Editorial: Bring back our beat cops

It’s been said that the test of police efficiency is the absence of crime and disorder, not the visible evidence of police action dealing with them. Basically, we agree with the idea that people should be reluctant to commit crime for fear of the swift justice brought unto them.

It’s the “visible evidence” part that we disagree with. In this neighborhood, visibility has everything to do with efficient policing. Crime is bad here, even if police statistics show an 8 percent overall decline since last year. “Visible evidence” is the only thing that will make people feel safe here. Only then will the adage about police efficiency apply to Highbridge.

Unfortunately, that environment does not yet exist here. People do not fear being arrested by the police; they simply fear the police.

Our children resent the police because the only time they get to see police officers is when something bad happens. Police only enter apartment buildings to investigate a crime or to make an arrest. Police only stand on street corners to capture a fugitive suspect (never mind the fact that when this kid sees those two uniformed cops standing on the street corner, he will surely turn around and walk in the other direction).

We’re speaking of early last week, when a person was stabbed on Woodycrest Avenue, apparently by a neighborhood teen-ager. Unable to immediately find their suspect, the police decided to wait him out by putting uniformed officers in the neighborhood during the day.

Forgive us if it sounds sarcastic, but it was nice to see police patrolling our streets again, like the beats of old.

“The beat” still exists, but in a very different form than it did 20 years ago. Two police officers used to walk up and down our streets, talking to residents and shop owners, joking with our children. That, of course, does not happen now.

People fear the police and the police fear the people. The issue of police protection will almost certainly come up during tomorrow night’s town hall meeting at C.E.S. 73. Kevin Clark, the 44th Precinct’s commanding officer, has said he will be at the meeting – an encouraging sign.

Scratch that. Inspector Clark’s attendance shouldn’t be “an encouraging sign” because it’s not something that we should be impressed by. He is not doing us a favor by attending; he is doing what he must do as the head of our police department.

On the same token, we should not be surprised, nor should we be impressed, when police show up on our street corners. They should be there all the time.

Squad car patrols are simply not enough. The drug dealers who camp out on Ogden Avenue between 164th and 165th streets see the very conspicuous squad cars coming down the street and magically change into innocent civilians. (Never mind the apparent fact that these patrols come down Ogden Avenue only once every few hours.)

The 44th Precinct should not be a dumping ground for new and troubled cops. For that matter, neither should the Bronx. The officers of the 44th Precinct are not involved with this community because it is not their community. They have no stake in its success and no liability for its failure.

That must change.

We want beat cops back on our streets. We need beat cops back on our streets. A police presence may create a little tension at first, but as the officers become familiar with us, and as we become familiar with them, it will get better.

And the police must take the first step.