Precinct Council Warns Of Identity Theft

The gathered together to discuss major issues affecting Forest Hills Wednesday night. Among those in attendance were President Heidi Chain, Deputy Inspector Christopher Tamola, Sergeant Ray Morales, and guest speaker Patricia Gatling from the NYC Human Rights Commission.

First on the docket, Chain began the meeting by announcing the many ways residents can protect themselves from identity theft. “Years ago we had a lot of identity theft and [now there are] three companies, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, you can call to take action,” she said. Either one of the three companies will alert the other two, and will work on fixing the identity theft issue, she added.

“You can get one credit report once a year, from each of the three companies. This way you can continually monitor your credit. If you see something, you much take action," Chain said.

Shortly following Chain, Sergeant Morales gave a brief mention of local bicycle safety regulations. Using their flyer, Sergeant Morales and a team will attempt to educate bicyclists as well as employers of cyclists on safety regulations for New York City.

 “We’ve identified three main areas [where there is the most danger.] We’re going to go out there and educate people. There are many rules and regulations that [bicyclists] may or may not be aware of," Morales said.

The council then introduced their guest speaker for the night, Patricia Gatling, chair of the NYC Human Rights Commission. Gatling opened the floor with some information on how they help the city. “We investigate and prosecute people who discriminate in the city” she said.

Formed in 1944, the NYC Human Rights Commission fights discrimination of all kinds, including employment for the previously incarcerated, obesity issues, deaf, immigrants and more.

Gatling said employment issues were the most common complaints her office receives.

 “We get a lot of people who come to us about employment discrimination, where people feel that they have been [discriminated by] not being promoted, not given a raise, not transferred, or something that’s happened at work.” One of their many proactive attempts to keep discrimination in check consists of sending testers to employers to see if they will hire.

Gatling emphasized the difference between other agencies and the NYC Human Rights Commission. “We’re an enforcement agency. Most people don’t realize we’re the only civil rights agency, with the exception of the federal government, that has enforcement authority.”

To close the meeting, Deputy Inspector Christopher Tamola announced the crime ratings in comparison to the previous years as well as new scams to look out for due to the 10th anniversary of September 11th.

“Fact of the matter is we have had a lot of success here at the 112. We’ve led the borough  through crime reduction over the past three years.” Said Deputy Inspector Tamola. Overall, the number of crimes in comparison to the same month last year is lower.

With regard to the 9/11 scams, he commented, “Every criminal is going to climb out from under a rock and [they] are going to try to solicit money for 9/11.” An example could be, “they will call up and say ‘I’m from the police department or fire department” to try and gain personal information. He emphasized that giving away any personal information could lead to identity theft.

Next month's meeting will be held at the New York City Transit Museum on May 24th with an included lunch.