84th Precinct’s Cop of the Month solves over 30 cases with one summons

April 22, 2014 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle

From left to right: 84th Precinct Executive Officer Capt. Anthony Lemmiti, Community Council President Leslie Lewis, Cop of the Month Joseph Swicicki’s Mother, Swicicki’s wife and son, Cop of the Month Joseph Swicicki and Capt. Maximo Tolentino. Photo: of Leslie Lewis

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Last Tuesday, the 84th Precinct Community Council held its monthly meeting at the St. James Cathedral Pavilion in Downtown Brooklyn, where it named Officer Joseph Swicicki Cop of the Month for April. Swicicki was honored for his role in helping to catch a thief that was responsible for over 25 burglaries in Brooklyn and Manhattan and eight more in New Jersey.

“Officer Swicicki went beyond just making an easy summons and walking away,” Leslie Lewis, president of the 84th Precinct Community Council, said. “He caught a big-time burglar.”

Swicicki and his partner stopped the thief while he was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk and found him to be in possession of an illegal knife. After they arrested him, they found property that had been stolen from 37 Willow St. A few weeks later, Swicicki noticed some similarities between the Willow Street burglary and a series of burglaries that had been occurring in Manhattan. He worked with a Manhattan precinct’s detective squad to connect the cases and secure an arrest.

“Normally a bicycle on the sidewalk would just be a summons, but in this case there was something that didn’t look right to the officer so he went beyond the typical job and it led to this great bust,” said Lewis.

Precinct council meetings provide a strong link between the local police and the community. They are often essential in helping police to do their jobs. The 84th Precinct’s council meetings are held every third Tuesday of the month. Captain Maximo Tolentino provides details of crimes happening in the area and takes questions from community members in attendance. Pizza and drinks are served.

There will be two more 84th Precinct Community Council meetings their summer hiatus. Contact the precinct for the time and location of May’s meeting and look out for June’s, which will be held in the Brooklyn Bridge Park.