quotation-icon.jpgOk here is one part of this that was ignored. The police usually don’t respond or do anything about drug dealing unless someone has a gun. They have to actually catch someone in the act of dealing to really arrest them. They are business people and have figured out how to do their business. They get sloppy now and then, but they are fully aware of how to play the law. If you call 911 about drug dealing, they will ask you if anyone has a gun. The gun part will seal the deal for them and they will make a move. Here is my theory. Everyone’s gotta eat. There are people that have jobs and get paid and people that hustle and get paid. The cops know this. The city knows this. My experience in Brooklyn shows me that in any given neighborhood the MAJORITY rules. If the majority is Hasidic Jews, they dictate the behaviors and rules, In white neighborhoods, people sip wine on their stoops. In the Lower East Side the cops have been told not to respond to noise complaints because Bloomberg has declared it a “party zone” and it would be bad for business to tell the bars to keep the noise down. In poor and working class black neighborhoods there is a percentage of people that have to hustle to make a living. As long as that hustling is not hurting anyone, causing other crimes or drawing large numbers of complaints, then its business as usual. It keeps things status quo, people eat and no one gets hurt. Clampdown and well, what will folks do? Especially with high unemployment levels. The cops know its happening, but unless its really causing a problem to surrounding businesses and threatening people’s lives they do nothing really. They can’t, its majority rule basically. So until the majority swings the other way and people keep complaining, the 77th probably can’t do much.

— by tomgee in Drug Dealing Hotspot in Crown Heights?


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. I spent two weeks last fall as a Kings County grand juror. We heard over a dozen cases involving drug busts. None were accidental arrests where a beat cop saw something suspicious going on. And none came from patrol cars responding to a call. They were very focused efforts using teams of narcotics detectives whose job was to spot, engage and arrest drug sellers working on specific blocks or corners.

    It sounded like very productive work. They weren’t fishing in unknown waters. If the cops targeted a a block, it was because they knew there was drug selling going on, and they knew if they made the effort, they were going to come away with some arrests.

    So what makes them focus on one corner instead of another? I don’t think it’s ignorance. Sure, the police appreciate all the tips we citizens provide, but they already know where most of the hots spots are. But they have to deploy their resources. Lot of man hours involved in those narcotics teams. How are you going to pick your targets?

    I expect all the obvious answers apply. Incidence of other crime in the area. The possibility of additional charges (eg, weapons possession). Repeated complaints from residents. A nudge from the city councilman. A nudge from the precinct captain. Maybe lots of blog postings makes a difference. (Taking photos probably not such a great idea!)

    In short, don’t expect the police to respond effectively to every call, but don’t stop calling. Keep pestering them, and in lots of different ways. (How about an invitation to the precinct captain to speak to the local neighborhood/merchant/block association?) And get your neighbors involved. One angry resident is a crank. One hundred angry residents are something else.

    The police can be effective. They put our local crack house out of business with a battering ram to the front door. But you’ve got to make them want to do it.