8 THE COURIER SUN • JUNE 19, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com Howard Beach residents to start neighborhood watch group BY SALVATORE LICATA Howard Beach is hoping to add a few more sets of eyes and ears to its streets in hopes of preventing crime. The Howard Beach Civilian Observation Patrol is a soon-to-be nonprofi t group of residents that will be keeping a watchful eye on the neighborhood. In an effort to keep crime down, volunteers of the group will patrol the neighborhood and report to the police any suspicious activity that may be going on. “Howard Beach residents are screaming for assistance,” said Joe Thompson, president and founder of the organization. “We are going to be the eyes and ears of the neighborhood and it is up to us as a community to report any crimes.” Thompson said he decided to start the patrol group after hearing residents’ concerns at community meetings. Crime is down slightly so far this year in the 106th Precinct, but a recent rash of burglaries in Howard Beach set off fears in the community. Thompson has over 30 years of experience in community watch groups and was an auxiliary police offi - cer for 10 years. He said he hopes this group will help to prevent crime from happening but also noted that his patrol units will take no physical action if they see suspicious activity. “We will have uniforms but no weapons at all,” Thompson said. “We will not take any action against criminals. Our job is to just report what we see to the police. We don’t want to be seen as vigilantes.” Thompson said he has met with the 106th Precinct and government offi cials and has their okay to go along with the program as long as the group goes through the proper training and follows the guidelines of community watch groups, as stated by the community affairs offi ce of the NYPD. “We are always looking for people to get involved,” said Kenneth Zorn, the community affairs offi cer for the 106th Precinct. “It is a large commitment but these people volunteer their time to help improve the quality of life for the community.” State Sen. Joseph Addabbo also offered his support to Thompson — but not without some concern. “We must make it very clear that volunteers must go through the proper training before they patrol,” Addabbo said. “But if it is done correctly it is a positive community program.” The Howard Beach Civilian Observation Patrol will hold its fi rst meeting and recruitment session on June 24 at 7:30 p.m. in St. Helen’s School at 157-10 83rd St. Thompson hopes to gain support for his initiative with other residents at the meeting. For more information follow Thompson via Twitter @HowardBeachCOP. Image Courtesy of Joe Thompson Deputy Inspector fi ghts noise using Twitter BY SALVATORE LICATA AND PAULINA TAM The 106th Precinct is taking to Twitter to stop noise from trending. The precinct commander, Deputy Inspector Jeffrey Schiff, said at Wednesday’s Precinct Community Council meeting that he is launching a special initiative this weekend where local residents can report noise complaints via Twitter to @NYPD106PCT. “If you have a noise complaint, report it on Twitter, with the address, and we will hopefully be there within minutes,” Schiff said. He said noise complaints in the area have been “extreme.” Schiff used a similar tactic earlier this week when he asked residents to tweet a picture and location of a particular type of graffi ti to add charges to the tagger he had in custody. The noise complaint strategy started on the weekend of June 13 through June 15, and three residents tweeted out their noise complaint issues during that time, according to a spokesman for the 106th Precinct. “We are tired of telling people to lower their music and then once we leave it goes back up,” Schiff said. They responded to 31 noise complaints (through both Twitter and phone calls) and issued 20 summonses during the kickoff of the initiative, a spokesman for the 106th Precinct said. The investigation was part of Operation Silent Night, an operation by the 106th Precinct that explored noise complaints tweeted by concerned citizens. Residents can continue to tweet their noise complaints to Schiff. “We’re not killjoys but we’re out there doing what needs to be done,” the spokesman said. Business Checking with a little something extra. 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