Report: Community officers inaccessible

A new report found some NYPD community officers are lagging in picking up calls from Bronx residents. Staff members from the offices of city council members called all 10 precincts across the Bronx during

News 12 Staff

Jul 16, 2008, 11:04 PM

Updated 5,930 days ago

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A new report found some NYPD community officers are lagging in picking up calls from Bronx residents.
Staff members from the offices of city council members called all 10 precincts across the Bronx during regular business hours and used a set script to keep responses constant.
Only three of the precincts called were able to reach a community officer by phone, none could provide a community officer's cell phone number and only one had provided an e-mail address.
"If there would have been some kind of understanding, the neighborhood wouldn't be so bad right now," says Ray Santiago, who lives near the 41st Precinct, about relations between the department and the community it serves.
Bronx residents say they see a trace of prejudice in the treatment their community receives. They say areas with more crime get less attention from community officers than those in safer communities.
The city council made a few recommendations for better access to community officers such as providing them with cell phones and having publicly listed e-mail addresses.