With Violence Rising, Precinct Targets Ex-Cons

In early July, Deputy Inspector John D’Adamo, the commander of the 52nd Precinct, sat down with his top lieutenants to brainstorm ideas about how to address a significant rise in violent crime in the Five-Two.

“We had to start thinking out of the box,” D’Adamo said.
So far this year, shooting incidents have nearly doubled, from 12 during the same time period last year, to 20 this year. Those incidents have led to a total of 25 shooting victims this year, compared to 14 last year. Murders are up slightly, with seven this year, compared to six during the same time period last year.

After the brainstorming session, D’Adamo said the precinct decided to target the local residents most likely to commit violent crimes — ex-convicts.

A couple of weeks later, cops from the 52nd Precinct partnered with the New York State Division of Parole and, in one night, visited 50 of the area’s parolees who had a history of violent crime. D’Adamo said three of them were in possession of illegal guns, which is not only in itself against the law, but also a serious parole violation.

“Those guys are going back to jail for a long time,” D’Adamo said.
In addition to seizing those guns from the parolees, D’Adamo said the precinct has taken another 60 firearms off the street (for a total of 63) this year. Last year at this time, the precinct had seized just 41 illegal guns, which amounts to more than a 50 percent increase this year. Arrests — for criminal trespassing, illegal narcotics and weapons possession — are also up significantly from last year.

“It shows my guys — and girls, we have a lot of female cops in this precinct — are out there doing their job,” D’Adamo said.

Despite the success of the parole partnership, which the precinct hopes to continue, and the increase in arrests, D’Adamo was clear that the rise in violent crime in the area is real and persistent.

“I’m not going to sit here and say everything is great,” D’Adamo said. “Is everything rosey? No. But we’re working on it.”

52nd Precinct Staffing, Status Quo

The 52nd Precinct lost 13 police officers to other commands this summer. But it simultaneously gained nine first-, second- and third-year cops from a precinct in Queens. The total loss of four officers brings the precinct’s total number of officers to 318, according to commanding officer John D’Adamo. He said that number is about the same total the precinct had last year and is roughly equivalent to the borough’s other large precincts: the 44th and 46th.

Death Termed a Homicide

In mid-August, the 52nd Precinct added another homicide to its tally for the year after the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that a dead man found inside of an apartment on E. 197th Street was murdered.

On Aug. 16, the Bronx Medical Examiner’s Office said 56-year-old Kenneth Monroe, whose body was found inside an apartment on the fifth floor of 271 East 197th St. on June 2, had been murdered. Monroe died from “stab wounds and blunt trauma to the body.”

No arrests have been made, but DCPI said the investigation is ongoing.