After the summer break, community members were introduced to the new commanding officer of the 63rd Precinct who presented Cop of the Month awards at their Community Council meeting held on Wednesday, September 28th at the John Malone Center.
Community Council President Greg Borruso welcomed Commanding Officer Captain Rachael Kosak and spoke about the virtual interview process that resulted in her selection.
Kosak introduced herself as a 15-year veteran of the police department who started as a police officer at a precinct in South Jamaica, Queens, then went to the 61st Precinct as a sergeant for about three years and has spent the last seven to eight years working in various roles and overseeing several areas within the detective bureau in Brooklyn North and South.
Kosak referred to the CompStat report that is public knowledge on the internet as a way for anyone to look at crime statistics. “Just like many of the commands for many of the neighborhoods in New York City, the 63 is one of those precincts that is experiencing crime ticks and has been for the last year or two,” Kosak said. “We are up in robberies, felony assaults, burglaries, grand larceny and grand larceny auto.”
She said that the grand larcenies are problematic because of the amount of shoplifting in the stores, which are experiencing thefts almost daily. Since there is no one place experiencing this or persons doing this, it is an ongoing issue. She also reported that there have been numerous car thefts, car break-ins and catalytic converter thefts.
She then announced the Cop of the Month awards for outstanding police service from June to August as follows: June – Officers Espinal and Navarro-Caraballo; July – Officers Reynolds and Dryden; August – Officer Lebron.
Following the awards, CB 18 Parks Committee Chair Nancy Walby mentioned complaints brought up at the last Marine Park Community Association meeting about the lack of law enforcement at the park. She said that the 69th Precinct was also experiencing similar problems. Borruso said that he plans to put together a meeting with the acting manager of Marine Park, Danielle Goldfarb, the police department and Walby.
“We’re limited in what we can do, but we can do something other than just sit on our hands,” Walby said of the budget limitations placed on the Parks Department to provide adequate enforcement on their own.
Other speakers were Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse, State Senator Roxanne Persaud, CB 18 District Manager Sue Ann Partnow, Alex Gurevich from the District Attorney’s office and Eileen O’Brien representing Assemblywoman Jaime Williams.
The next meeting of the 63rd Precinct Community Council will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26th at the John Malone Center, 2335 Bergen Avenue.