The Patch Interview: 72nd Precinct Captain Emmanuel Gonzalez

SUNSET PARK and WINDSOR TERRACE, BROOKLYN — "It's never a numbers game," Captain Emmanuel Gonzalez said inside his office at the 72nd Precinct in Sunset Park. "It's all about where we put our resources."

Gonzalez, an Iraq War veteran who's been on the force for 27 years — and at the helm of the 72nd for about six months — was referring to alarming police data from this summer showing that major crimes in his precinct were up 20 percent from the year before. The 72nd covers Sunset Park, South Slope and Windsor Terrace.

During a Thursday conversation with Patch, Gonzalez explained that a small spike in crime early on in the year can make for a big statistical swing.

Now, 10 months into the year, the 72's numbers look a lot different. Through Oct. 2, major crimes were collectively up about 4 percent compared to the same period last year, according to official police statistics. The department's ComptStat database, which is publicly accessible, shows that major crimes collectively increased between January and April — then fell back down, rose again over the summer and fell again in September.

Pictured: Major crime by month in the 72th Precinct. Click to enlarge

Gonzalez made a second point about police data, too: It doesn't necessarily show the nature of the crimes being committed.

A robbery, for example, could be either domestic or random, Gonzalez said — two very different crimes posing different levels of threat to the public and calling for a different response.

At a conference table inside his office, the captain flipped open a large binder full of statistics.

Through Oct. 2, the documents showed, 141 robberies had been reported in Gonzalez' precinct, compared to 148 during the same period in 2015.

Gonzalez then pointed to a breakdown of robberies over the past month, from Sep. 12 to Oct. 9. The data showed that 65 percent of them had taken place on the street — as opposed to, say, one member of a family robbing another. That reality, he said, means his officers will have to spend more time trying to prevent the conditions that contribute to street crime, such as people walking home intoxicated at night.

Gonzalez had one last point on police data. Just because more crimes are being reported, he said, doesn't necessarily mean more crimes are being committed.

The 72nd Precinct is now using the NYPD's new community policing model in an effort to improve cop-community relations and grow the number of tips delivered to the department. This system, Gonzalez said, has already opened new lines of communication between police and neighbors in the precinct — a positive step that Gonzalez believes may have had the added effect of creating a spike in reported crime.

"We want an accurate understanding of what's going on out there," the captain said.

Here are a few more things we learned in conversation with Gonzales:

Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace have 50 percent more cops this fall than they did in spring. The captain explained that the 72nd Precinct now has about 152 officers, compared to approximately 100 before the community policing program took effect in April. Under the program, four groups of two Neighborhood Coordination Officers, or NCOs, spend all their time patrolling one of four quadrants in the precinct (map below). Meanwhile, Gonzalez said, the 50 new officers allow for a constant police presence in the quadrants. The NCOs serve as managers and liaisons — helping to establish where the police should be dedicating their energy.

Robbers aren't getting away with much in Sunset Park, the captain said. A total of 20 robberies, committed between Sep. 12 and Oct. 9, resulted in 23 arrests, he said. While that could mean some robberies haven't been solved — multiple people could have been arrested for the same crime — Gonzalez said he's very happy with that arrest rate.

Murderers, either. The 72nd has seen four homicides so far this year — one each in the months of January through April. Gonzalez said all four cases have been solved by police. The highest-profile incident involved the death of Phil DelleGrazie, a Park Slope business owner run over by his own truck after chasing down the man who stole it. Also this year, a woman stabbed a man who was harassing her at work; a man was killed while playing a game of Russian Roulette; and a two-year-old girl was killed by her mother.

Pictured: Murder by month in the 72nd. Click to enlarge

Shootings may be up — but again, the arrest rate is high. The precinct recorded six shootings through Oct. 2. Gonzalez said arrests have been made in every shooting except two: In the first, a man fired a gun down 46th Street without striking anyone, and in the second, shots were fired on 3rd Avenue around 47th Street.

The precinct is working not just to react to crimes, but to prevent their causes. For example, officers are engaging drunk pedestrians and trying to help them get home safely, Gonzalez said, and working "to set the tone" for bars that are over-serving customers. Gonzalez emphasized that victims are never to blame for the crimes that befall them. However, he said, actions can be taken by cops and residents alike to make crime less likely to occur.

Pictured: Shooting incidents by month in the 72nd. Click to enlarge

Sexual assaults reported in the precinct this year were almost all believed to be domestic in nature. Police have yet to arrest the man responsible for a sexual assault in Windsor Terrace this past June, even though the attack was caught on surveillance footage. Apart from that, the precinct has recorded 16 rapes through Oct. 2 — down from 18 last year — but Gonzalez said the Windsor Terrace rape was the only case involving a stranger. In every other case, the victim knew their assailant, he said.

Gonzalez denies a tie between homeless shelters and neighborhood crime. Despite some community concerns, Gonzalez said he has not found any evidence that Sunset Park's new homeless shelters are linked to an increase in crime in the area.

Pictured: Rapes in the 72nd Precinct, by month. Click to enlarge

A quick precinct refresher: Below is a map of the 72nd Precinct, broken into its four community policing quadrants (you can click the map to enlarge).

And here's contact info for the seven NCOs currently on duty in the 72nd.

Sector A

• Wilfredo Montes: 917-912-0960, wilfredo.montes@nypd.org
• Danny McGrath: 917-853-2601, daniel.mcgrath@nypd.org

Sector B

• Brian Cassidy, brian.cassidy@nypd.org, 929-383-8164

Sector C

• Carmela Andersen, 929-375-2344, carmela.andersen@nypd.org
• Philip Buonora, 929-371-7705, philip.buonora@nypd.org

Sector D

• Richard Fuentes, richard.fuentes@nypd.org, 929-522-7641
• Sue Liu, sue.liu@nypd.org, 929-343-7660

Pictured at top: Capt. Emmanuel Gonzalez. Photo by John V. Santore