“It appears there is nothing to be concerned about,” was last Thursday night’s message to the Queens Jewish community from NYPD Dep. Chief Richie Taylor, Comm. of the Community Affairs Bureau recorded following a dinner we shared together, regarding what were thought to be two suspected kidnapping attempts in KGH.
The two events - in close vicinity of each other - were reported to the Shmira hotline, one from a young couple and another from one of our members, near sunset last Wednesday evening, prompting our public safety group to issue a community-wide alert for Kew Gardens Hills. Moments after finalizing wording with our echelons, word spread to families throughout the Jewish communities of New York and beyond. If at a bare minimum, the notification put parents on point, forced difficult conversations with youngsters, and may very well have saved a child from a situation they have yet to encounter.
The episodes were reported just off 141st Street and 72nd Road, and 150th Street at 71st Road. The former involved a 9-year-old yeshivah student collecting tzedakah for a national charity, and the latter depicted a girl aged just 3 merrily riding her scooter with her mother in toe. The suspects in both incidents were three males of Hispanic ethnicity. The first incident involved a white pickup truck, and the second a burgundy pickup truck with a suspicious white sedan following.
Shortly before 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, the initial incident was reported by the parents of a three-year-old girl who had returned with her mother from an afternoon at a nearby park a half hour prior. Upon arrival on their block, the mom observed a male walking along the sidewalk as a maroon pickup truck traveled along the roadway at an exceptionally slow rate. To her, it appeared that the men from the vehicle, and the man on the sidewalk, were connected. Moments later, she observed all three men waving at her daughter. While the young girl, thankfully, never acknowledged the men, her mother, terrified, jumped into action. Quickly advancing toward her daughter, she hastily grabbed the youngster and ran down their block, smartly moving past their residence to ensure that any potential wrongdoers did not know where they reside. Moving ever so slowly, with a white sedan tailing close behind, the pickup truck vanished. It has only been seen on surveillance tapes at around the same time in the vicinity. Simultaneously, a white pickup truck just a few blocks away is said to have come upon women monitoring their children enjoying an afternoon in a kiddie pool. Men departed this vehicle and snapped photographs of the area. Not two hours later, three men inside a white pickup truck – though it remains unverified if they are one and the same – incited fear in a young camper, the son a Shmira member, when the vehicle stopped beside the elementary school aged youth, and one man departed. This person is said to have advanced toward the nine-year-old and gave chase while the visibly shaken youth ran from the steps of his neighbor’s home back to his awaiting mother with a look of terror etched on his face.
With my team, I verified these concerning incidents that have for the most part never been reported in Kew Gardens Hills and opted to send out a call for increased vigilance. The parents, knowing that nothing criminal may have transpired, were initially reluctant to phone 911, but did so following their hotline call. Queens Shmira commends local NYPD command for attending to these calls with the attention and detail they deserve. We additionally acknowledge the direction of Chief Taylor for ensuring that all divisions of the Department were properly deployed. In the ensuing days, Queens Shmira continued to pursue incoming leads as necessary and continue to urge parents to discuss the importance of being aware of surroundings with their children and the need to always walk in groups a means for avoiding unwanted and unwarranted eyes. Our hotline remains open 24/7 at (718) 329-4444 and our dispatchers are ready to accept CCTV footage for any incident.
Taylor bestowed extensive praise on the partnership that the NYPD shares with Queens Shmira, where I served as Community Outreach Coordinator our organization. Our members scoured area camera footage establishing a chain of events greatly assisting detectives. While the suspected threats ended up being nothing more than an alarm, the urgent communal awareness was a pivotal test of our emergency preparedness should it ever become necessary, and it brought mindfulness to the ever-present issue of stranger danger. Chief Taylor himself found out from other sources, confirmed the suspicions with me, and activated the highest levels available at the disposal of the NYPD to bring an accurate and immediate resolution. It is always better to be safe than sorry; none of us would forgive ourselves if one of our own vanished without a trace. The message stressed that there was no imminent need to panic but urged awareness and for children to walk with others. Continue to teach children to heed the warnings of “stranger danger” and be cautious around unfamiliar people, especially adults. Children might be lured by an older figure claiming that they were sent by the child’s parents, that they are seeking help to find a lost puppy, or they may convince youth to leave a safe environ by offering sweets or a reward. In our situation, a child was frightened when peculiar men appeared to give chase. NYPD and Shmira patrols increased throughout the area in the aftermath and the latter began early even canvasses of the neighborhood as a precaution.
By Shabsie Saphirstein
Porch Pirate Activity Must Be Reported
At this time, Queens Shmira has made the tough decision to no longer pursue or put out footage for individuals who have taken packages that are clearly not theirs, specifically in cases where a police report has not been filed and an incident number has not been established. We must do our part for the police to do theirs.
Queens Jewish communities have been subject to an alarming number of package theft. The rising incidents have prompted an untold number of reports to our hotline. There have been instances where CCTV footage has been released. However, even in instances when we have successfully tracked these individuals, the NYPD is unable to make an arrest at all since homeowners and tenants have flat out refused to make a formal report or dial 911. If the police do not have a documented report of an incident, they cannot make an arrest, despite video footage that is as clear as day. In the eyes of an outsider, the individual taking the package could have an association with that address. While we all know that the NYPD is often overwhelmed with an insanely high call volume, it is of utmost importance and within the due diligence of our community to report porch pirate activity.
Child Safety Tips
We encounter people we do not know every day, and it is important to teach our children how to be safe in these situations. Although actual abductions and inappropriate stranger situations are rare, it is very important for us to keep our children safe and secure.
When in public, it is important for us to keep a keen eye on our kids to keep them safe. Children must have the skills to manage a stranger should they be approached. Most abductions involve a suspect driving a vehicle and occur amongst children between the ages of 10 and 14 between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. The top five abduction attempts are through offering a ride, candy/treats, money, asking questions, or involving a pet. Most important, “stranger danger” ignores the fact that most children are abducted by someone they know. Avoiding strangers will not help if the abductor is a family member, neighbor, or family acquaintance. When you talk to your children about abduction prevention, do not focus on warning them about certain types of people. Instead, teach them to identify and respond to threatening situations.
In a calm, honest, and transparent setting, talk of safety issues in a positive, open, and reassuring manner, modeling a peaceful but realistic problem-solving style. A matter-of-fact approach will make your child aware that they can handle life’s realities. Even the youngest child can be taught simple rules about personal safety, such as his whole name, address, and phone number, the names of his parents, who to call in an emergency, and how to use the phone to call 911.
Preschoolers (ages 3 to 5) are very curious but fail to always recognize the intents of others. Teach simple facts like a name and address and expected behavior in different situations. Use games and play and make sure to identify who we know and trust. Catch words include “tricky person” as opposed to stranger, an intriguing perception.
Elementary school-age children (ages 6 to 9) are worried with topics of right and wrong and can learn basic safety regulations. Since they choose to cooperate and please grownups, they may be fooled by an ostensibly convincing situation. At this age, children learn best through concrete instances, role-playing, and replication of rules.
Tweens and teenagers (ages 10 and up) become more capable of evaluating the outcomes of a potentially unsafe circumstance. They are likely to be in unsupervised setting more often and are swayed by their friends, and consequently, they may deem they should act chill. Your child still gains from ongoing discussions of threats, using real-life conditions as models.
Don’t say: Never talk to strangers.
Say: You should not move toward just anyone. If you need help, look for a cop, shop worker, or an adult with kids.
Don’t say: Stay away from unrecognizable people.
Say: It is key for you to get consent before travelling anywhere with anyone.
Don't say: You can tell someone is harmful just by gazing at them.
Say: Pay mind to what people do. Tell us immediately if you are ever told to keep a secret, are made to feel uncomfortable, or are convinced to go along with anyone, saying, “We never take anything from someone we do not know nor answer questions from such people.” Teach that taking action and trusting instincts when feeling unsafe are vital. “We can say no!”
