Crime Is Low in Windsor Terrace, But What About Sunset Park?

WINDSOR TERRACE, BROOKLYN — Windsor Terrace is one of the safest areas of the NYPD's 72nd Precinct.

That assessment was offered at a Saturday meeting hosted by Officers Danny McGrath and Wilfredo Montes, the two Neighborhood Commanding Officers (NCO) assigned to Windsor Terrace as part of the NYPD's new community policing model.

Precincts operating under the system are divided up into quadrants, with two cops assigned to each quadrant. Montes and McGrath aren't the only two officers who work their part of the 72nd, they explained, but they spend almost all of their time there, in an effort to build direct connections with community members and help fix a variety of problems.

McGrath and Montes said they'll hold monthly meetings starting in September to update residents on local public safety. (The NYPD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the precinct's other quadrants would host similar meetings. The 72nd's next general public meeting will take place on September 13.)

Overall crime in the 72nd, which also includes South Slope and Sunset Park, has gone up nearly 20 percent so far this year compared to 2015, according to official police statistics — though much of that increase appears to have taken place in Sunset Park.

The NYPD has thus far declined to make precinct commander Emmanuel Gonzalez available for an interview with Patch.

But on Saturday, Montes said that a significant part of that increase was caused by non-violent crime, specifically "grand larceny [tied to] identity theft." (He explained that if, for example, someone's wallet is stolen with a credit card or debit card inside, the crime is classified as a grand larceny.)

However, the NYPD's statistics for the precinct through July 10 also show seven more rapes and 29 more felony assaults than in 2015, in addition to 73 more grand larcenies. Since many of those crimes apparently occurred outside of McGrath and Montes' area of focus, they were not discussed in any detail on Saturday.

More locally, the cops said that the NYPD has not forgotten about a chilling neighborhood sexual assault that took place in late June, during which a young woman fought off her attacker while walking home alone on 16th Street.

The crime was caught on surveillance camera, and the officers said the department is still looking for a white male believed to be responsible. The officers provided the number of a detective dedicated to the case — 917-662-0549 — and urged the public to call with any tips.

Montes and McGrath also discussed the July 5 arrest of a man they said is likely linked to a slew of recent Windsor Terrace car break-ins. The suspect had 31 prior arrests, Montes said, adding that after he was arrested again, the force had seen a drop in auto-related crimes.

From June 20 to July 17, NYPD officers in Windsor Terrace's quadrant of the 72nd issued 1,289 traffic summonses, the officers said, for offenses ranging from running red lights to texting while driving to failing to signal a lane change.

The cops also said they had seized 10 electric bicycles, the seemingly ubiquitous vehicle of deliverymen everywhere. Despite their popularity, such bikes are illegal, McGrath explained. The cops said they notified neighborhood businesses about that fact years ago, but the bikes are still in wide use.

At the meeting, McGrath and Montes provided their department-issued cell phone numbers and official email addresses. They urged residents to contact them with any issue, even matters that don't normally involve the police, such as trees that aren't being property trimmed. The contact information they provided is as follows:

Wilfredo Montes: 917-912-0960, wilfredo.montes@nypd.org

Danny McGrath: 917-853-2601, daniel.mcgrath@nypd.org

Top image courtesy of Giacomo Barbaro/Flickr