NYPD demands civilian patrols remove insignia

NYPD demands civilian patrols remove insignia

Members of civilian patrols are outraged after being asked to remove or alter their current car door insignia, which is believed by the New York Police Department to be too similar to their own, causing confusion and problems in the community.

The Morris Park Community Association has been in constant conflict with the NYPD over keeping the shield they have used to protect their community for over 30 years, but has recently decided to alter the design.

“We are going to take out the middle of the shield, but now they are telling us we can’t have any kind of shield either,” said MPCA president, Al D’Angelo. “The shield has nothing to do with the police, what is inside the police shield was patented by the police department, not the shield symbol itself. There is no way I am going to cave on the shield.”

Sources believe this new crack down on the civilian patrols may have been an indirect result of an altercation that occurred in Brooklyn, allegedly involving a member of the Shmira Civilian Patrol.

“We are going to try to make the police happy, but at the same time keep it as close as possible to what it was,” said Duane Spearman, member of MPCA and the civilian patrol. “This is all because of that incident that happened in Brooklyn.”

Members of the Van Nest Community Association patrol were also angered when it was suggested by a lieutenant from police headquarters that the insignia used on their patrol vehicle looked too much like those on NYPD cars.

Ron Kunik, president of the VNCA, which is one of five separate volunteer patrols operating in the confines of the 49th Precinct and Community Board 11, said that they were asked to remove the insignia, which has been in use since the patrol began in the early 1970s.

“The police feel that by having civilian patrols, we are taking away jobs from police officers,” Kunik said. “For all of my working life, I have been an electrician. Believe me, if I wanted to become a police officer, I would have been one.”

Kunik said that the VNCA does not plan on complying with the order issued by the NYPD to change its logo so that it’ll appear different than the one on official vehicles. But for Kunik, who organizes the Van Nest patrol, the issue is more about mutual respect, especially when he reports a crime to the precinct.

“I wish the City would leave the patrols alone because they have always worked very well and they are the reason we have such low crime,” said district manager of Community Board 11, John Fratta. “Our patrols are not vigilantes, they are the eyes and ears of the community and police department, if they see something going on they call it into the precinct to let them know what’s going on.”

Kunik said that he actually felt that patrols like Van Nest and the MPCA provide political pull to bring more cops into what he termed “quality-of-life” precincts like the 49th Precinct, which is perceived to have less serious crime than other precincts.

“These community patrols actually help the police because it gives our associations the political clout we need to get the number of cops that we need from police headquarters,” Kunik said.