In January 1979 I was promoted to Sergeant and assigned to the 90th Precinct in the Williamsburg section of northern Brooklyn. The parent command is the Patrol Borough Brooklyn North.
The old Williamsburg Bridge connects Brooklyn to lower Manhattan. It has 4 vehicle lanes in each direction and a two rail system in the middle as well as a foot path. What a feat of engineering!
In the middle of the foot path there was a zig zag, and there was an increase in robberies at this location. We asked for a volunteer female police officer to be a decoy, and almost all in the precinct volunteered as they wanted to be considered for my anti-crime unit. Well, we staked out the bridge with officers on nearby roof tops with binoculars. No sooner than we set up, the perpetrator came and after a brief scuffle the arrest was made. He wasn’t satisfied with taking her purse but when he put his hands on her she made the arrest. Later she would get promoted to Detective.
As each precinct had an anti-crime unit, I was one of the first to have a fully integrated one. I used to ask my fellow patrol sergeants for the names of their best officers to fill vacancies. Well there were two Black officers who at first refused because they didn’t want to be broken up. I said I want both of you. Later I named them the B&T express and both would retire as Detective first grade.* Also, I chose 3 females who more than distinguished themselves. Later I would meet my lifelong friend Detective Carol in the Narcotics division.
One day one of my chauffeurs said to me , “there’s the frog.” I said “what”? He said that before I was assigned to the 90th this person had committed a homicide and fled. He further said I knew he would someday return. The reason why he was the frog is because he had skin between his fingers. He made the arrest and the detectives closed the case.
Another interesting arrest: We responded to a robbery at the local Mc Donald’s and when the robber put the gun away he shot his finger off. Now as it had snowed we followed the blood trail and made the arrest. Later we went back to the Mc Donald’s to retrieve the finger which was thrown in the garbage by the enraged employee who had a gun pointed at her. She said hope they can’t affix it.
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*Note: The Black officers were Wilbur Bishop and Joseph Titus, thus the B&T express, two great detectives. Sadly, Joe Titus passed soon after his retirement.
In the middle of the foot path there was a zig zag, and there was an increase in robberies at this location. We asked for a volunteer female police officer to be a decoy, and almost all in the precinct volunteered as they wanted to be considered for my anti-crime unit. Well, we staked out the bridge with officers on nearby roof tops with binoculars. No sooner than we set up, the perpetrator came and after a brief scuffle the arrest was made. He wasn’t satisfied with taking her purse but when he put his hands on her she made the arrest. Later she would get promoted to Detective.
As each precinct had an anti-crime unit, I was one of the first to have a fully integrated one. I used to ask my fellow patrol sergeants for the names of their best officers to fill vacancies. Well there were two Black officers who at first refused because they didn’t want to be broken up. I said I want both of you. Later I named them the B&T express and both would retire as Detective first grade.* Also, I chose 3 females who more than distinguished themselves. Later I would meet my lifelong friend Detective Carol in the Narcotics division.
One day one of my chauffeurs said to me , “there’s the frog.” I said “what”? He said that before I was assigned to the 90th this person had committed a homicide and fled. He further said I knew he would someday return. The reason why he was the frog is because he had skin between his fingers. He made the arrest and the detectives closed the case.
Another interesting arrest: We responded to a robbery at the local Mc Donald’s and when the robber put the gun away he shot his finger off. Now as it had snowed we followed the blood trail and made the arrest. Later we went back to the Mc Donald’s to retrieve the finger which was thrown in the garbage by the enraged employee who had a gun pointed at her. She said hope they can’t affix it.
###
*Note: The Black officers were Wilbur Bishop and Joseph Titus, thus the B&T express, two great detectives. Sadly, Joe Titus passed soon after his retirement.
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