Crime has caved 78% in the 84th Precinct over the last two decades and 10% over the past year, according to the 84th Precinct Community Council—comprising the neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill, DUMBO and Vinegar Hill. An all-out celebration of safety was held Tuesday at Borough Hall for the 29th-annual “National Night Out Against Crime,” which builds relationships between cops and the communities they police.

Leslie Lewis, president of the 84th Precinct Council for 22 years, told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, “We’re here to celebrate the success of the partnership between the community and the police. When this all started, it was too dangerous to walk around at night; nobody was on the streets. Now there are people on the streets, development everywhere. It’s a very different world. Because of the success of the partnership, developers started to spend money and encourage people to move here. It’s directly related.”

Cops from the 84th precinct grilled up hundreds of burgers and hotdogs at Tuesday’s celebration, with Deputy Inspector Mark Di Paolo serving as ringleader. He told the Eagle, “When it first began in 1984, this was a night where the community came out to feel safe, not victimized. Now, 29 years later, it’s more to celebrate how this partnership brought safety to the community.”

Crime is down 10% in the 84th Precinct overall this year, and down 5% in robberies, 22% in felony assault, and 60% in stolen cars.

Judy Stanton, executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association, told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that the 84th Precinct “is very responsive to local community needs as well as keeping a handle on the bigger issues in the precinct—terror targets, the bridge, etc. They give equal attention to big and little stuff.”

Source: Brooklyn Heights Blog
http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/45411