Roosevelt Island Burgalry Solved and Much Better Communications Between Public Safety Department And RIRA

Image Of Burglary Silhouette From Secured Surroundings

The Roosevelt Island Public Safety Department reports:

On Wednesday, January 13, 2010 during the day tour (7 a.m. to 3 p.m.) PSD received a call of a past burglary. On Thursday, January 14, 2010 during the midnight tour (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.) PSD received a call regarding a male entering a building without permission. After a search of the building (name omitted for blog) was apprehended on the seventh floor and was identified as the aforementioned male. He was arrested for criminal trespass. A search of this subject revealed him to be in possession of a cell phone. A subsequent investigation proved the phone to be part of property taken during a burglary on January 13, 2010.

While being processed at the 114th Precinct the NYPD Detectives were able to connect the subject to two additional burglaries. The subject is being charged with burglary, criminal possession of stolen property and criminal trespass. He was actually on parole and will probably have his parole violated.

A job well done and a safer community for all thanks to the diligence and professionalism displayed by PSD.

On another matter, I inquired of Roosevelt Island Public Safety Director Keith Guerra:

At the January RIRA meeting there was a report concerning allegations made by several taxi cab drivers that Public Safety Officers were using excessive force against them when being pulled over on the street including being punched and elbowed in the face.

Do you have any comment on this allegation?

Mr. Guerra replied:

I have not received one complaint from a Taxi Cab Driver claiming Excessive Force by any of the PSD Officers. However, on the contrary, two-thirds of the complaints we receive about motorists not obeying the Speed Limit, Street Signs or almost hitting pedestrians are made about Taxi & Livery Drivers that come onto the island.

I have instructed the PSD Officers to strictly enforce the Vehicle and Traffic Laws, with special attention to these types of vehicles. When stopped, most respectfully state that they were not familiar with the Island's "Rules of the Road". There are some instances, however, where the Drivers show little-to-no respect for the Uniformed Officers that are trying to do their job. That is usually followed up by the Driver's failure to comply with a Lawful Order, and subsequently - an Arrest.

Some residents would rather the Officers take the Verbal Abuse and Disrespect, and allow these Violators to be let go. The majority of the residents want these Violators dealt with, to insure a Safer Community. I choose to listen to those residents.

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Public Safety Committee Chair Feely-Nahem met with Director Guerra on this matter and reports:

Ellen Polivy and I met with Keith. He was forthcoming with the information pertaining to the incident. He had several check and balance systems to add credit to the officer's report. All the reports indicated that the officer's were disrespected, due to the ignorance of the driver of the cab, as to what authority they hold on R.I. We spoke about ways to diffuse this type of situation, maybe by initially explaining who they are and what power they hold on the Island, prior to asking for the driver's info. He seemed somewhat responsive to that. He also shared that the driver, once pepper sprayed and told he was going to be arrested, became compliant and wrote a statement that admitted he had been cursing at the officers, refusing their directions because he was unaware of their position on the Island. Keith felt that one should take into account the danger that Public Safety officer's face on any traffic stop, since they travel one per car, and that at any time a gun could be pulled out and they could be shot. This leads to a certain level of adrenaline. The officer's did admit that one of them also cursed at the taxi driver, telling him to get out of the F------ car, for which Keith reprimanded him and has additional trainings scheduled.

It's good to see the improvement in lines of communication between the Public Safety Department and RIRA during the last year.

UPDATE 1:40 PM - A reader asks in the comments section to this post:

I would to know which building the burglar entered and how he got into that building. I live in Westview, where many of my neighbors routinely open the door at 595 to let people they don't know into the building, rather than making them to walk to the door station at 625. I have always felt that this practice compromises the security of the building and refuse to do it. I know I'm viewed as a curmudgeon.

According to the Public Safety Department:

The burglary occurred on 1/13 at 595 Main St and he was apprehended on 1/14 at 555 Main St