By Helen Klein
Taking care of small problems can prevent bigger ones. That’s the philosophy behind the 69th Precinct’s enforcement of quality-of-life offenses, according to Sergeant Joel Dickerman, who is in the precinct’s community affairs department. Dickerman, who spoke before members of United Canarsie South Civic Association (UCSCA), gathered at the Hebrew Educational Society (HES), 9502 Seaview Avenue, for their February meeting, said that the precinct, “Proactively issues summonses” for such offenses as drinking beer in the street. “We find that enforcing small, low-level offenses helps reduce crime,” he told his listeners. “So if we have an area that has crime, robberies are happening, we’ll do enforcement for marijuana, drinking. We’ll show police presence at the location.” One example Dickerman mentioned was the sale of untaxed cigarettes on the street. “The untaxed cigarette sales have led to people being arrested who were wanted for robberies, who have other, more violent criminal histories,” Dickerman noted. “So, someone might look at it, ‘Oh, you’re arresting someone for selling untaxed cigarettes – very minor,’ but it’s actually not, because in that, we’re noticing people committing more serious crimes are out there making more money selling untaxed cigarettes.” The public is a tremendous help to the precinct, Dickerman added. “A lot of the enforcement we do comes from complaints at meetings,” he told the group. “Someone might come up to us with something that might seem small – some kids hanging out in front of your house, and you smell pot. That small thing can often involve somebody who might be wanted for a more serious crime. “We had a block where people complained about marijuana,” Dickerman recalled. “It all circled around one individual who has a history of being a burglary recidivist. That led to us arresting people for marijuana, which led to some further arrests regarding his burglaries. That’s why we don’t take anything lightly, and why the smallest things we follow up on. “I’m not saying that every time someone spits, we should enforce it,” Dickerman added. “It is up to the discretion of the officer at the time.”
