Despite rumors of car break-ins around East 27th Street between avenues L and N, police at the 70th Police Precinct say there is no pattern of such crimes.
The rumors were circulated at the recent Nottingham Association (NA) meeting, one of the borough’s oldest civic associations.
“People are talking about them [car break-ins], but they’re not reporting it to police,” said NA President Helen Rosen.
Rosen said she went to the recent 70th Precinct community council meeting, and some people were talking about it at the meeting in hushed tones but nobody brought it up to commanding officer Inspector Tom Harris.
One person brought up that a kid 12- or 13-years-old got mugged, but the perpetrator was caught, she said.
Rosen said at the recent NA meeting one person said they saw somebody breaking into a car and that they went outside and chased the alleged perpetrator away.
“It’s important to call 911. Police can’t follow up on anything or find patterns if people don’t call 911 when there’s an incident,” said Rosen
“I think we’re a quiet neighborhood really,” she added.
Harris said there has not been any crime patterns or spikes in crime on that side of the precinct. He also suggested that if citizens see a crime or criminal activity that they call 911.
“We deploy [manpower] based on crime trends and certainly if someone is a victim of crime we want it reported to police,” Harris said.
The NA, which has slightly under 400 members, is bounded to the north by Avenue K between Bedford Avenue, Ocean Avenue and Nostrand Avenue; to the south by the north side of Kings Highway; to the east by the west side of Nostrand Avenue; and to the west by the east side of Ocean Avenue between Avenue L, Avenue K and Kings Highway.
Rosen noted the NA has one safety patrol vehicle that patrols the neighborhood.
The vehicle is on the road seven hours a day, seven days a weeks, said NA board member Connie Koenig, who is also co-coordinator of the safety patrol.
Koenig said the safety patrol vehicle works swing shifts and of late there has been more street activity around Olean Place, which crosses Avenue N in the East 20s.
If there’s trouble, the one-person patrol, which the NA hires to man the vehicle, is instructed to go to the hot spot, but is not supposed to get out of the car, she said.
Koenig said the safety patrol car is equipped with a flashing light and its presence helps keep the neighborhood watched.
The safety patrol has found a lost dog, curbed some bicycle thieves and helped elderly people out who were confused with directions, she said.
For more information on the NA, log onto www.nottinhambklyn.org.
