March 24, 2011

Police Beat: Murder, Rape up in Central Brooklyn Felony crime on course to rise more than 10 percent in 2010

Murder, Rape up in Central Brooklyn
Felony crime on course to rise more than 10 percent in 2010

The two most violent crimes – murder and rape – are up sharply in the Central Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.
So far this year there have been 56 reported murders in these neighborhoods compared to 39 at this time in 2009, according to police statistics.
The deadliest areas include the 81st Precinct (covering Stuyvesant Heights) and the 77th Precinct (covering Crown Heights). So far this year both commands have 16 reported homicides as compared to 12 at this time last year.
The 79th Precinct (covering Bed-Stuy) is even in murders with 12 reported this year and 12 at this time in 2009.
Less violent Fort Greene/Clinton Hill has had six murders so far in 2010, which is still three more than last year at this time, according to 88th Precinct statistics that cover the area.
Rape has risen even sharper in Central Brooklyn with 71 reported as compared to 47 at this time last year.
Bedford-Stuyvesant and Stuyvesant Heights is the hardest hit with this crime accounting for 45 of the 71 rapes. Of these two neighborhoods, Stuyvesant Heights has seen a whopping 133 percent increase in rape with 21 so far this year as compared to only nine at this point in 2009.
Rape is also up 66 percent in Crown Heights with 18 reported in 2010 as compared to 11 at this time last year.
Fort Greene/Clinton Hill has had eight reported rapes so far this year as compared to two last year.
Of the four precincts covering Central Brooklyn, the biggest jump in overall felony crime including murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary, grand larceny and auto theft is Crown Heights, which is up nearly 14 percent for the year. Of these crimes, felony assault (35%) and burglary (28%) have seen unusually large increases.
Bed-Stuy has seen an overall 12 percent increase in felony crime with grand larceny leading the way being up a little more than 20 percent.
In past months, police sources have attributed the rise in grand larceny and robbery to teen-on-teen crime, particularly  handheld electronic devices.
While crime has jumped overall about 11 percent in Stuyvesant Heights, auto theft is down 20 percent and burglary is down about 10 percent for the year. On the other hand, felony assault is up 34 percent.
The most active precinct battling crime has been Bed-Stuy’s 79th Precinct where there have been 1,572 reported felonies this year as compared to 1,445 at this time in 2009.
By comparison, Fort Greene/Clinton Hill’s 88th Precinct has had a reported 936 felonies so far in 2010 as compared to 839 at this time last year for a nearly 12 percent jump in crime.
Police officials were not able to get back to Our Time Press with comments about the increase of crime at press time.

AT WIT’S END: MISS LIPSTICK’S FELLOWSHIP

I turned from my bar stool and saw my old friend and drinking buddy, Miss Lipstick.
“I’m writing a column now for Our Time Press, the oldest black-owned weekly in Brooklyn.”
“No kidding. What are you going to write about?”
“Well, I had planned on being real hard-hitting and provocative but a few friends have warned me to ease into it before I start shaking things up.”
Well that makes no sense to me, Miss Lipstick said. “The way I figure it, if words are bullets, the last thing a word slinger needs is to be gun-shy.”
“So what do you think I should write about?”
“You can write about my story for one.”
“And what’s that?”
“I’m a proud recipient of a U.S. Department of Labor fellowship.”
“You mean unemployment.”
“That’s what you call it. I call it a fellowship. I put in my time working for a company the last fifteen years. Paid my taxes and worked hard. Then the company, how do they call it? Reorganized.  So now I’m on fellowship. Just wish it came with medical.”
“Have you been looking for a job?”
“Sure. I’ve gotten my resume out all over. Times are tough though, and I can’t find anything right now that pays as good as my fellowship, let alone my old salary.”
“Okay. So consider your story told.”
“But your column shouldn’t only tell my story. You should also be telling the story of the mother whose child has been killed because of black-on-black crime, and how the cops need more watching over and how the mainstream media doesn’t cover this neighborhood because it isn’t gentrified enough yet.”
“What about the state of black political leadership in Brooklyn?”
“You mean the lack of black political leadership in Brooklyn. Some of our politicians been in office so long moss is beginning to grow under their feet and between their toes. In this political clubhouse climate I don’t see Brooklyn producing an Obama like Chicago has done or even a Cory Booker like Newark has done anytime soon.”
I took a gulp of beer.
“Good point,” I said. “But I must confess I’m a little word-shy for this my first column.”
“Well, man up. There’s only two things you’ve got to remember, and the first is to call it the way you see it in your columns to make things better without pulling no punches.”
“And what’s the second?”
Miss Lipstick gave me a flirty smile. “Offering to buy this thirsty lady a drink.”
“Fine,” I said, motioning the barkeep over.
“Another beer for me, and what are you having, Miss Lipstick?”
“A Grand Marnier.”
“A Grand Marnier?” I said. “That’s some top-shelf liquor.”
“Well, I’m a top-shelf lady.”
That you are, Miss Lipstick. That you are.”

NY Post Abuses Child in an Attempt to Smear School

Last week, the New York Post published two articles and two editorials about a child who had complaints about the school she attended, Paul Robeson High School.
The Post quoted 15-year-old Alisha Strawder as saying if she “could burn down this school and get away with it,” she would. Alisha readily admitted she hardly goes to class.  Alisha’s chief complaints seem to be adolescent in nature: lurid tales of sex and drugs in the hallways.

School and community members are expressing concern about how the Post reporter was able to talk to the teen. According to a source within the school,  on or about the morning of April 9, Alisha and another teen were approached by the Post reporter as the girls were making their way into school. The reporter was able to lure the girls away from the school to a McDonald’s restaurant on Fulton Street, some 6 blocks away. It was in that McDonald’s where the girls were encouraged to give lurid descriptions of their school. Alisha gave the reporter what she was looking for, in exchange for a meal. The other teen had positive things to say about Robeson, which the reporter ignored.
One of the articles quoted someone named  Kasyra Strawder, who is supposed to be Alisha’s mother. In fact,  Kasyra Strawder is Alisha’s step-mother who lives with the teens father in the Albany projects. Alisha’s birth mother, an alumni of Robeson, was not quoted in the paper. In fact she was very upset at having her daughter used in such a crude manner by the Post. When asked if the Post had obtained a signed release giving permission to talk to Alisha, reporters seemed “blase,” stating they did not need one to talk to a student outside of school grounds.
Since the Post articles, morale at the school was said to be bad; the school community felt as though they were “hit below the belt,” especially after the recent hard fought court case to keep the school open. Students were upset about the articles. Many said Alisha engages in the activities she was talking about. Others wondered why she aired “dirty laundry.”
Educating urban children is never easy. Exactly two years ago, Our Time Press covered the story when Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz came to Paul Robeson High School to present Special Citations to 3 heroes who saved the life of  Robeson  honors student Kyle Owens. Kyle was stabbed inside Paul Robeson H.S. on March 28. Todd Myles, Physical Education teacher and Basketball Coach, and Vivian Gardner, Nurse Practitioner, revived Kyle by performing CPR and chest compressions. School Safety Agent Sheila Nesbit stopped the bleeding by placing pressure on Kyle’s stab wounds.
In the Post article, Alisha characterized Robeson staff as “uncaring.” A Robeson staff member who spoke to OTP on condition of anonymity said Alisha had only been in Robeson during her sophomore year; she had transferred from another school. After exhibiting some behaviors common to adolescents, several Robeson adults began “working closely with her,” including “a couple of assistant principals, the choir director, and school counselors.”
Some of Alisha’s concerns regarding social conditions among students  are founded, but in contrast to her characterization of an uncaring school community, Robeson has interventions in place to assist students. Divine Divas is a rights of passage program for Robeson students and girls from the surrounding community. African Voices Exhalting is a manhood-training initiative run by Carlos Walton, from Medgar Evers College. The school has a daycare center for 13 babies – not all the offspring of Robeson students. Robeson’s Life Center is said to be a “life saver” for students; “it keeps them in school,” by providing parenting and other services.
There are those within the school as well as in the community who are “of the mindset that the school is being set up” and wonder if “allegiance is to Klein and Bloomberg or education.” Robeson is seen as “a victim of the whole process of closing large schools.”
NYS Senator Eric Adams stated, “The Department of Education of the City of New York has a responsibility to its students, families, and communities to be thoughtful and methodical in any decision to close a school.  The State Legislature established a protocol last year, and the process clearly was not followed.  It requires individual site hearings and consultations, and the unprecedented outcry from neighborhoods affected by the school closures is ample evidence of the DOE’s lack of respect for this law.
“No one is concocting excuses for struggling schools; everyone agrees that they must successfully educate our young people.  The issue is whether these schools deserve immediate closure or an opportunity to improve – and whether they have been given appropriate support prior to the decision to shut them down.
“The enthusiasm for rejuvenating Paul Robeson shown by its community, its staff, and its students betokens an initial step in the revitalization of this high school.  It is most appropriate to harness this positive energy in support of a redevelopment effort.”
Just last year, Paul Robeson High School was one of the schools OTP highlighted in our annual recognition of local schools that send graduates to college. Among the eclectic group of Robeson graduates were 10 Citi scholarship recipients, and students who received the Brooklyn Old Timers Scholarship,  Guardian Achievement Scholarship from the NYPD,  the Albert Shanker Scholarship, and the Brooklyn Girl Friends Scholarship. One student won second place in the prestigious Random House Creative Writing Scholarship Competition.
From that article: “Paul Robeson  has a wide variety of academic programs geared to prepare students for college and professional careers via internships or career-based experiences. The 20-year  Robeson/Citi partnership with Citi (originally with Solomon Brothers) includes a mentor/mentee program, state-of-the-art technology, scholarships, college trips, support with Career/College Day, and internships for students. An op-ed school focused on business and technology, Robeson is home to 2 Virtual Enterprises, an international program that trains students to run a business. Robeson’s student-run businesses are Generation Design, a web design company, and Extravaganza Planning, an event planning company. Two of Robeson’s four Academies or Small Learning Communities are part of the National Academy Foundation: the Academy of Finance and the Academy of Information Technology offer advanced curriculum in Virtual enterprise and Cisco Networking Certification,  with students taking part in college classes and participate in enrichment activities like Toast Masters.”
Councilman Vann stood with the school during this time of crisis and is “supportive of the school and their efforts to improve.”
School and community members are expressing concern about how the Post reporter was able to talk to the teen. According to a source within the school, on or about the morning of April 9, Alisha and another teen were approached by the Post reporter as the girls were making their way into school. The reporter was able to lure the girls away from the school to a McDonald’s restaurant on Fulton Street, some 6 blocks away. It was in that McDonald’s where the girls were encouraged to give lurid descriptions of their school. Alisha gave the reporter what she was looking for, in exchange for a meal. The other teen had positive things to say about Robeson, which the reporter ignored. While sitting in McDonald’s, Alisha was pumped for her negative opinion of Robeson, paid for with the price of a meal. The Post reporter had no problem encouraging Alisha to miss valuable classroom time.