NYPD to Be Out In Force to Protect Jewish Community During Tishrei

By COLlive reporter

NYPD Officials and Commanding Officers from Jewish neighborhoods throughout New York City gathered at an event on Sunday to detail security protocols that will be in place to protect the Jewish community during the upcoming month of Tishrei.

The unprecedented event, the first of its kind, was organized under the auspices and instruction of the Office of the Chief of Department, Jeffrey Maddrey. It was hosted at the Jewish Children’s Museum in Crown Heights and organized by Hon. Commissioner of City-wide Community Safety Devorah Halberstam, NYPD Liaison to the Jewish community.

In attendance and addressing the event were NYPD Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon, Assistant Chief at Patrol Borough Brooklyn South Charles McEvoy, Assistant Chief at Patrol Borough Brooklyn North Scott Henderson, Assistant Chief at Patrol Borough Staten Island Joseph M. Gulotta, Deputy Commissioner of Community Affairs Mark Stewart, Community Affairs Chief Richard Taylor, Intel/Counterterrorism Chief John Hart, Hate Crimes Task Force Detective Inspector Gary Marcus, Detective Borough Brooklyn South Inspector Andy Arias, and Det. Borough Brooklyn North Chief John Mastronardi. Assisting with the event was Sergeant Mike Baratta of the NYPD 71st Precinct. Rabbi Mendy Hecht of Chabad in Forest Hills North, Queens, blew the Shofar as is customary in the month of Elul. CHJCC member Meir New recited Tehillim in the merit of the safety of Israel and the release of the hostages.

Chief Jeffrey Maddrey, who called for the briefing to take place in response to recent events around the world which have caused fear and concern in Jewish communities worldwide, introduced each of the speakers.

“Chief Maddrey expressed his concern for the Jewish community, and insisted that he wanted to come into the community and speak to the leaders directly about what is being done to provide safety and security during this time,” said Devorah Halberstam. “He understands the importance of what is going on presently in the world, and especially as it relates to the Jewish community.”

Halberstam opened the event by reminding how Jewish people are constantly targets, and said that she knows what it is to be a victim, and that the pain and suffering goes on forever.

Deputy Commissioner of Community Affairs Mark Stewart spoke about the importance of the involvement of community affairs in all the communities throughout the city and how available they are to each community.

Assistant Chief at Patrol Borough Brooklyn South Charles McEvoy stressed that every community will be served and will receive ample security coverage, so that all residents feel safe.

The NYPD officials in attendance discussed what they are doing to provide protection for the Jewish community during this time with the current events around the world, during the High Holy Days and the upcoming anniversary of the October 7th attacks.

Each Commanding Officer who leads precincts that contain Jewish neighborhoods presented a comprehensive and detailed security strategy for the Tishrei holidays, prepared specifically for the needs of their community, and in many instances working together with local Jewish community leaders and activists to ensure that no detail was left out.

Also stressed was the need to create a method of communication between the communities, so that should any incident arise in one area, the other communities are alerted right away.

Commanding officers noted that police officers will be trained in cultural and language differences and ways that Jewish law creates complications in how issues need to be addressed, and were also instructed to maintain a visible and friendly presence in the communities. Officers will not only be on site at Shuls around the city, but will be interacting with residents and providing a friendly face to law enforcement so that people feel safe.

Also discussed were the issue of protests taking place in or near Jewish neighborhoods, and plans to ensure that the residents are always safe.

Chief Scott Henderson, Assistant Chief at Patrol Borough Brooklyn North, said that he works in conjunction with Chief McEvoy of Brooklyn South, so that a seamless coordination continues 365 days of the year throughout the borough which has the largest Orthodox Jewish population in the US.

Chief Henderson acknowledged the assistance of Shmira and Shomrim, who constantly assist with finding and arresting perpetrators of crimes.

“We are constantly in communication about how to keep our community safe, our neighbors safe,” he said. “We’re going to continue to do the work to make sure that our communities are safe and that we all go home in one piece.”

Commanding Officer of the NYPD 71 Precinct Deputy Inspector Thomas Smith provided details on the extra coverage that will be taking place in the Crown Heights neighborhood over the month of Tishrei, which is expecting over 60,000 visitors to arrive during the next few weeks, he said.

The plans for security in the neighborhood are developed by the NYPD in collaboration with Civilian Security Patrol, Brooklyn’s Chiefs of Patrol and the NYPD Counterterrorism Division.

Over 40 shuls and yeshivas, especially 770 Eastern Parkway, Lubavitch World Headquarters, will require steady coverage and monitoring throughout the month, Chief Smith said. Teams of police officers will be out in force during all holidays as well as special events such as Kaparos, Simchas Beis Hashoeva, and Tahalucha.

Also mentioned was the area in Cambria Heights, Queens, where the Ohel Chabad Lubavitch – the Rebbe’s gravesite, is located. The area will also have full police coverage over the Yomim Tovim for all the tens of thousands who visit throughout the month of Tishrei and the guests who sleep in the vicinity.

Chief Richie Taylor spoke about the emergency Zoom call that the NYPD held on October 7th of last year with Jewish emergency community leaders, even though it was Shabbos, for Pekuach Nefesh for security. Chief Taylor also spoke about the arrest the NYPD made regarding the masked individual who entered a subway car a few months ago and yelled “are there any Zionists on the train, raise your hand, now is your chance to get off.” Chief Taylor stated that it is self evident that the working relationship between the NYPD and the Jewish community has never been stronger and he credited the leadership of Police Commissioner Tom Donlon, Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey and Deputy Commissioner Mark Stewart for that.

Deputy Inspector Gary Marcus, commander of the NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force, reported disturbing numbers of the rise in Hate Crimes in the City.

“Hate crimes across the city are up about 24%,” related Deputy Inspector Marcus. “More disturbing is the disparity, about 68% spike in hate crimes are against the Jewish community,” he said. “About 58% of all hate crimes in New York City are anti-Jewish in nature, which means that more than half of all hate crimes in New York City are committed against Jews,” he said.

Marcus said that on a positive note, “Hate crime task force arrests are up 20%, so these people are getting caught, and they are going to jail.”

He also stressed that justice for hate crimes is in the hands of the community. “It all starts with you, members of the community. If you feel you are the victim of something, whether you believe it to be a hate crime or not, you must report it. That kicks off an entire procedure that makes officers notify their supervisors, and then an executive, and then it makes its way to us at the task force,” he said.

“If I can leave you with one thing, it’s the message that I always say: please, please, report it. If you think you’re the victim of a crime, of a hate crime, of anything, report it. If you’re aware of something, report it. We cannot investigate what we do not know about.”

In attendance were: 60 DI Andrey Smirnov, 61 Capt. Joseph Antonio, 62 DI Eddie Lau, 63 Capt. Ronald Perez, 66 67 DI Rachel Kosak, 70 DI Gregory Mackie, 71 DI Thomas Smith, 72 DI Krystin Suarez, 78 Capt. Billy Morales, 73 Capt. Odelle Despot, 75 Insp. Mark Vasqez, 77 DI Omar Birchwood, 79 DI Gil Hipolito, 81 DI Khandakar, 83 Capt. David Poggioli, 84 Capt Thomas Maffei, 88 Capt Michael Goodchild, 90 Capt Joseph Wernersbach, 94 Capt. Jonathan Navarrete, 121 Glorisel Lee, 101 Pct Capt Timothy Schultz, 107 Capt. Mo Tsang, 112 Capt. David Cordano, 7 DI Christopher Treubig, 19 DI Neil Zuber, 20 DI Candida Punsullivan, 50 Pct Katherine Taveras.