Traffic Control Sgt. Anthony Correia explained the concept behind “Clear Curb” at the recent 84th Precinct Community Council meeting at Borough Hall on Tuesday night. He said that the city’s goal is to have clear curbs going from the 78th Precinct in Park Slope to the Brooklyn Bridge with no obstruction.

“Our traffic enforcement agents are gonna be out there,” Correia said. “It’s gonna be a separate team. There will also be a separate team of supervisors as well as tow trucks out there on a daily basis just to ensure the restrictions are adhered to. The northbound side going towards the bridge has the restrictions in place already so it’s not even a major change, the difference is there’s heavy emphasis on it going forward during this pilot program.”

The initiative is a six-month pilot program under the larger scope of de Blasio’s effort to reduce congestion across the five boroughs. A similar rule was put in place in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, where residents expressed vocal opposition to the initiative, according to the Queens Chronicle. The program was initially slated to begin in January but has only just begun.

Cop of the Month

Officers Nicholas Skelton and Steven Nieves were named 84th Precinct Cops of the Month of March by the community council for their excellent detective work.

The duo was on the midnight tour on Jan. 11 when they responded to a burglary in progress call. When they got to the private residence, the officers quickly noticed there wasn’t a burglary in progress, but instead found firearm rounds on a table.

They decided to dig deeper and secured a search warrant and uncovered a firearm, ammunition and a controlled substance. The bust led to the arrest of an unnamed man and woman.

“For their true devotion and dedicated experience we want to acknowledge them as cops of the month,” said Executive Officer Tyrice Miller.

Crime Report

Major crime is down across the board in the 84th Precinct, according to executive officer Miller, with no particular area seeing an increase in activity. However, the same cannot be said for petty crime as robberies, and burglaries have all seen a spike in increase over the past month.

Miller said that the precinct has put a greater focus on burglaries this year, and attributed that to the 12.1 percent decrease in burglaries overall this year. There has been a recent increase in the last month, though, so he said the precinct would put an even greater emphasis on burglaries.

Grand Larceny has also seen a 22.5 percent increase in activity over the last month, a spike not common post-holiday season. According to Captain Miller, the problem partially lies with unmindful shoppers who forget their belongings in stores.

The other more serious issue is mail phishing. Mail phishing is when a criminal searches mail drop boxes for letters and packages that may contain money, credit cards or other valuables. The problem is so vast citywide that the postal service is developing new measures to counteract the epidemic including warnings and updated drop-off boxes.

“What we’re telling individuals and instructing them to do is to take their mail to the nearest post office if it can wait till the next day and deposit it in a box inside the post office,” said USPS Postal Inspector Daniella Fernandez. “If they drop it in a box on the street, they shouldn’t do it after the last pickup time. If not, then before the last pickup time.”

Start the last week of March, the 84th Precinct plans to increase its presence within Brooklyn Bridge Park, with 28 additional officers, through the summer.

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