gunshots?

Subject: Resturant & Coffee Shop

There is a lovely Resturant and Bar at Bedford and St Marks, also one at Bergen and Rogers

My frustration is that my bedroom is on the back of my home. Often I'll hear shots but don't know whether they are coming from the front of the house or the block behind us. This was the case the night of the original gunshots refered to in this post. I feel pretty stupid calling and saying "I live at x and y and just heard gunshots but I don't know where they are coming from".

That being said, I agree with the last poster that we all need to call the cops whenever there are things we see going on that we don't agree with. One of the first things that surprised me when I moved to Crown Heights was the amount of open drug activity that takes place. I moved here from Bed-Stuy and never saw the frequency of drug activity that occurs on Nostrand and Franklin Avenues. What makes it worse is that it does not seem to bother the rest of my neighbors. When I speak to them about it they all say that it bothers them but no one seems to either ask folks to take their business elsewhere or call the police. Not sure if folks are just afraid of retaliation or don't care, but I believe that the more drug activity in the neighborhood, the more you'll continue to hear gunshots.

Subject: crime in crown hts

Detective Ratton of the 77th Pct. is the community affairs officer. When I called him to complain about gunshots, his first question was: did you call 911. Apparently you need to call 911, even if you don't know exactly where the gunshots are coming from. The 911 operators understand that you aren't going to stick your head out the window to get a better look! Once you've called 911, Ratton can follow-up and find out which officers responded to the complaint and what they found out. This system really works so try it out. Ratton's number is 718-735-0634.
Also you can attend the Community Board 8 meetings where the pct. commander is often present and can answer questions. He's really pretty knowledgeable. The Community Board meets on the second Thursday at verious locations. Go to www.brooklyncb8.org for the location this month. The next meeting is at the Berean Baptist Church on Bergen bet. Utica and Rochester.
Finally the 77th Pct. Council meets every Second Monday of each month at the pct. offices on Utica at Bergen.
None of this stuff is magic, it takes a concerned community to make crime go away. It will go away if enough people complain. The problem is too many have accepted it as "normal".
Well it isn't normal and should be stopped. A number of people have been working on Franklin Avenue for example, including the Crow Hill Assoc. for years and I'm told its a lot better. The Nostrand Ave. North Crown Heights Merchant Assoc. is working on Nostrand. I believe both have websites.
Good luck and keep on complaining.

Subject: shootings..

Hi- I live on Bergen/Brooklyn...we've been here about 3 years. My husband was jumped twice, and our neighbor a couple times as well. He's also a "newcomer". The first time the police did a really poor job responding, and then twice lost the complaint we filed. My husband was in the hospital the first time..so it was pretty scary. If you hear shootings, etc. you really have to stay on top of things. We've found that asking to speak to the head of the precinct -- Inspector O'Connell gives much better results that trying to talk to Rattan. We haven't found him terribly helpful. Also, letter writing to the commissioner at least alerts them that there are problems, and the response time has a lot to be desired. We also were attending the block meeting held on St. Mark's at the building across from the Children's Museum -- you have a lot more leverage that way. It really is an ongoing battle, and you have to stay on top of things -- call whenever you see something that's not right, hear gunshots, whatever..I was very active for awhile then got so busy with work, etc.. One thing -- be VERY careful about walking around Brower Park after dark. This is where my husband and neighbor were attacked. Our neighbor was almost jumped by two guys on Christmas day by the park (on kingston avenue) but pulled a knife on the guys (probably not such a good idea, but he's fed up..) and they left him alone.

Subject: Re: shootings..

catinthehat wrote: Hi- I live on Bergen/Brooklyn...we've been here about 3 years. My husband was jumped twice, and our neighbor a couple times as well. He's also a "newcomer". The first time the police did a really poor job responding, and then twice lost the complaint we filed. My husband was in the hospital the first time..so it was pretty scary. If you hear shootings, etc. you really have to stay on top of things. We've found that asking to speak to the head of the precinct -- Inspector O'Connell gives much better results that trying to talk to Rattan. We haven't found him terribly helpful. Also, letter writing to the commissioner at least alerts them that there are problems, and the response time has a lot to be desired. We also were attending the block meeting held on St. Mark's at the building across from the Children's Museum -- you have a lot more leverage that way. It really is an ongoing battle, and you have to stay on top of things -- call whenever you see something that's not right, hear gunshots, whatever..I was very active for awhile then got so busy with work, etc.. One thing -- be VERY careful about walking around Brower Park after dark. This is where my husband and neighbor were attacked. Our neighbor was almost jumped by two guys on Christmas day by the park (on kingston avenue) but pulled a knife on the guys (probably not such a good idea, but he's fed up..) and they left him alone.

I have to disagree with Det. Raton not being helpful. He helped me twice when I got robbed.

Ms. Adossa from the District Attorney's Office is a good contact as well. Her number is 718-250-3370.