“It eased my mind because I realized that they’re aware” of the problems in the area, Odessa Watson, 39, said of the officers.
Officer Patrick Malone, 32, who helped to lead the meeting, said he gave out the number for his city-issued cellphone and received calls from residents at all hours. “It’s good information,” he said.
His sergeant, Shaun Brown, said that while some people wanted to see more officers on foot, “we’re in the car 100 percent of the time.”
Despite adding 1,300 officers to the Police Department
, for counterterrorism and to facilitate the new neighborhood-based program, they would need far more to cover their area on foot, he said.
Few people under 40-years-old were at the meetings. At several, including one in the Bronx on Thursday, officers implored those who came to bring their younger relatives. Assistant Chief Rodney Harrison said that the department was looking to help neighborhood-based officers reach problematic young people by going “to them” in schools and community centers. They would entice the young people to show up, he said, by offering “some type of gift,” like a sporting goods gift card or movie tickets.
“It’s a fluid philosophy,” said Chief Monahan. “This is all about trusting our cops.” He added that the department did not want officers to make arrests for the sake it.
Pragmatism on Patrols
That message has reached the street.
As Detective Rodriguez walked through a desolate corner of his Upper Manhattan sector this month, near an otherwise empty skateboard park, he and his partner, Detective Thomas W. Troppmann, came upon three men huddled under a footbridge. One had his shirt sleeve rolled up. Another appeared to be cooking heroin.
As the officers approached, the men quickly skirted away, leaving belongings behind.
In another era, the encounter might have ended with an arrest, or at least a formal police stop. But Detectives Rodriguez and Troppmann did not see a case to be made, or much point in locking up clearly drug-addicted men who later admitted they were struggling with heroin addiction.
“Hey, come get your jacket!” Detective Rodriguez called out to the men.
Two turned back, and the officers spoke to them about addiction services. The third, whom the officers suspected of being a dealer, kept walking.