Canarsie residents are getting both a top crime fighter and a quality-of-life community advocate in their new 69th Precinct commanding officer, Captain Milt Marmara.
“I’m here and I’m very serious about working with the community. It’s part of my thing – working with the community while fighting serious crime,” said Marmara.
Marmara took the reins of the precinct after the former commander, Deputy Inspector Ralph Monteforte was named to commander Flatbush’s 70th Precinct last week.
Born in Rumania, Marmara came to this country at three years old where he was raised in Astoria, Queens and always dreamed of being a New York City cop.
After a stint as a military policeman with the U.S. Army, Marmara started his civilian law enforcement career as a public housing cop with Public Service Area (PSA) 9 in Queens before joining the NYPD in 1992.
Shortly after, he met his wife a retired NYPD detective and former community affairs officer.
“That’s how we met [in the police force] so I have a lot for which to thank the NYPD,” Marmara said.
Marmara’s first stint with the NYPD was in Astoria Queens’ 114th Precinct where he worked as a patrolman, in the anticrime unit and as a member of the Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit (SNEU).
After being promoted to sergeant, Marmara went to the 83rd Precinct in Bushwick, and after being promoted to lieutenant, the chief of the Bronx recruited him to head an elite crime reduction initiative team in that borough dubbed RAZOR.
“It was a nice, tight little unit and we really helped crime reduction up there working mostly in the 44th, 46th and 52nd Precincts,” he recalled.
Marmara then did two years as a narcotics officer in Manhattan South before being promoted to captain where he was an executive officer in Queens at the 101st, 102nd and 113th precincts.
“I’ve seen a lot but with my wife in community affairs, she always also pointed out the positive parts of the community as opposed as just catching bad guys and going to calls where people were victims of crime,” said Marmara.
Though just a week into the command, Marmara said he already met with 69th Precinct Community Council President John Salogub, and has reached out to all the civic organizations and block associations.
“We can’t keep crime reduction down alone. The community has to help us out to find out where bad guys are, where problem buildings are and whose dealing drugs and carrying guns,” he said.
Marmara said it’s also important to continue a good and smooth relationship with the community in addressing quality of life issues as noise complaints and other nuisance issues, he said.
“I like to do both and I’m in uniform every day, but I will always remember the vast majority of people are good decent people, he said.
