It’s been more than a month since Suffolk County police began pouring added manpower into the Third Precinct to put pressure on Brentwood and Central Islip gang members in response to a recent spike in deadly violence in the two communities. And while there have been some successes, including hundreds of arrests, there is still one impediment to investigations: fear.
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“One of the biggest problems that we’re having is that people aren’t coming forward because they’re afraid of retribution,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy at a public forum Monday at St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church in Brentwood, where more than 300 residents showed up to hear what is being done to combat the crime wave. “They’ve never been more vicious,” he said of the violent gangs in the area, including MS-13, the Bloods and Latin Kings.
The turnout at that meeting was smaller and the crowd more subdued than at two similar meetings on the same topic last month. But Levy, along with other county and police officials who addressed the concerned citizens in attendance, has been essentially preaching to the choir. It is those who are not listening to advice that they share information with police that are the problem, and that is why clergy are being enlisted as intermediaries between those who are afraid to call the police—even if it is just a call to offer a tip anonymously—and the investigators who need information that may lead to another arrest.
Take for example two recent assaults in the area: On March 29 a man had his finger nearly bitten off in Baywood, a community neighboring North Bay Shore, but would not cooperate with investigators. Or the man who was stabbed in Brentwood on April 1 who would not help police find his attacker. If their reluctance to cooperate is because they are victims of gang violence, police cannot be sure, but this latest tactic investigators have unveiled is aimed at solving cases like these.
“If an individual wants to report a crime or something that’s happening that may be going on that’s gang related where they’re afraid of retribution, they can go to the church and speak with the pastor,” says Marcos Maldonado, a lifelong Brentwood resident and member of Brentwood Residents Against Violence Everyday (BRAVE), a new neighborhood-watch organization that has been working with Levy and police. He added that potential tipsters from the neighborhoods who don’t speak English or are undocumented immigrants may be more inclined to take advantage of the program.
Police insist they are not concerned with the immigration status of a crime victim or tipster, but encourage anyone with information to come forward through whatever channel makes them feel most comfortable.
“There’s always that area where you don’t know what you don’t know,” says Inspector Jan Rios, commanding officer of the Third Precinct, who has utilized the help of clergy in the past when encouraging immigrants who were victimized to come forward. “Anything that helps them come forward with the information we’re supportive of.”
This latest move comes after police have pulled officers from non-patrol functions elsewhere in the department to help increase the presence in the area. Cops also started conducting random traffic checkpoints and added electronic surveillance—among other tactics, like getting more help from the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force, which arrested 10 Latin Kings in Huntington Station recently.
Such drastic measures were ordered after five people were murdered between the two communities in February alone—including a teenage mother and her 14-month-old son—that followed a string of high-profile serious assaults and murders in the second half of 2009.
Community outrage over the violence was vented in a pair of ad-hoc public meetings in which hundreds of residents voiced concern over police response and parents were urged to keep a closer eye on their children. Monday’s meeting was the third such forum, this one held by Levy after he took flack for not attending the first two. Levy has repeatedly said that he was not formally invited to the prior meetings.
“We learned about the meetings the same way you did, through flyers, and we rearranged our schedules,” Debbie Cavanagh, president of the Central Islip Coalition, said to Levy at Monday’s meeting. “We expect that you make us you’re No. 1 priority, not the gubernatorial race,” she added, referring to the fact that Levy announced the day after the second meeting that he is running for the Republican nomination in the New York State Governor’s race.
Levy replied: “It had nothing to do with that,” adding that attention should remain focused on moving forward. On that note, he said: “It’s not our intention to keep [the added police] there for a day, a week or a month, but to keep them there steady.”
But as police officials are reporting that gang members are getting harder to find as a result of the added patrols in the area, whether the department will continue blanketing the area with officers indefinitely remains to be seen.
February 2010
Five people murdered in Brentwood and Central Islip following a string of high-profile murders and shootings in the communities over the summer and into the fall.
March 2
Suffolk County police announce added patrols to help combat the gang problem in the communities.
March 4
Hundreds of residents show up to a public meeting at the Brentwood Public Library held by Legis. Ricardo Montano (D-Central Islip) to discuss the violence in their community but the turnout is too much to accommodate the crowd.
March 18
Montano holds a second public meeting on gang violence at Central Islip High School for those who were unable to attend the first meeting.
March 22
Suffolk County police begin conducting randomized traffic checkpoints in order to continue keeping the pressure on gang members. Later the same day, a half-dozen Suffolk County legislators and other officials rally outside Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy’s office, blasting him for not attending the prior two meetings.
April 5
Levy holds a public meeting updating residents on what is being done to combat gang violence at St. Anne’s Rockville Centre Church in Brentwood.
April 6
The turnout at the monthly “First Tuesday” meetings run by Suffolk County police’s Third Precinct is moved from the usual location at the precinct stationhouse to a lecture hall at Suffolk County Community College in order to accommodate the turnout of over 100 people, more than double the average.
