Police on Franklin Ave 2/3

anonymous

Anyone know what the deal is with all the police activity on Franklin Ave today (Saturday the 3rd)? Lots of cop cars up and down the block and cops walking around near Shorey Deli. Did anything exciting happen?

captain salty

i saw all the cop cars, saw some officers in some delis, but i have no idea what happened. there was a car like every other block with lights on, looked like maybe they were searching for somebody that did something bad...

homeowner

Could it be that we are an impact zone now?

I was out last night about 7pm and saw the police on Franklin. Squad car parked every third block or so at the corner with the lights on. Same thing on Nostrand plus the mobile police van is back on the corner of Nostrand and Park. Walked out to the corner around 10pm and there were two cops in the squad car doing paperwork, but no action at ALL.

Seems weird only because its been pretty quiet for the last month or so, and the weather is keeping even the most hard core guys off the corner.

ashlee spears

i noticed the same thing. i came home around 5 and there were cops at st marks and franklin, then a little later i saw another cop at franklin and bergen. i didn't see them busting anyone, just standing around. i've heard a lot more sirens around here lately though and the cops have stopped on this block at least twice this week...

paraderest

The 77 is still not an "Operation Impact" precinct. What you saw was the Critical Response/Surge detail. Critical Response is a counter terrorism initiative that used to be seen only in Manhattan but has now been spread out to the outer boroughs in high crime areas to serve the dual purpose of counter terrorism/counter crime. If you've ever seen the parades of police cars with lights and sirens in Manhattan then you've witnessed Critical Response.

kenieva

how about those "cop gatherings" that take place sometimes in the middle of GAP (Grand Army Plaza)? Anybody knows what's that about? There seem to ba at least 30 cop cars.. i haven't seen them in a while but was curious

homeowner

Seem to recall that there was a PH thread about this and it was determined that that was also Surge or some sort of terrorist repsonse program.

masha99

Parade Rest, does this target areas that are viewed as "high crime," or is there some kind of specific terrorism profile?

imnotyourdaddy

I think it's a general exercise. They've been doing it all over the city. There was a huge one on Grand Army Plaza a few months ago.
I don't get the vibe that it's a "high crime" thing.... it's more about preparedness. (Is that a real word? or just a Bush-ism.)

sandcastler

so do they need to get a parade permit for that?

paraderest

It's general purposes are reponse readiness, counter-terrorism, display of force. Some big boss had an idea that instead of sitting cops in front of a temple or some store in Times Square they should put the cops into high crime areas and add crime prevention to the list of purposes. It's a good thing that the feds are footing the bill.