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Overcast Taking back their neighborhoodTilrose Ave. residents meet with officials to address crime
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The meeting was attended by Nassau County Legislator Denise Ford (R-Long Beach), Hempstead Town Councilman Anthony Santino (R-East Rockaway) and 4th Precinct Capt. Kenneth Hettler.
In the attack, one boy suffered a gash on his back, another a fat lip and bruise to the head and Deering himself had a tooth knocked out and was threatened with a gun, he said.
Though the police were called that night, Aug. 14, there were no arrests made until Deering called the Nassau County District Attorney's Office days later. During the meeting, held at Rescue Firehouse on Tilrose, Deering's wife alleged misconduct on the part of the police claiming, "Our family was victimized twice ‹ by the attackers and the police."
The Deerings claimed that as they were being questioned inside police vehicles, the attackers were dancing behind them and making lewd gestures.
The mother of one of the victims claimed that when she spoke with a police lieutenant that night, he told her, "Don't you know what they're doing on Tilrose?" Referring to the known drug activity on that street, the lieutenant said, "They come [here] for one thing and one thing only. Maybe you should get a good look at what your son is really about."
Neighbor and family friend of the Deerings, Pat Connell, said about the police response, "The problem that night didn't start until the police arrived."
Since then, police have made three arrests with a fourth pending. Hettler described police activity on Tilrose since the attack, saying that officers have been dispatched to interview suspicious figures, though those questioned were not committing a criminal act at the time.
The residents of Tilrose and the surrounding area, including Davis Street, Woods Avenue and Stevens Street, organized the public meeting with Ford, Santino and Hettler to address the ongoing crime-related problems in their neighborhood.
Residents complained about open drug sales and gang activity from MS-13 and the
Latin Kings, illegal parking, sexual acts taking place in public and other incidents of
criminal mischief such as culprits setting garbage cans on fire and urinating on private lawns.
Many residents also complained of being mistreated by the officers who responded to their 911 calls. One female resident said, "Things have been going on on this block for a long time, not just since this incident, [and] we've got nothing but a lot of disrespect when we called for help."
Connell told Hettler, "Attitude starts at the top, and I want to see a change in attitude."
In response to the allegations, Hettler promised to get to the bottom of the complaints leveled against the officers covering Tilrose, and pledged to implement a new "zero tolerance" policy in the area to end all illegal activity, a vow he made throughout the Sept. 5 meeting.
The meeting, punctuated by several loud outbursts from residents, was kept under control by Ford. "I understand everybody's upset," she said. "It's even deeper than I could have imagined. . . This is just the beginning of something; we all have to start here."
Ford promised to meet with Police Commissioner James Lawrence. "I'm going to demand that he takes the necessary steps to start addressing the situations here . . . and start cleaning it out from top to bottom," she
said.
Santino proposed a two-part plan to improve conditions in the area. He urged residents to report every incident to 911, and not the precinct, thereby creating an electronic record, which then gets compiled in to county-wide crime statistics. "If you see something, call," he said. "If you suspect
something, call."
"The second thing that is very disturbing to me," Santino added, "is the way people in this community have been treated by the police officers. Because if they're not taking it seriously, the problem is never going to be
solved."
Thus, he stressed the importance of residents writing down an officer's badge number or car number and whatever the officer said to make the caller feel discounted. Santino urged that all of these records then be forwarded to him, Hettler and Ford. "We're going to take it right to the top . . . and we're going to get this community's problems serious attention."
Residents were also concerned that officials were failing to keep track of who lives in the area's apartment buildings. Ford admitted that because of property laws, there is little the county can do, aside from enforcing illegal occupancy laws. She explained that if landlords living in the area operate Section 8 housing ‹ government funded housing administered through the social services department ‹ and they are renting out their one-family homes to other people, the county can take away their Section 8 status. However, Ford reinforced that the government has no authority to tell landlords who they can rent to. "It's a free country," she said.
Santino offered another solution, saying, "The best answer to this problem is if there is a slew of arrests made in this community and it is sustained . . . the word is going to go out and those people . . . won't live here anymore."
The meeting ended with a proposed plan of action and a promise by Ford to revisit the community's concerns again in a month's time, including holding another public meeting.
"You've expressed a lot of concerns and we are taking them very seriously," she said. "There is no reason you can't sit on your front step, why you have to worry about who's driving your son home and what's going to happen. We are going to work on this. We are starting here."
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
In the attack, one boy suffered a gash on his back, another a fat lip and bruise to the head and Deering himself had a tooth knocked out and was threatened with a gun, he said.
Though the police were called that night, Aug. 14, there were no arrests made until Deering called the Nassau County District Attorney's Office days later. During the meeting, held at Rescue Firehouse on Tilrose, Deering's wife alleged misconduct on the part of the police claiming, "Our family was victimized twice ‹ by the attackers and the police."
The Deerings claimed that as they were being questioned inside police vehicles, the attackers were dancing behind them and making lewd gestures.
The mother of one of the victims claimed that when she spoke with a police lieutenant that night, he told her, "Don't you know what they're doing on Tilrose?" Referring to the known drug activity on that street, the lieutenant said, "They come [here] for one thing and one thing only. Maybe you should get a good look at what your son is really about."
Since then, police have made three arrests with a fourth pending. Hettler described police activity on Tilrose since the attack, saying that officers have been dispatched to interview suspicious figures, though those questioned were not committing a criminal act at the time.
The residents of Tilrose and the surrounding area, including Davis Street, Woods Avenue and Stevens Street, organized the public meeting with Ford, Santino and Hettler to address the ongoing crime-related problems in their neighborhood.
Residents complained about open drug sales and gang activity from MS-13 and the
Latin Kings, illegal parking, sexual acts taking place in public and other incidents of
criminal mischief such as culprits setting garbage cans on fire and urinating on private lawns.
Many residents also complained of being mistreated by the officers who responded to their 911 calls. One female resident said, "Things have been going on on this block for a long time, not just since this incident, [and] we've got nothing but a lot of disrespect when we called for help."
Connell told Hettler, "Attitude starts at the top, and I want to see a change in attitude."
In response to the allegations, Hettler promised to get to the bottom of the complaints leveled against the officers covering Tilrose, and pledged to implement a new "zero tolerance" policy in the area to end all illegal activity, a vow he made throughout the Sept. 5 meeting.
The meeting, punctuated by several loud outbursts from residents, was kept under control by Ford. "I understand everybody's upset," she said. "It's even deeper than I could have imagined. . . This is just the beginning of something; we all have to start here."
Ford promised to meet with Police Commissioner James Lawrence. "I'm going to demand that he takes the necessary steps to start addressing the situations here . . . and start cleaning it out from top to bottom," she
said.
Santino proposed a two-part plan to improve conditions in the area. He urged residents to report every incident to 911, and not the precinct, thereby creating an electronic record, which then gets compiled in to county-wide crime statistics. "If you see something, call," he said. "If you suspect
something, call."
"The second thing that is very disturbing to me," Santino added, "is the way people in this community have been treated by the police officers. Because if they're not taking it seriously, the problem is never going to be
solved."
Thus, he stressed the importance of residents writing down an officer's badge number or car number and whatever the officer said to make the caller feel discounted. Santino urged that all of these records then be forwarded to him, Hettler and Ford. "We're going to take it right to the top . . . and we're going to get this community's problems serious attention."
Residents were also concerned that officials were failing to keep track of who lives in the area's apartment buildings. Ford admitted that because of property laws, there is little the county can do, aside from enforcing illegal occupancy laws. She explained that if landlords living in the area operate Section 8 housing ‹ government funded housing administered through the social services department ‹ and they are renting out their one-family homes to other people, the county can take away their Section 8 status. However, Ford reinforced that the government has no authority to tell landlords who they can rent to. "It's a free country," she said.
Santino offered another solution, saying, "The best answer to this problem is if there is a slew of arrests made in this community and it is sustained . . . the word is going to go out and those people . . . won't live here anymore."
The meeting ended with a proposed plan of action and a promise by Ford to revisit the community's concerns again in a month's time, including holding another public meeting.
"You've expressed a lot of concerns and we are taking them very seriously," she said. "There is no reason you can't sit on your front step, why you have to worry about who's driving your son home and what's going to happen. We are going to work on this. We are starting here."
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 287.
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