Sky Watch Returns to Franklin Avenue
The NYPD has set up one of its Sky Watch towers on Franklin and Lincoln Place in Crown Heights. The police at the scene explained it as a “giant box with cameras” to watch traffic speed and pedestrian activity around the area, though the last time one of these showed up on Franklin Avenue it…
The NYPD has set up one of its Sky Watch towers on Franklin and Lincoln Place in Crown Heights. The police at the scene explained it as a “giant box with cameras” to watch traffic speed and pedestrian activity around the area, though the last time one of these showed up on Franklin Avenue it was in response to “rash of shootings and other crime” in the area. Are you buying the traffic monitoring explanation? GMAP
I’m sure they’re focused on fighting crime but i’d pull my blinds just in case if i lived around there.
Didn’t they use these things when everyone was getting jacked in DUMBO a few years ago?
I have none biff, but according to people I know in the DA’s office, they don’t see them as all that useful outside of monitoring crowds at large events.
“Are you buying the traffic monitoring explanation?”
For a dollar.
***Bid half off peak comps***
More disconcerting than comforting. Feels like a police state. Creates tension in the neighborhood, much more so than pairs of beat cops walking around, checking into businesses, etc.
honestly tho it doesnt matter if they reduce crime. it gives some people a sense of security. people perhaps who wouldnt walk on that street or people who have to take that subway and just run back and forth. maybe they will stop in one of the shops this time?
*rob*
Does anyone have any independent statistics on how effective these things are in reducing crime? Would be interesting to see.
More disconcerting than comforting.
“A tremendous waste of time and money.”
I live further up Franklin, so it doesn’t do much for me. However, I imagine that for people that live near there and those who walk past that corner to and from the subway, this is a welcome sign. There have been four shootings near that block in the past months and if it makes people feel more secure about walking down the Avenue and supporting the (legitimate) businesses there I’m all for it.
There’s always an argument over whether these things do any good. However, I’d argue that this is a pretty effective use of time (one officer) and money (one already-made pod).