Captain reshuffles dwindling officers

By Tommy Hallissey

The number of officers assigned to the 50th Precinct has dropped 15 percent in less than three years, but Capt. John D'Adamo insists the recently announced elimination of his Community Policing Unit is not a result of a shortage of officers. Instead, he said, he has simply given the unit a new name that better describes its duties - the Conditions Unit.

"I just wanted to streamline things," Capt. D'Adamo said, "It's the same function, just a different name."

He acknowledged that he had made a few strategic changes, but he couldn't talk specifics. Capt. D'Adamo said the name change was his decision not the NYPD's.

Community policing was no longer an accurate description because the unit was responding to complaints rather than policing individual streets or projects.

Capt. D'Adamo said that despite the fact that the precinct's compliment of officers has diminished to just 118, the Five-O is not undermanned or closing a unit. "We're fine," said Capt. D'Adamo. "It's not impacting the quality of life of residents at all."

At Community Board 8's public safety committee meeting May 15, it was announced that the precinct had only 108 officers. For comparison, in August 2005 before the NYPD staffing crisis, the precinct had 21 more officers than Capt. D'Adamo's number today. In 2000, the precinct had 156 officers.

"It strikes me as a really low number," said Tony Cassino, chairman of Community Board 8. "Not long ago our budget was calling for 200 officers."

Mr. Cassino was bothered by word that the precinct could only put three cars out on the street on certain shifts. "One car makes an arrest they get tied up in the system, now you are talking about two cars covering the whole precinct," he said. "That doesn't sound comforting."

A police source said some patrols officers have been going without lunch to keep enough cars on the street.

"It's the perfect situation for cops to get burnt out," said Augie Aloia, a former NYPD sergeant who teaches criminal justice at Monroe College. "We already have a million things going against us."

Less officers in blue has resulted in a 10 percent bump in major crimes this year compared to last year at this time, according to CompStat figures. However, there were more arrests for major crime (118) this year than last year (106), according to the NYPD.

Arrests are way up

The precinct was hardest hit in burglaries this year with crimes up 56 percent, though arrests are up more than 250 percent.

Citywide NYPD recruitment has become more difficult over the last few years since a contract with the police union dropped the starting salary to $25,100.

Mr. Cassino wondered if less manpower in the Five-O was a police department decision to shift manpower or a response to the staffing crisis. On May 20, rookie pay was bumped more than $10,000 by an arbitration panel.

One woman, who wrote to The Riverdale Press recently, appeared distressed at the loss of community policing. "These guys, these police officers were the only ones who would help me and come to my door and listen to me," she said.

"The noise from the kids outside my window, the neighbors partying all night, the students wrecking our property and keeping us up all night, the graffiti on our property, our businesses, our public steps, the bums that take up residence in our parks, the parties and drinking and destruction of our parks, and countless other offenses that take place in our community will now go unpoliced."

Sgt. John Moran, who supervises the unit, said everything remains the same in the new unit. "There was only slight changes to days off," he said. "We still have the same phone number, the same officers, the same assignments and the same tasks," Sgt. Moran said.

Quality of life

The Conditions Unit will address quality of life complaints like graffiti, noise and car breakins. "Whatever conditions dictate I schedule my men to address them," Sgt. Moran said. The unit currently has five officers, a sergeant and a lieutenant and Sgt. Moran hopes to add two more officers.

Tom Durham, of Community Board 8, pressed Detective Luis Rodriguez at the community board's public safety committee meeting May 15 about an incident in which police were slow to arrive at a site where four rims and tires were stolen from a victim's car.

Detective Rodriguez defended his fellow officers saying each car might have four or five emergency calls waiting response.

It is situations like this that trouble Mr. Cassino.

"What happens when you have limited resources, you don't focus on the most pressing issue," he said. "Quality of life goes right out the window."

But Sgt. Moran assured a reporter his unit would be accountable for crimes like four rims stolen from a car parked on a street in Riverdale.

"Wherever prevalent conditions arise, we'll address them," he said.

This is part of the May 29, 2008 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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