From Queens To The Bronx, Borough's New Top Cop Settles In
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The new man in charge of crime fighting in the Bronx says he's bringing 26 years of police experience as well as a love of the Yankees to the job. NY1's Dean Meminger filed the following report.Assistant Chief Carlos Gomez has been on the job as the Bronx Borough Commander for just over a month and says he knows what he has to do.
"I'm fair and firm. Our business is crime fighting that will be the priority in the Bronx, but certainly we have to get along with the communities we serve and respect them," Gomez said.
The chief comes to the Bronx after serving as second in charge of the Queens North command. The 26-year veteran takes over for Chief Tom Purtell who now heads up the Manhattan South command. Although crime is way down in the Bronx from the Fort Apache days of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, there has been a slight jump in some major crime categories.
"The 47 precinct is one of the precincts that is showing an increase in shooting and homicides and the 44 precinct is showing an increase in shootings and homicides," Gomez said.
In fact, borough wide, from the beginning of the year to April 25, the latest statistics show there where 33 murders in the Bronx. That's up 27 percent from the same time period last year. There have been 91 rapes this year to date, up 18 percent from last year. And felony assaults are slightly up by three percent.
"We have several impact zones in the borough. An impact zone is a small geographical area that has some crime issues. We saturate that area with officers and that seems to be working," Gomez said.
There are more than 200 officers assigned to impact zones in the borough. Chief Gomez says he's keeping a close eye on those communities and the officers patrolling them. He says he needs the community's help to battle crime and wants the officers to reach out by emphasizing the department's slogan -- Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect.
"When on patrol to visit the store owners, visit the residents, introduce themselves," Gomez said.
Gomez was born in Cuba and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens. He's a big baseball fan and says a big plus working in the Bronx is going to be patrolling Yankee Stadium.
"I'm a diehard hard Yankee fan," Gomez said.
Along with enjoying the Bombers, he hopes to enjoy a reduction in crime as well.