4 The QUENS Courier • december 11, 2014 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com Protesters in Jackson Heights confront police BY ERIC JANKIEWICZ ejankiewicz@queenscourier.com/@EricJankiewicz Dozens of protesters gathered in Jackson Heights on the evening of Dec. 5 to protest Eric Garner’s death at the hands of police on Staten Island and to draw attention to the plight of undocumented immigrants who also fear police abuse. “And even if we get a citizenship, will anything change for us?” Fahd Ahmed, the group’s leader, asked more than 50 protesters at the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights. “No, it won’t, and we can see why when the cops are even killing citizens.” The protesters, led by the South Asian Organizing Center DRUM, marched in the rain from the Jewish center to the 115th Precinct, using the same chants and tactics to block traffic that have been used in protests taking place across the city since a grand jury cleared a police officer in Garner’s death on Dec. 3. No arrests were made, according to police, and the activities ended at 9:30 p.m. For the Queens protesters, the recent spate of killings by cops reflected their own plight. “Conversations won’t be enough. We have to take action,” Ahmed said. “We face being targeted in our country of origin and then we come here and we’re targeted, too.” As the protesters marched in the middle of Northern Boulevard, they recited callback chants like, “Whose streets? Our streets.” In between shouts, drivers honked their car horns, some in support and others out of frustration that they were blocking traffic. Cops looked bewildered as they exited the station house to a group of people yelling “killer cops,” along with other chants. The group, now thoroughly soaked by rain, held a moment of silence for the death of Eric Garner, who was killed during an arrest by cops in Staten Island. “Most of our folks are undocumented and so THE COURIER/Photo by Eric Jankiewicz they’re scared to take to the streets,” Ahmed said. “But we have to fight because if American citizens are getting killed imagine what the authorities are doing to these undocumented people who have even less rights.” The protest ended on 82nd Street and Roosevelt Avenue after the protesters formed a circle on the intersection. New 108th Precinct commanding officer wants to ‘harden’ community against crimes BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO aaltamirano@queenscourier.com @aaltamirano28 The new top cop at the 108th Precinct wants to enlist the public in the battle against crime as he steps into a new job he said he feels lucky to have landed. Captain John Travaglia was named commanding officer of the precinct, covering Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside and Maspeth, on Nov. 17, replacing Captain Brian Hennessy, who was assigned commanding officer of the 115th Precinct. “We don’t choose where we work in the NYPD, they tell us where we work and my lottery numbers came out. I hit the lottery to be in Long Island City,” Travaglia said. “Hennessy left me running with a well-oiled machine.” Just a few weeks into his new assignment, Travaglia was able to present good news during the Dec. 4 Community Board 2 monthly meeting, when he reported that crime in the precinct had dropped significantly over the previous 28 days. Robberies were down 8 percent, felony assaults down 9 percent, burglaries down 6 percent, grand larceny down 15 percent, and reports of stolen cars were down 50 percent, according to Travaglia. In his new position, the 22-year NYPD veteran plans to continue what Hennessy accomplished at the precinct, such as Community Friday, which involves taking time to focus Captain John Travaglia was named commanding officer of the precinct. especially hard on quality-of-life issues in the precinct. Using his experience from a previous assignment at NYPD Highway Patrol, Travaglia also said he wants to do more traffic enforcement, since an important issue in the precinct includes high-volume thoroughfares that carry thousands of commuters to and from work. He plans to emphasize enforcement of Vison Zero — a program championed by Mayor de Blasio to reduce traffic deaths — and also create an enhanced effort to crack down on drunken driving. “There is nothing more important than getting a drunk driver off the road. I can equate it to taking a loaded illegal firearm off the street,” Travaglia said. “If we can somehow prevent a person from being injured, if not killed, that’s just as good as saving someone from a violent demise due to a crime.” In regards to crime in the neighborhoods, Travaglia said he sees the same types of crimes that he did in his previous posts at the 114th and 104th precincts, such as property-based burglaries, car theft, and grand larceny. In order to keep the number of such crimes down, Travaglia said he would like to educate residents on how they can help “harden the target” and lessen their chances of becoming crime victims. For example, residents making sure their windows and doors are tightly locked, making sure valuables aren’t left in cars and being more vigilant of their personal property and information. “It’s not at all to make people feel like the police aren’t here to prevent this. We are here, but we cannot be everywhere. I wish we could stop all the bad people from doing this, but we cannot be everywhere,” Travaglia said. “It really is the community being the eyes and ears for the police department. We need people to call. If something looks out of place, we need to know about it.” Travaglia said he wants to hear from the community, and that includes concerns about problems. “I welcome complaints, I welcome compliments. I want people to attend community meetings,” he said. “We need to know what the problems are. If someone sees a problem, we need it to be reported. We cannot work a solution if we don’t know what the problem is.” The next 108th Community Council Meeting is scheduled for Jan. 27, 2015, at Sunnyside Community Services. THE COURIER/Photo by Angy Altamirano
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