Co-op City’s official newspaper serving the world’s largest cooperative community.
19 vehicles vandalized at Co-op City Blvd. and Baychester Avenue One suspect apprehended
© Copyright 2015 Co-op City Times
Vol. 50 No. 26
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Public Safety begins training 17 new officers to be deployed in September
BY BILL STUTTIG BY BILL STUTTIG
The Department of Public Safety this week began training 17 new recruits who are expected to join the force in early September at the conclusion of the ten-week training program. Chief Frank Apollo, Commanding Officer of Public Safety, said this week that the 17 new officers will replace officers who have left the nearly 100 officer force since the last class of new
recruits nearly three years ago. These are the first new recruits to be hired and trained since August of 2012. Apollo said to lose 17 officers to other jobs or retirement over a near 3-year period is a slow rate of attrition, but nevertheless one that needs to be addressed if the community is going to retain its full complement of officers. (Continued on page 2)
Lt. Shelda Williams, Public Safety’s training director, leads a class of 17 new recruits during the first week of a ten-week training program. Officers who successfully complete the comprehensive training program will begin patrolling and protecting the community in September. Photo by Bill Stuttig
Riverbay Fund’s summer concert series
This week, the Riverbay Fund’s popular summer concert series, Tunes on Tuesday and Wicked Wednesday, will resume. The Fund will kick things off on Tuesday, July 7, 7-9 p.m. on the Section 1 Greenway with Tunes on Tuesdays featuring Tony Lewis & Friends. Then on Wednesday, July 8, Jazz vocalist Antoninette Montague will light up the stage on the Section 5 Greenway when Wicked Wednesdays return. Show time is 7-8:30 p.m. Bring your chairs and come join the fun.
In a continuing and troubling trend of auto vandalism and break-ins on the streets in and around Co-op City in recent weeks, 19 vehicles were reported damaged overnight Wednesday morning, July 1, in an apparent attempt to quickly break into each vehicle and grab whatever valuables might be present. According to Public Safety, the incidents occurred at or around the intersection of Co-op City Blvd. and Baychester Avenue in the vicinity of the Ramada Hotel after midnight Wednesday morning. Each of the cars broken into had their front passenger side window smashed. According to Public Safety, there were two reports from residents of having loose change stolen from their car. The majority of the car owners vandalized have not yet reached out to Public
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Safety to report any stolen property. According to Captain James Keappock of Public Safety, Wednesday morning’s break-ins closely match similar crimes that have periodically occurred on the streets in and around Co-op City over the past two months. Captain Keappock added that the Public Safety officers have made several arrests for auto related crimes over the past two months, including the May 22nd arrest of a man who was observed by two Public Safety plain clothes officers as he was rummaging through the contents of a vandalized car parked on Baychester Avenue in the vicinity of Truman High School. The suspect, a non-Co-op City resident, was charged with larceny, auto stripping, possession of stolen property and criminal mischief. Unfortunately, the trend of car (Continued on page 11)
We w i s h o u r r eaders a happy and safe July 4th holiday!
Two Co-op City residents among graduates of NYC Citizens Police Academy On Wednesday, June 24, Reverend Deborah Jenkins, newly elected member of the Riverbay Board of Directors and Pastor of Faith @ Work Christian Church and Chaplain William Rivera, member of the United Methodist Church of Co-op City, graduated from the Citizens Police Academy, a 14week program given by the New York City Police Department offering insight on how police officers perform their duties and how the department serves
the community. The purpose is to foster better communications between citizens and police through education. Each session consists of experienced Training Bureau instructors who provide instruction in many areas of policing, such as legal, domestic violence, firearms, and counter terrorism. Reverend Jenkins and Chaplain Rivera, active community leaders, understand that the lines (Continued on page 4)
Summer jobs lottery … Riverbay Human Resources specialist Trenise Myrie (seated) conducted a computerized lottery of applicants for 30 available summer grounds positions for Co-op City students. Through the lottery, observed by General Management and Human Resources supervisors, 15 high school students and 15 college students from the community were selected for the 30 available positions. “We are looking forward to building a professional relationship with all the candidates that have been selected,” Riverbay management said in a statement. “For many of them, this will be their introduction to the world of work and we are hoping to foster a healthy relationship with each of them as they venture out into their respective career paths.” Observing the jobs lottery were (l to r.): Lanor Keitt, Eric Moore, interim GM Noel Ellison, Director of Finance Peter Merola and Rosalind Pierce. Photo by Bill Stuttig