THE ASSEMBLY

STATE OF NEW YORK

ALBANY

Chairman
Committee on Codes
COMMITTEES
Rules
Ways & Means
Election Law

JOSEPH R. LENTOL
Assemblyman 50th District
Kings County
lentolj@assembly.state.ny.us

September 22, 2016

Mr. James P. ONeill
Commissioner
New York Police Department
1 Police Plaza
New York, NY 10038
Dear Commissioner ONeill:
First off, congratulations on your appointment, you certainly bring a breadth of experience and
commitment to the finest police department in the world. On a more serious note, I am writing
you today regarding a pressing issue that concerns many of my constituents. In recent weeks,
there have been numerous incidents of violent crime in North Brooklyn (including the 90th and
94th Precincts), where even minor crimes are usually few and far between.
Specifically, there was a shooting on the Williamsburg waterfront and two alleged incidents of
rape and assault near McGolrick Park. As would be expected, these incidents have created a high
level of anxiety amongst my constituents and an overall feeling of a lack of general safety in the
neighborhood.
With respect to the aftermath of the shooting on the waterfront, I have heard from constituents
that they did notice increased patrols. Everyone is pleased to see more officers in the area.
However, our precincts only have the resources to provide routine patrols which results in the
potentially troublesome individuals knowing when the patrols leave. They then return to the
waterfront. The solution to stopping future incidents is to allocate enough patrols to allow for
unexpected squad cars to show up or pass by the troubled areas.
Due to low crime rates over the years in the 90th and 94th Precinct neighborhoods it is likely that
police staffing levels have not kept on pace with the increases in visitors and residents to these
communities. With the waterfront rezoning that occurred in 2005, North Brooklyn has seen a
population explosion the staffing of these precincts should see proportional increases. I urge
you to provide more police officers and resources to these precincts.
Sincerely,

Joseph R. LentoL

632 Legislative Office Building, Albany, New York 12248 (518) 455-4477 FAX (518) 455-4599
District Office: 619 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn, New York 11211 (718 383-7474 FAX (718) 383-1576