the fine line of protecting the civil rights and liberties of all parties.
Among the latest initiatives is B-HEARD, an acronym for Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division. “Mental health teams will be the default first responders to…911 mental health calls where there is no weapon or imminent risk of harm…Teams consist of two FDNY EMTs and one licensed social worker from the New York City Health and Hospitals. They’re going to use their health expertise and their experience to crisis response, deescalate emergency situations and provide immediate care,” said Tobin who holds a PhD in Criminal Justice and a Masters in Social Work. B-HEARD teams will be available, “7 days a week, 16 hours day,” she said.
Tobin was a key architect of the NYPD’s Co-Response Team initiative that now operates 24/7. It pairs two officers with a clinician from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, trained to intervene in mental health emergencies, especially when there may be some degree of violence. “Clients get connected to services that they may need,” she said.
Additionally, Tobin said, nearly 14,000 uniformed officers have received crisis intervention training in partnership with the Center for Community Urban Services with more to come after COVID restrictions lift. The program aims to “effectively address the needs of persons with mental illness, divert people with mental illness from the criminal justice system when it’s appropriate, save human lives and financial costs of criminalizing people with mental illness and lastly link people to community-based services, to promote their recovery,” she said.
So, asked one resident, “What can we do to get the mentally ill off the street, especially the ones who are violent and refuse social services?”
“When you encounter someone like that…please call New York City Well [1-888-NYC WELL],” said Tobin. “They refer those individuals to our Co-Response unit.”
Throughout the meeting, officials also emphasized the need for community members to report problematic behavior through 311. “Even if an arrest can’t be made, everything these commanders do on a daily basis revolves around data and knowing about something,” said Shea. Data drives “where they deploy their officers, building little patterns together.”
Among other answers and information provided:
NYPD now offers a dashboard for the public to review personnel data including use-of-force incidents, and to access tools focused on hate crimes, graffiti and other matters.
NYPD advises against carrying pepper spray. “You can get a summons” for having some substances, said Shea. “Leave the policing to the police. Let’s work together.”
NYPD does not typically engage in active pursuits of roaring dirt bikes and ATVs because such chases endanger the broader public. They prefer to identify riders and confiscate illegal vehicles where they are stored.
Deputy Inspector Naoki Yaguchi, commanding officer of the 24th Precinct, said he’d investigate reports of nightly drag racing along the West Side Highway.
Yaguchi also agreed to better coordinate with Housing police unit PSA 6 to ensure that jurisdictional issues are not impeding responses to fights or other incidents occurring at NYCHA developments.
NYPD urged school safety teams to connect with precinct Youth Coordination Officers to better prevent teen-on-teen crime.
Zuber reported seven narcotics arrests near 79th and Broadway last weekend. The dealers, he said, are from outside the area and most of the arrests “did not have anything to do with the Lucerne Hotel.” He added that “almost all” of the NYPD’s appearances at the hotel are in response to medical emergencies, not criminal complaints.
Officials said community vigilance is important and appreciated, but also cautioned against possible misperceptions driven by social media.
NYPD now posts a lot of crime scene photos and “scary” footage, said Shea, calling such information “a double-edged sword.”
“I almost hate it to a degree because it traumatizes people, seeing it. But it is such a valuable tool to apprehend people as quickly as possible,” said Shea. “So I just don’t want people to think, ‘Oh my God, it’s happening everywhere around me.’ In many cases, these things were happening for years. You just didn’t know about it.”
Thank you so much for posting this info. We have a huge problem with mentally ill homeless people in the area of 72nd and B’way, and no one at 311 or 911 has ever indicated that this was an option!
“What can we do to get the mentally ill off the street, especially the ones who are violent and refuse social services?”
“When you encounter someone like that…please call New York City Well [1-888-NYC WELL],” said Tobin. “They refer those individuals to our Co-Response unit.”
Thank you very much to NYPD for your availability and responsiveness. There are many people who have very good reason to be apprehensive about interactions with the police. But the vast majority of NYPD is hard working people trying to make our lives better.
Let’s let them do their jobs and treat them using the golden rule. And hopefully we can elect officials who share this belief.
The problem here is that us residents have real, lived experience that often contradicts the data.
I’m old enough to remember when honking, loud car music, blowing lights, screaming at passerby, pot smoke, and masterbating on street corners was punished.
When was the last time any of us saw cops patrolling WEA or Riverside Drive?
Now, they aren’t.
Are we really to the point where a group of private citizens needs to reach out to the police themselves?? Don’t we have representatives to do that?? Were any of them, or those vying to represent the UWS even in attendance?
I imagine many of us are fed up w/ the gaslighting going on. If you don’t feel safe anymore in your neighborhood, no one should tell you it’s your fault. Kudos to those who set this up and WSR for covering it. I’m sorry I was not aware of it….
I wish the NYPD would consider having a couple of officers simply stand for a few hours a day at the most problematic intersections, such as outside the Capital Bank branch on 72nd and Broadway.
The problem is that the presence of cops doesn’t discourage those who are misbehaving and the cops are not able to do much about the simple quality of life issues that make life a lot less pleasant for most of us. And if the cops have grounds to arrest, the criminal will get a slap on the wrist and will be right back where they started from shortly.
Imagine having a job where many people hate you and you are unable to do what you were actually hired to do. I’m not sure why anyone wants to be a cop, and I greatly appreciate those who choose to do so.
Respectfully, Carlos, I disagree. The presence of police does deter misconduct. But I do agree that bail reform went too far and must be changed to disallow release once there is a repeat offense. Repeat offenses are not accidents.
Good point. I guess I meant that it doesn’t do as much as it should/could.
Totally agree that repeat offenders should not be immediately released. Unfortunately this is strongly opposed my many. Create a grid with one axis being magnitude of the offense and the other being the number of offenses the person has committed. One small offense is a small penalty. Repeated offenses are a bigger penalty, especially for bigger crimes.
Took subway on Friday morning at 72nd st and 4 cops standing in an area away from people not getting on subway when I did and not standing where they could patrol or see anything. What’s that about?
And 79th St and Broadway, preferably on the center medium, so everyone can see them!
This was a very long-winded article with a lot of hot air about “new initiatives” & so on, but I was struck by this:
“Shea apologized to Laina Hon, the store’s owner and mother of the teenager, for not keeping her apprised of the investigation’s progress.”
Isn’t contact between a PD investigator & a complainant the most basic aspect of police work? Why would the commissioner have to apologize? Is an investigator actually working on this case, or is this all a big charade?
They were very clear in the meeting and in this article that they have made progress with the investigation thanks to video cameras in the area.
I appreciate this comprehensive recap. Thank you, WSR.
And yes, NYPD gives plenty of hot air answers. This is accurate reporting of the meeting (I attended).
What’s the deal with the guy robbing the neighborhood banks recently here on the upper West side? Just read that he has already been arrested 25 times!!!! There seems to be no consequences so there’s no reason for him to stop. I absolutely do not understand this???
Of course the drug dealers come to 79th & Bway now. They have placed themselves right where the three homeless/rehab hotels are located. If we don’t heavily police that area, with both uniformed and undercover, then the men/families who are trying to get back on their feet don’t have a chance. I don’t think that the dealers’ sudden appearance on the 79th Bway mall is a coincidence. They came for easy prey.
Instead of pepper spray, for those who worry about attacks, a small, shrill and loud whistle doesn’t risk harming anyone. It’s easy to carry and can startle and scare off a would-be perpetrator.
This was a great meeting, so informative. Moderator asked very good questions that are on all of our minds. Similar to all of the information we receive on the upper west side together Facebook group. Anyone in the group knows that “controversial” gothamist article is not true of the group at all.
I agree. This was a great forum and I appreciate the thorough recap here. Thank you to Upper West Side Together for putting it together and so thoughtfully moderating it. I learned a lot. It was clear to me, as was noted in this article, that cameras can be part of the solution. I was moved by Cythia Tibbs, a neighborhood legend, who tirelessly advocates for NYCHA residents even though the elected officials refuse her the dignity of joining the Community Board. She asked the elected officials and candidates running to represent the UWS to stop insulting our local police in the name of the residents because in fact they have been responsive and respectful of our diverse community.
My daughter’s friend’s phone was stolen last night, on UWS. The girls were able to track the phone remotely about 10 blocks, to an address. The thief then disabled the tracking. The girls went to the police station. They had the address and route. Presumably there are cameras along the tracked route to ID the thief. The police refused to take a report. The police said there was no point since the phone would not be recovered.
My wallet went missing last month. I got a call from NYPD in Brooklyn to come and pick up what was left of it. The cash (about $600) was missing. The police refused to take a report. They said there was no point to file, because I would not get back the money. They would not tell me how or where the wallet was recovered, who brought it in (so I could thank them), whether there were fingerprints on the wallet contents, any clues. Their biggest concern seemed to be that I picked it up that night, so they would not have to log it into their system.
Crime statistics are a joke. Actual crimes must be at least double what is reported, since police refuse to make reports. Having a zoom with the public and asking the public to report everything so police have data to find patterns, also a joke. The police refuse to create the data.
Please, if the commanders from the zoom are reading this, your officers are not in sync with you. Maybe the paperwork is too onerous. Maybe they are frustrated by the current revolving door of those arrested. (We are too.) But we also deserve to be safe. If the police will not take note of and investigate crimes, who will? And wouldn’t it only help the police to take these reports, and have more crimes reported, to justify increased funding?? Something is amiss.
Don’t carry pepper spray! The police should hand it out to woman and the elderly.SO glad the rich wont lets us live in NYC anymore. Hahaha
“Deputy Inspector Naoki Yaguchi, commanding officer of the 24th Precinct, said he’d investigate reports of nightly drag racing along the West Side Highway.” What does this mean? He’s going to spend money (ie. waste resources ) on petrol patrolling a small part of the highway he has jurisdiction over when he can’t even control the gangs of dirt bike riders in the neighborhood? Give me a break.
Linda Rosenthal told me personally that crime isn’t at all an issue in the district and everything is fine. And this was just Republican fear mongering.
This forum and the upper west side together group really make me feel more and more like we are a community. Thank you for sending the comprehensive recap – it is very helpful. I wish our politicians could join this group and listen to the residents to hear what is really going on.
It is about time to have a stronger, effective and more proactive police force to protect us. The fact that any one of us could be subject to a random unprovoked vicious attack in mid-day light, as the recent slashing in West 84th, is frightening, alarming and deeply concerning. This attack and many others demonstrate clearly that so far the police fails in its basic obligation to protect us. Hope the new administration will clean our streets from all these mentally ill, who make us exponentially more susceptible to their unpredictable random attacked. It is imperative to restore the safety to our streets as was in Giuliani and Bloomberg days.
So, how many of those illegal ear busting illegal vehicles have been confiscated. The excuse that they can’t stop the nightly disturbances is baloney. Pick them off on at a time, arrest them and confiscate the bikes. My guess is that they have not confiscated any. And, by the way, how do they identify riders whose bikes will be allegedly seized later.
7 drug arrests in one weekend within a block of the Lucerne but it has nothing to do with the homeless hotels.
LMAO okay.
Thank you Cristie for moderating and asking what is on all of our minds. Thank you upper west side together group for organizing and getting more answers than our elected officials & community board give us. Does anyone know if upper west side together will post a transcript from the meeting? I think one of the admins mentioned a recap post coming next week? If you are not on this page it is a MUST if you live on the UWS. They post important information & resources for residents.
They won’t do anything about the mobs of atvs and dirt bikes bc if one of the stops goes wrong then they will blame the police. Not the unlicensed unregistered non insured illegal vehicle operator. Even worse it could escalate into a “justice for xxxxx” nightly protest if one of these operators resists and gets hurt in the process. That’s how our leaders respond now. Coddle to criminals.
It’s a ridiculous mindset to allow these dirt bikes to have free reign in the streets because they may hurt someone. By allowing them to run wild, they cause accidents, scare people and it’s just as dangerous to allow this to continue. When I was on the job, you never would see this. NYPD is becoming a progressive mess and should act as a police department. It should not be run by politicians. The Mayor, Shea and Monaghan need to go.
He is correct when he says “In many cases, these things were happening for years. You just didn’t know about it.”
But now that we see it on Social Media, we can see that there is a real need for Mental Health programs in the city and good housing for all.
Thank you, Captian Zuber
Respectfully disagree, daytime serial bank robberies, slashings, store owners teen being locked in a bathroom with her life threatened that’s never had a problem since they opened in 1995 is new. This wasn’t “happening” within the past 25 years I’ve lived in this neighborhood. Zuber always makes light of everything. Probably because he’s afraid of the politicians taking away his budget.
When you vote for progressives, you get crime. There is no mystery here