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More Police Presence... Less Phony Tickets |
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On of the the most important values in any community is the safety and health of its residents. Why, then, should certain neighborhoods in District 19 have to wait upwards of 15 minutes for a police car to arrive in the event of an emergency? They shouldn’t! Two precincts serve the district: The 111th precinct on 215th Street in Bayside, and the 109th precinct on Union Street in Flushing. The problem is that the 109th is responsible for too much territory. It covers from Flushing through Whitestone, College Point, and Bay Terrace. This poses a dangerous possibility for anyone in need of immediate assistance from the police.
Let’s take a closer look. The distance between the 109th precinct and the communities of Whitestone, College Point, and Bay Terrace, coupled with the amount of traffic in downtown Flushing make for unacceptable response times. For example, a resident living at 23rd Avenue and Bell Boulevard in Bayside resides 1.2 miles from the 111th precinct and nearly 5 miles from the 109th precinct. A police squad car sent from the 111th precinct to this house would take approximately 2 minutes to arrive. A police car sent from the 109th precinct would take approximately 12-15 minutes to arrive. Since the 109th Precinct is located in a congested area of Flushing that response time could even be longer if traffic is especially busy. This is just one example of the long and dangerous response times experienced by sections of the communities of College Point, Whitestone, and Bay Terrace when assistance is needed from the 109th Precinct.
The solution to this problem is simply the creation of a new police precinct to service College Point, Whitestone, and Bay Terrace. These residents deserve reasonable response times when an emergency arises, as well as an increased overall police presence. The presence of police cruisers alone can be a great deterrent to both petty and serious crime. ALL residents of District 19 have a right to safe neighborhoods. Until a new precinct is opened, a police substation should be established in Bay Terrace in order to give some immediate relief to the lack of police presence and to the dangerously long response times provided by the 109th Precinct to the communities of College Point, Whitestone and Bay Terrace. Our communities deserve it. The residents of College Point, Whitestone and Bay Terrace deserve it.
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More Police Presence; Less Phony Tickets
