NYPD watching from the skies
By Michael Y. Park
Special to amNewYork
June 8, 2007
[FAC: An interesting dynamic is at play here. If each neighborhood had its own police force, then each would be more likely to use something similar to ensure that their own backyards were kept in order. Since the same police force must monitor "all" neighborhoods, however, there's no real incentive, since it would in all likelihood be tantamount to moving one's chaise lounge on the deck of the Titanic from here to there today, and then over to "there" when the third bell sounded, lest the entire city be outfitted, which would be financially prohibitive at upt to $100K a pop. See photo and additional link below.]
amny.com
About two months ago, Andrew, a 30-something consultant, walked out his door on the edge of Crown Heights and found his neighborhood apparently under siege by aliens.
"It looked like men from Mars had landed," he said. "I had a 'War of the Worlds' moment on first sight."
What Andrew was taken aback by was the spidery, two-story steel tower that had popped up overnight a couple blocks from his house. It wasn't an H.G. Wells/Steven Spielberg scenario, and Tom Cruise was nowhere nearby, but in some ways it was just as disturbing.
The structure was one of the NYPD's Sky Watch towers, mobile guard posts that the city has been sending to problem neighborhoods for about a year. Each tower contains a booth on top for an officer to stand guard over the neighborhood with an elevated vantage point, four digital cameras that save video to a hard drive, a spotlight and other surveillance equipment. When it's time to move on, the towers (which cost between $40,000 and $100,000 each) collapse and can be trucked away.
Towers like these are already being used by the U.S. Border Patrol and police departments in Florida and Texas, and the NYPD aims to have a set of five, including the Crown Heights tower, which began patrolling in May 2006, and a tower in Harlem, which appeared in November.
[fac: see: "The NYPD Panopticon Imprisons Harlem" at: tinyurl.com ]
Initially, many residents of Crown Heights were less than thrilled.
"We were concerned about it," said Emil Clark, chairman of Brooklyn's Community Board 10, which includes part of Crown Heights. "People that had been living in the neighborhood forever were concerned that maybe this was for the people who were moving in, to protect them. They were like, 'Why didn't you all put this in here two years ago, when people were killing each other?' And I don't know if it deters crime. If you have a criminal mind, you just move down the block."
In Harlem, the reception was similar -- some people couldn't help but notice that their tower stood across the street from two new luxury condominium developments.
Other residents thought it was a quick fix for the NYPD that allowed them to forgo the old-fashioned police work that might bring about long-term change.
"I'd prefer to have beat cops walking the streets and interacting with residents, rather than lying in wait and spying," said Andrea Duncan-Mao, a senior producer at MTV.com. "It surely doesn't build any trust, and it's not going to help at all with the 'no snitching' epidemic if the cops continue to operate in a bubble -- literally."
On the other hand, others -- particularly business owners -- said they're happy to see the towers.
"It's not attractive, but it's something to deter criminal activity," said Mike Persaud, manager of Secrets, a Crown Heights restaurant just a block from a current Sky Watch site. "That corner is a problem area -- there's a lot of shooting, drug trafficking. I'd like to have sidewalk seating, and having the tower makes it a lot easier."
Though the NYPD was quiet about rolling out the towers, they dismissed the criticism that the mobile units were just for wealthy white residents. They've since moved the pods from location to location (including the Upper East Side, Shea Stadium and Times Square), staying at each area for a couple weeks.
According to a police spokesman, precinct commanders request that the towers be placed in their neighborhoods. (A request to the NYPD for information on how the towers have affected crime levels was not answered in time for this story.)
A year since the towers's introduction in Crown Heights, residents hardly ever complain about the stations anymore, Clark said.
As for Andrew, his shock over the seeming Martian menace has given way to grudging support.
"Although it may not solve the root of the problem, it operates on the 'broken windows' basis where people don't litter where there's no litter, and crime doesn't establish itself where it's difficult to take root," he said.
Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.
------
[fac: photo taken from another source; click on the following link to see more: tinyurl.com ]
------ |
