After three murders and a shooting at the Parade Grounds in just one year, the "Help Make the Parade Ground Safer" petition was created. It advocates that
- Cameras sufficient to surveil the full walkway off Crooke Ave. as well as other heavily trafficked areas of the park be installed
- Signs reading "Under NYPD Surveillance" be prominently displayed
- NYPD patrols of the Parade Ground be increased
- Lighting be reassessed and improved.
At last Wednesday's meeting of the 70th Precinct Community Council, precinct commander Deputy Inspector Ralph Monteforte reported that
- he's asked the city to install a security camera at the intersection of Crooke Avenue and Parade Place (the eastern side of the Parade Grounds);
- he'll increase the number of police in the area;
- he'll have the Parks Department add lights to the roof of the bathrooms and lock the bathrooms after dusk. (The bathrooms at the Parade Grounds are right across from Crooke Avenue and Parade Place and by the Tennis Center on the corner of Coney Island and Parkside avenues. They're generally open until 4:00 p.m. in cold weather and until 5:00 p.m. or later in the spring and summer. The park is closed to the public daily from 1:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m.); and
- The Parks Department will remove the bollards (the posts that prevent vehicles from entering the park), allowing police cars to get in easily.
A post on the blog "Prospect: A Year in the Park," titled "The bloody nexus of Prospect Park," describes neighbors' obviously futile efforts last August to get "a stepped-up police presence, security cameras, and extra lights." They'll be watching to see if the promises made last week are kept.
