One of the joys of looking at the news is the police blotter. Yes, it’s informative and alerts you to potential dangers in your neighborhood and city, but it’s also the place you go to for bizarre stories like the man who thought he was a pirate in Bensonhurst. But Brooklynites are going to have to find a new source of crime-based entertainment (perhaps Criminal Minds?), because apparently the NYPD is doing away with the practice of sharing police blotter information.
Amanda Rogers, at the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill-based blog The Nabe first found this out when she went to pick up the police blotter from the 88th Precinct. Apparently since some precincts don’t hand out the blotters and others do, the NYPD decided to officially enshrine “If you don’t give your brother some candy, no one gets candy” as official NYPD policy, and have ordered every precinct to stop giving out the crime blotters.
Technically you can still get crime information from your local precinct, you just have to go through the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, who we’re sure will get back to you after dealing with the ten million other requests he suddenly has. You just have to file a FOIL request, which the police have always treated with the speed and respect they deserve. In the meantime, you’ll just have to get your Orange is the New Black crime news the old fashioned way: by doing the crimes yourself.