Our Public Safety Program & Its Neighborhood Impact

Who found my lost cell phone? Who reported that troublesome pothole? Maybe you've noticed the uniformed workers outside, patrolling the neighborhood in their white shirts, dark blue caps, and the Lincoln Square BID logo. For some of our visitors, residents, and workers who are unaware, the Lincoln Square BID employs 10 Public Safety Officers, through a contract with Summit Security, who act as the eyes and ears of the neighborhood and NYPD, reporting conditions, offering directions to the public, and adding an overall sense of safety to the area.

 

On a daily basis, you might see one of our Officers sending reports to 311 with their smartphones about homeless individuals, so that outreach teams can locate them and offer supportive services, plus illegal vending or broken streetlights and more. Together with our Clean Team, our Officers also find lost property and bring it to our office so that staff may try to locate the owner. These Officers keep an eye on conditions around the neighborhood. 

 

On April 1, 2018, we began a new three-year contract with Summit Security, a company that has transitioned our Officers to digital reporting. We track our Public Safety Officers reports so we can understand the weekly goings-on about conditions throughout the district. For example, for the week ending Sunday, April 15, our Officers issued 14 bicycle warnings (stopping individuals from riding on sidewalks), reported 7 homeless individuals to 311 for outreach services, and reported 5 food vending trucks violating DOT parking regulations. These reports can help us identify key issues around the neighborhood and we use the data from these reports to contact City agencies to address the issues.

 

Our office also works closely with the 20th Precinct of the NYPD both to keep our staff, Board, and Public Safety Officers informed of local crime stats and trends and to solve recurring problems. Our Manager of Field Operations, Phil Gordon, recently attended a 20th Precinct Community Council Meeting during which the new Commanding Officer, Timothy Malin, introduced himself and spoke about area larcenies. At the meeting, Capt. Malin also explained that the 20th Precinct would be transitioning to community policing practices come July of this year, which will better allow the NYPD to develop community rapport. We are proud of our great relationship with the NYPD and look forward to working with Capt. Malin and his team. You can click here to look up stats from the 20th Precinct.

 

Next time you're out and about in Lincoln Square, keep your eyes peeled for our Public Safety Officers and feel free to ask them for any directions you might need or just say hello!