By Caitlin Nolan , Stephen Rex Brown from New York Daily News

NYPD dispatching additional 1,500 cops to monitor pre-dawn parties before West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn

The NYPD is dispatching an additional 1,500 cops to keep an eye on pre-dawn parties before the West Indian Day Parade.

The J’Ouvert march through Flatbush is an annual tradition that kicks off around 4 a.m. Monday in Brooklyn.

The party is full of dancers, costumes, bands and baby powder — but has also featured outbursts of violence in years past.

A high-ranking police source told the Daily News he’s expecting a long night.

“We don’t have stop and frisk anymore. So, obviously, all the stuff we had stopped them from doing will start over again. The pop-up parties are them drinking all night. They’ll see you driving around and stop what they’re doing,” the source said.

“We’ll start at 5:30 p.m. and just roll around trying to keep everything calm and go until 6 in the morning.”

The police will be patrolling Crown Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and Flatbush.

The source said that he doesn’t expect enforcement to be as aggressive as years past.

“They’re going to tell us unless they’re doing something really gross, don’t do anything at all,” the source said. “Some of the people are real cool. They’re in front of their houses having a barbecue. It’s the young kids that are the problem.”

Parade organizers deny that violence and crime surges during the celebration, but some NYPD cops say otherwise. ‘It’s the young kids that are the problem,’ said one police source.
The official West Indian Day Parade starts in the morning on Labor Day and boasts music and scores of vendors lining Eastern Parkway selling delicious patties, jerk chicken and more.

Parade organizers have long pushed back against the notion that crime surges during the celebration of Caribbean culture.

“We provide adequate staffing levels for whatever event arises,” a police spokesman said.

IMAGES:
The NYPD will dispatch an additional 1,500 cops to keep an eye on the pre-dawn festivities before the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn. BRUCE COTLER
The party begins around 4 a.m. on Monday, and features dancers, costumes, food, bands and in the past has had random outbursts of violence at times. BRYAN PACE/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Parade organizers deny that violence and crime surges during the celebration, but some NYPD cops say otherwise. ‘It’s the young kids that are the problem,’ said one police source. TINA FINEBERG/AP

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