CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — The Police Department has been under scrutiny over the past couple years, after being accused of ‘losing’ reports. Interested in keeping the crime statistics down officers were pressured by their superiors to ‘lose’ the reports.
Car Break-ins: Have all the Reports Been Filed, or Lost?
CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn [CHI] — The Police Department has been under scrutiny over the past couple years, after being accused of ‘losing’ reports. Interested in keeping the crime statistics down officers were pressured by their superiors to ‘lose’ the reports.
Car break-ins, referred to as ‘Grand Larceny Auto’ by the Police, are known as one the least important of the statistics categories; and often time scoffed at. Over the past two weeks Crown Heights has been plagued with over 35 car break-ins. Shomrim believes that behind most, if not all of them is repeat offender Terrance Nelson, a known criminal in the community.
Shomrim records indicate that their volunteers have been involved in seven of his arrests. Shomrim volunteers have even testified against him in a Grand Jury, in two separate cases in the last five years.
Nelson was reported to have been released from his last incarceration sometime in October this year. He has been spotted tens of times since then casing cars, prepping for his heist. In one Shabbos afternoon incident, a Shomrim volunteer spotted him going into a driveway and breaking into a Hatzalah member’s car.
The incident was captured on a security surveillance camera, which was turned over to police as evidence. The Shomrim volunteer told Police that he recognized that it was Nelson breaking into the car and gave chase. The officer took the information and filled out a report.
Just last week a number of Shomrim volunteers spotted Nelson walking the streets in the late hours of the night. However after a long two and a half hours, the Shomrim members made the tactical decision to call Police and have him arrested. He was wanted for questioning in regards to the incident on Shabbos.
Police were called and the Officers took Nelson into custody.
What happened next shocked everyone. There was no Police report on file from the incident on Shabbos. “I wouldn’t call it shocked” said one of the Shomrim, “in the back of my head I could have expected it, maybe because we were involved in that incident on Shabbos, or maybe because the report would make [police] look bad.”
With no reason for the Police to take Nelson into custody the officers were forced to release him.
New Trend
It seems to me that its becoming a trend for the 71st Precinct. All I have been hearing about them lately, is that they are ‘losing reports’. I wonder who is behind this one? maybe Chanina?
been there
Y would chanina be behind this?
Other things, fine… but this seems like the precinct ganged up against us
Levi
And this is exactly why I didn’t file a police report two Fridays ago when they broke into my mini van on Lefferts bet. troy and scen.
I have better things to do than to wait in the freezing cold for the police to come and do nothing …
Also Robbed
I called the police after Nelson broke into my car last week. The cops wouldnt even come out of the car to survey the damage. They took down my info and told me to pick up the report at the station. No report was found. Surprise Surprise!
The cops in Crown Heights have got to be the most pettiest in the world.
Yungerman
Intresting that night my car was broken into i should check if the report was ever filed
Victims unite
United you stand devided you fail. CH needs political juice. Certain un-named Rabbi’s have an in with commissioner Kelly and certain judges. If enough pressure by victims is put on them you can get rid of this curse.
Empire Imports
Theft from a vehicle is NOT Grand Larceny Auto (GLA). A GLA is when the actual vehicle is stolen. When items are stolen from the vehicle it is a larceny; grand larceny is the property is valued at over $1000 and a petit larceny if the property is under $1000. The majority of thefts from a vehicle are petit larcenies which are not considered index crimes, or crimes tracked by the FBI and therefore there is no point in “losing” those reports.
yossi
its time to go to the federal goverment
mn
can we get a restraining order barring nelson from appearing in crown heights?
yosef
my car was broken into Saturday night and a gps stolen and i know someone els who’s car was broken into Sunday and we both didn’t even bother with calling the police they don’t do anything anyways why should i waste my time
arthur robins
The Torah proclaims that if you see something wrong, and that certainly includes something wrong happening to you- you must do something about it, or Hashem will hold you responsible. You must report all crimes to the Police. What THEY do about it is secondary to YOU doing something about it first.
to bad
They broke into my van
but i never botherd to make a police report.
anyways it was in the outskirts of CH
sheichen hashchunah
The best solution for the immediate problem of Nelson’s predations as well as the chronic plagues of police apathy and communal strife and lethargy is to revive a community-wide surveillance program. Those above a certain age remember that after the progrom we were galvanized to do something to protect ourselves but as surely as rain undermines a neglected levee (ala Katrina)the enthusiasm and commitment collapsed. We desperately need to revive a sense of civic responsibility to police our own community. Achieving this will result in much good that will extend far beyond a rat who has found access into a home via a neglected hole in a basement wall. (Perhaps we would come to fully appreciate the good work and mesirus nefesh exemplified by those who remained on their posts in the defense of ourselves and neighbors. Perhaps an ugly feud among former friends could be treated where it belongs (not in arkaos) and thus start the process of healing our sorely divided community; one originally conceived and based on the concept of Ahavas Yisroel and realize the full potential of kahn tziva hashem es hab’racha.)