Transcriptions of Interview with Hempstead Police Chief Joe Wing

Transcription of Joe Wing, Chief of Hempstead Police Department

BG = Ben Golden
JW = Joe Wing
RF = Rich Forestano (Partner)


BG (:03): Hempstead has been given the reputation for being a high crime area for years, at least compared to surrounding areas. What is the one area you believe is the biggest contributor to these numbers and what is being done to decrease them? (:15)

JW (:17): There’s a lot of factors that contribute to high crime rate. What we’re doing in the Hempstead Police Department to help drive that crime rate down is we recently hired nine police officers and we’re going to hire five more. We’re going to attempt to figuratively flood the streets with additional police officers. We believe that police presence goes a long way in reducing crime as well as enforcing a lot of quality of life issues that come up. The people that drink on the sidewalk or some of the things that people would consider to be minor really aren’t that minor. They detract from neighborhoods. So if we can address a lot of those issues, we expect our crime rate to come down even further. (1:15)

RF (2:06): From my own observations, Terrace Avenue is a very high crime ridden area and there has been recent stories in Newsday about it, are there any special concentrations of police in that area or like any special techniques you are using to combat crime? (2:20)

JW (2:21): We actually are. January 8th, we started the Terrace-Bedell initiative when the Hempstead Police Department partnered with the Nassau County District Attorney’s office. Kathleen Rice is the District Attorney. We brought in a program specifically designed to reduce crime on Terrace Avenue and Bedell Street. What it does, one small piece of it is, we took about fourteen individuals and we gave them an opportunity not to be arrested as long as they agreed not to engage in criminal activity. We also, in an effort to help them, offered them educational services, resume writing services, if they needed social services. Whatever their needs were, we wanted to make sure those were met in an effort so that they could stay out of criminal activity. But that was really just a small piece of it. The major portion of it is the partnership we formed with residents in the area, with business people in the area, with local clergy from the area. The relationships we’re forming at the police office, that we’re forming with the residents and these other groups are going a long way and have gone a long way in just a year in the short months that we’ve done this. If you go to Terrace Avenue now there is a marked difference between what it was and what it is today and you can speak to some of the residents and they’ll tell you that they’re feelings of safety and security have grown exponentially compared to the way it was before January 8th. So we think that the program is working. Statistically it is a little early to come out and say that it’s been a success statistically but the softer side of it is that the residents feel that successful, that they’re feeling safer, that they are enjoying their relationships with their police department. Things like that are hard to quantify but yet they’re very important when it comes to community relations and how crime is being handled. (4:38)

BG (4:40): According to the most recent crime reports actually that Detective Durnan gave to me, the total offenses for 2007 were just above 2600 and with the projected totals, I only have the first two months of this year but I projected it out, they’re going to be about 2400 you’re on pace to be. With numbers so high what words of reassurance would you have for the residents of Hempstead to feel safe? (5:05)

PART 2

JW (0:01): As far as our crime numbers historically over the last ten or fifteen years our overall uniform crime reports are crime that’s reported to the F.B.I. has been dropping steadily and I believe 2007 was no exception. As a matter of fact, I believe the overall crime for 2007 dropped about nine percent from 2006. So even though some might say that the crime is high, comparatively speaking, its been dropping we’re looking to have that number decrease, to increase our efforts and to continue the decline of crime. (0:52)

BG (0:53): Did you want to ask one?

RF (0:56): What were the most common offenses you’ve seen being perpetrated on Terrace Avenue?

JW (1:01): Historically, Terrace Avenue has seen a lot of drug offense activity and unfortunately the ancillary crime that goes along with the drug business. Whether it be assaults, whether it be robberies. So in that effort, that’s why we started the Terrance-Bedell initiative we’re looking to dry up the open-air drug market and as a side effect we do see overall crime. (1:40)
RF (1:41): I read somewhere that the Terrace-Bedell initiative would use surveillance equipment to catch people in the act of selling or doing drugs. What success has come of that? (1:55)

JW (1:57): Our undercover operations have been quite successful. We perform undercover operations where we are looking for sellers of narcotics and or marijuana. We make multiple arrests, we execute search warrants, and authorize with the courts. We frequently, when we execute these warrants, come up with weapons. As a matter of fact, just this morning we executed a search warrant on Bedell Street where we came up with a loaded nine millimeter handgun. So we know that there are still people involved in the drug business in the area. It has pretty much dried up on the streets but we’re now attacking it where it has moved to which is inside the apartments. As far as some of the other crimes and other undercover operations as we are concerned, we’ve also performed reverses where we’ve gone after the buyers which are the other half of the drug equation. We do this for multiple reasons, one is that economics show that if we can drive the man down we can affect the supply side so if we can drive customers away theoretically there won’t be as many dealers on the street and all the ancillary crimes would be reduced exponentially. The way we do that is we have undercover officers on the street selling what looks to be crack-cocaine purchasers come up and they get arrested and they’re charged with attempted criminal possession which is a misdemeanor and a felony of the state. It is a valuable tool and we use it quite frequently. We also use some high tech equipment such as the license plate scanner, a license plate reader, where by we scan all the license plates that come down the block and typically it is used to look for stolen vehicles or vehicles whose registrations have been suspended or revoked. What we’ve done is we have actually looked for vehicles whose license registrations don’t come back to the village of Hempstead, the zip code is not 11550. Those individuals have received a personal letter from me that their vehicle was seen on Terrace Avenue and or Bedell Street during an undercover narcotics investigation. If the occupants were not engaged in any illegal activity and were here for legitimate purposes than they should disregard the letter. If they were not aware that their vehicle was here in the village of Hempstead on Terrace or Bedell Street they might want to give us a call and we can speak to them about it or they might want to inquire of the person who was using the car or where the car was or why their vehicle was on Terrace Avenue or Bedell Street and we do that strategic operation. We do pick late night hours or early morning hours when we know the likelihood of someone there that’s coming down the block that may be engaged in illegal activities or may want to participate in illegal activities. It’s designed to weed out the legitimate visitor. So we sent an excess of eighty letters out and like I said, I urged anyone who had any questions to call me personally and to date I haven’t received any phone calls. You can deduct what you like from that. (5:47)

BG (5:50): Again, I’ll try not to make this too numberish. I noticed only 33% of all these offenses were cleared, its hard obviously to catch all the offenders, but are these numbers alarmingly low or are they not that unusual to have about 30-40% of these offenses cleared? (6:13)

JW (6:14): Again, it really depends on which offenses were speaking of a lot of the offenses are, such as grand larceny, thefts from particular stores. If the store doesn’t have a surveillance camera there’s not much physical evidence for us to follow up on. If there are no witnesses it makes it very difficult. If we are looking at homicides our success rate jumps dramatically. So it really depends on what crime categorically we are looking at and how those numbers are compiled that also may not factor in warrants that may have been applied for and that’s why the case is still open. It does not factor in that we also use Nassau County who assist us on closing cases they might be found by following up on leads so while our case is still open, they might be close to closing out a case so those numbers are subject to change. (7:21)

BG (7:24): Are there any new programs being put into place to help keep the streets safe? I know you mentioned the license plate readers but other than that is there really anything coming about? (7:36)

JW (7:37): We have hired the new officers who are going to enforce a lot of quality of life issues as well as criminal activity. We also recently started a truck enforcement program which really deals with traffic safety, vehicular and pedestrian safety. A lot of vehicles that travel the roads in not only Hempstead but Nassau County could be unsafe whether it is because the load they are carrying is too heavy for the vehicle to have or whether it be defective brakes. Safety equipment is not on the vehicle. We have started a very aggressive campaign to crack down on that. We hope that it will increase the safety on our residents and the people who come to visit the village of Hempstead. We have an east end patrol that some of the license premises, the bars on the east end, they will quite frequently see where the bar patrons a lot of the patrons are under aged and sometimes they will find a way to get alcohol. So we are aggressively looking at that as well as our DWI program that is focused on that area and we also look at forgeries. A lot of times young people don’t realize that when they have fake ID, “fake ID”, what they have is actually a forged document and that is a felony in the state of New York. So we have some college students have altered their license or purchased an altered license over the internet or from somebody on campus or a friend of a friend and they show up at a bar and attempt to use it and we come in and do our operation and there they are with a forged instrument. So the charge of possession of a forged instrument is a felony and the unfortunate thing is that no one is thinking these things through, no one is thinking if they get caught I will get this felony and I will have to go to court but I got a criminal history how will it affect my life, so young people really need to think about that and play out those steps and really weigh the risks against the benefits of using that method of gaining alcohol. (10:16)

BG (10:17): So how many total police officers are on the staff right now? (10:22)

JW (10:23): Our force is comprised of 115 officers; we are looking to hire 5 more. Our personnel is roughly 50% African American. Our officers at one time or another lived in the village of Hempstead, are residents of Hempstead, or have strong connections to the village which is sometimes a very good thing because they care about the village and they know a lot of the residents and a lot of the hard working people that reside here (10:57)

RF (11:00): I was recently watching television and I saw a policeman using a “smart car” where they leave it there for criminals who hijack cars and they control it through remote controls and shut down the car and catch them in the act with a camera built in the dashboard. Has Hempstead ever thought of doing something like that? (11:23)

JW (11:24): We have discussed, we discussed it with other jurisdictions and there is always that possibility that we might implement that in the village of Hempstead if not directly through another agency and that is geared towards people that steal cars obviously. The only thing I can say towards that is that unfortunately that exists because a lot of people will pull up to a 7/11, leave their car running, run in thinking they’re going to get a cup of coffee and come out and their car is gone so the vehicle you described is usually used if its left after pulling up to a spot and somebody decides to jump in and start the vehicle and take off with it they are usually pretty quickly apprehended. (12:19)

BG (12:23): Are there any precautions or safety tips that residents can follow to avoid becoming a victim? Do you have any extra tips besides the obvious? (12:31)
JW (12:32): Well the obvious ones are always good to state. Try and travel in pairs, try and avoid dark streets. If you are a homeowner or if you rent try not to have obstructions near the doorway like high bushes or things like that, try to trim them back it is very effective. If your house is lit up or your area is lit up, criminals tend to go to someplace else. Not that you wish anything bad upon your neighbors but the idea is not to become a crime victim so you need to do a lot of things to protect yourself. Crime is usually an opportunity of theft so anything you can do to deter theft, scratching your name into your laptop keeping an eye on your laptop not leaving it laying around, not leaving your ipod around out and walking away thinking I am just going to the men’s room I will be right back to my desk and of course it is gone. So people need to be vigilant and yet maybe not so vigilant that they become paranoid and lock themselves up. They just need to exercise common sense, if they are going to go out in the evening have a plan, know who you are going with know who you are coming home with. If you know you are going to perhaps have a drink or two you might want to go designate a driver. If you are a Hofstra student, I believe Hofstra security and Hofstra transportation will come out and get you if not, you know what, 4 dollars for a cab is often money well spent. Especially if it is 2 or 3 people it is a dollar a piece and it’s a small price, get back to your dorm and everyone is safe and sound everybody stays together and like I said what areas you are not sure and listen to that sixth sense so to speak if you think something is not right here things do not feel right. Move, get away, something is telling you that something is not right so listen to that inner voice and try not to be a victim. (14:56)