By COLlive reporter
The New York Police Department says it is taking seriously the migration of the violent street game “Knock Out” to the Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn.
“Addressing it very aggressively and rapidly will certainly bring a successful conclusion to these incidents,” said Assistant Chief Owen Monaghan, the commanding officer of Patrol Borough Brooklyn South.
Chief Monaghan spoke with COLlive.com following a stroll on Kingston Avenue where he had a chance to hear from Jewish residents who are the main target of the local unprovoked attacks.
“All the measures we are taking go hand in hand with the community outreach we are doing, and most importantly, to increase the uniformed visibility in the entire area,” he said.
Fox News reported in 2011 that “Knock Out” incidents, also known as “Knockout King,” have been reported around the country, including Massachusetts, New Jersey and Chicago. In St. Louis, an elderly person died in an attack.
“Those looking to do harm should know we are posed and ready to arrest anyone looking to do a crime or commit an act of hate,” Chief Monaghan stated.
The actual plan to prevent further attacks was presented Friday to COLlive by Deputy Inspector George Fitzgibbon, the new Commanding Officer of the 71st Precinct who covers the neighborhood.
An additional 22 officers have been assigned to the neighborhood, and a sergeant and 12 officers will be patrolling the zone where the incidents occurred, who will be out there from 1:30 in the afternoon to 9:30 pm.
The police will also be visiting Bais Rivka on Crown Street and Darchei Menachem on Rutland Avenue to speak to the girls about safety and getting home safely.
“Those two schools will also be covered during dismissal because those areas are more susceptible to incidents,” explained Fitzgibbon.
Two officers will be stationed in front of those two schools during dismissal and for an hour afterwards, until 5 pm at Bais Rivkah and 6 pm at Darchei Menachem, where one of the incidents occurred.
Friday night, when many Jewish residents are walking the streets due to Shabbos, is being taken into special consideration, with as many as 40-60 auxiliary officers coming in to patrol the neighborhood on the weekends.
The neighborhood is being divided into quadrants, being patrolled 7 days a week by an extra 4-6 police cars from the Task Force who will be driving around the streets, mobile and extremely visible. 2-3 scooters will be driving around, also highly visible.
“This should help to make people feel more safe,” Fitzgibbon explained. “All these measures will hopefully make people think twice before doing a crime.”
And it seems the heavy response by the NYPD has already begun to pay off.
Over the last few days 71st Precinct Patrol developed information on the three individuals responsible for throwing a rock that hit a young Jewish boy on Brooklyn Avenue.
All three individuals were interviewed and one juvenile report was done. Because all three children involved are only 11, their schools were notified and detectives and 71 precinct personnel talked with their parents, COLlive was told.
The Hate Crimes unit has been at work in the past few days, following a few good leads, with detectives interviewing a number of people. “Wanted” signs based on footage from an attack on Kingston Avenue, were hung around the neighborhood on Friday, in the hopes of catching the perpetrators.
“There is camera footage from a number of angles available, but some of it is really unclear as to the identity of the perpetrators,” explained Fitzgibbon.
One important measure taken by the NYPD is preventative: working to educate the children in the local public schools about tolerance of their Jewish neighbors.
“We have been visiting local public schools, speaking to them about sensitivity, cultural awareness and bullying,” explained Officer Vincent Martinos of the 71st Precinct.
Schools visited already are MS 2, 61, 722 and 352 and PS 375 and 587, with an additional 15 schools to be visited in the near future. A local Advanced Learning Center will be hosting activist Richard Green, who will speak with the students.
Local public schools will also be visiting the Jewish Children’s Museum, which promotes tolerance and understanding of the Jewish faith.
Although the individuals in the rock throwing incident have been caught, all these security measures will remain in place.
“These measures will continue until the incidents have subsided or we have someone in custody,” explained Deputy Inspector Fitzgibbon.
im new to the place of crown heights and it scares me to know that I have to walk *everywhere* with a friend. even to Kingston avenue. and even then its not safe. especially since its starting to get dark at like 4 oclock.
thanks
we should all say a big thank you to the police. they really are putting their effort in
But morenmustnbe done, till when, till ethos spade stops!
Your know you did enough when the criminals shape or are subdued
How does saying “Yechi” help stop the rocks?
I just want to express my gratitude for the efforts of the NYPD in taking these incidents of hate crimes “seriously,” and using their manpower to make our streets safe. I think Dr. Martin Luther King’s memory is being honored with the steps the NYPD is taking to prevent this situation from escalating. However, I think the youth perpetrating these hate crimes have sadly lost sight of what Dr. King had hoped for. As said in his emphatic words in his eloquent speech, “I have a dream”: “…When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution… Read more »
You think the problem is that these crimes never lead to arrest. The real problem is that any innocent Jew in this community trying to defend themselves will certainly be arrested- and with great eagerness.
Thank you Deputy Inspector George Fitzgibbon. However there is only so much that he can do.
If the laws are weak, the CO’s hands are tied…by US!
Tougher laws!
An eleven-year-old rock thrower is a big question. Are they ‘chaiv’ for strong punishment? Throw rocks at them?
We appreciate your efforts to keep us safe.
Let’s see if the break ins go down and the security goes up, till today the only police work going up was ticketing
I am number 11 and I am ready to volunteer and be a block watcher who can coordinate this idea perhaps we can have a community meeting enough is enough and if need be I will try to coordinate We need more feedback
Brooklyn Ave this past Wed eve had a couple of cars ransacked. Cant even leave old navy returns inside anymore.
Whats this buisness using auxiliary police to do the dirty work for the nypd. We need 100 of the real nypd to do the beat walk up and down albany, brooklyn, kingston ,and schenectady avenue . That will cut the crime out.
auxiliary guys are voluteer who give their time 4 hours once a week. Inspector is tryimg to fool the comunity
even if you need a “think-tank”, get an effective plan of how to deal with this when you catch those little kids. They are not so innocent, even if they’re just 11 yrs old. They will be better off for their own good, if they are dealt strongly with NOW.
as yidden don’t stoop down to garbage
I hope this works!
re Questioned? does sound abit toothless, not much of a deterrent, however, lets hope that this new commander will settle in and get the job done! i agree, we must give him a chance
I have a question for you, what are you thinking?!!! If you don’t punish the”small” crimes than you’ll end up with career criminals.
Thank you for increasing the police here to make this place more safe! We all appreciate your effort!
Thank you to the NYPD keep up the good work!!!! J. Just say yechi and it will be ok
yes number 7 is right…we leave school around 5…..
They aren’t getting away with it. Saying the school is dealing with the punishment probably means suspension.
BS”D
to # 11 hope you will be the first volunteer to implement your good ideas
It’s about right and wrong, good and evil, moral and immoral, lawful and unlawful. We are not looking for sympathy or tolerance from the African Americans we want them to behave like law abiding people. How pitiful when a comunity fails to teach their children right and wrong. There is absolutely no telling what could happen.
these children should be punished wouldnt the black community demand the same if it was one of theirs whien will this end we also need to put in place our own block watchers to be on alert and report to the shomrim and police of anything suspicious also we should march through the streets in protest and we need a jewish al sharpton to speak for us
BS”D the extra police will be around until 12/31/13. Come 1/1/14 poof
We need to send a clear message to these criminals
thank u!
thank you NYPD for doing something about it, i think Beis Rivkah High school is dismissed at 4:40 so “until 5pm” is a bit early to leave, not sure about Darchei
we get to feel safe BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh
Lets hope this commander TAKES CONTROL!
I get a good feeling about his sincerity, lets see if he actually has the leadership it takes, lets give him a chance to produce RESULTS!
Since no one is ever charged by the police, they are always first time offenders after their 20th violent crime, and therefore, are free to continue getting better at it without fear of consequences.
Why only questioned? Are there any questions to ask other than how do you like your prison food, well done or rare?
I am sure if an 11 year jewish kid threw a rock at a black kid 5hat the punishment or lack of one would be the same. NOT…
I dread to think what these “only” eleven year old thugs will be doing at 15 years old.
This is a deadly game to throw rocks at people and it should be treated as a serious crime.
How about having some other 11 year olds throw rocks on these thugs.