Try this short test:
Your car is broken into while in your driveway:
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You witness your neighbor’s car broken into while in their driveway
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You are mugged after dark, and your purse is stolen
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You witness your neighbor being mugged after dark and her purse stolen
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You find graffiti on your garage or fence
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You witness your neighbor’s garage or fence being graffitied
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You are approached by two suspicious men after dark
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You witness two suspicious males harassing a young woman
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You are chased by one or more unleashed dogs while walking in the park
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You witness an unleashed dog chasing someone walking in the park
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You are driving and struck by another car from behind
❑ Report ❑ Ignore
You witness an automobile accident a block away
❑ Report ❑ Ignore

Enough! This isn’t grade school anymore! How did you score? If you responded “REPORT” for each incident, you’re a good neighbor and a good citizen. If you replied “IGNORE” for each incident, you are certainly not a good neighbor and you’re not a very good citizen. If you replied “REPORT” when you are the victim, and “IGNORE” when someone else is the victim, shame on selfish you! If you replied “IGNORE” for some questions, see which of these reasons you would use to justify that: “I don’t want to get involved,” “The Police never respond to reports anyway”, “The Police are lazy or corrupt”, “Who cares?,” “I don’t like my neighbors anyway!”, “What did the neighbors ever do for me?”, “I don’t like the Police – I once got a ticket for speeding while drunk”, “Why weren’t the Police already there patrolling?” You may have many more excellent reasons for ignoring incidents – whether you or others are the victims; please send those reasons to this magazine, and we’ll print the best of them.

But, remember this civic rule: if an incident is never reported to the police, it never happened, and whoever ignores the incident loses any right to complain about the police or the perpetrators. This is the same rule that applies to your right to vote. Don’t vote – don’t complain!

Carry this article to the next COP 104 Meeting (3rd Wednesday of each month) and ask the police why reporting an incident is so vital, and ignoring is so shameful.

HAS ANYONE SEEN ANY MOTORIZED SCOOTERS LATELY?

Captain Scott Shanley promised action just a year ago that he would crack down on these menaces. He has kept his promise. Thank you and Happy Anniversary, Captain!

In the last week or so, officers from the 104th Precinct arrested a Maspeth shop owner for illegally selling motorized scooters. Zoom Scooter Inc. had thirty expensive scooters confiscated by the police. The new law, effective on March 23rd bans the operation, sale, rental of the scooters. Use them – lose them!

WHAT NEWS OF DRUG ACTIVITY IN OUR COMMUNITY?

At the recent COP104 Meeting on May 18th at Our Lady of Hope
Auditorium, Police reported the arrest of a buyer and his dealer on 77th Place near Eliot Avenue. Police found – and confiscated, naturally – of a Kilo of crack cocaine in the dealer’s vehicle. The dealer used the vehicle to make deliveries throughout the community.

This arrest, following a lengthy surveillance of the location, was possible due to a good citizen’s phone call to the JPCA Civic Line (718-651-5865). The report was passed on to Captain Shanley, who notified the Queens North
Narcotics Division, who promptly initiated the long lasting surveillance.

The police do take these reports very seriously, but cannot be everywhere all the time. So, the police rely on the many good citizens in our neighborhood to observe, use common sense, and promptly report their observations. Action will follow. You will not always know of it until an arrest, but,
be patient, and do report. Phone the Civic Line (718-651-5865).

Remember this: drugs destroy; drugs wreck young people and neighborhoods. Further, much of the drug sales go to finance terrorists. So, you can fight terrorism!

WHAT ABOUT GRAFFITI?

Captain Shanley also promised a crackdown on the graffiti vandals. The officers of the 104th Precinct have been making arrests all over the precinct. For those who cling to the belief that graffiti is just some harmless artistry practiced by youngsters, just note the recent arrest and guilty plea of a 30 year old graffiti vandal from Ridgewood
who slashed a 13 year old who had “vandalized” the graffiti of the 30 year old. You see, these vandals really do understand destruction. The 30 year old vandalized property belonging to the Long Island Railroad, then assumed “ownership” of the vandalism, and became enraged when the 13 year old “destroyed” the original vandalism.

This, in a nutshell, is what these vandals have in their idle minds as they destroy our garages, storefronts, fences and all the private property they set out to vandalize. Once they mark up your property, they consider your property as their own.

Report graffiti to the police. Get it removed immediately. There are organizations who are ready to help you restore your property. Contact them.

HOW SAFE ARE OUR STREETS HERE IN QUEENS?

VISIT THIS WEB SITE TO SEE FOR YOURSELF:
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/tvne
ws/dtl_dangerousroads2005/form.asp

Phone GCOP/104COP – 718-497-1500 – to learn about the Civilian Observation Patrol. Your participation helps the Police as well as your community.

FEEDBACK:
Thanks to the good neighbors who have sent letters to this column, your letters were forwarded to Captain Shanley, Commander of the 104th Precinct. You may contact him directly via email at: ADM104@GW.NYPD.ORG.

We welcome all communication from the community – residents or police officials. You can email your comments to PoliceBeat104@AOL.COM. You can mail your comments to Police Beat 104, C/O Juniper Park Civic Association, P.O. Box 790275, Middle
Village, NY 11379.

Feel free to report all graffiti locations, new or old, to this column (after you call 311).

Your feedback will drive this column.