BRONX W www.BXTimes.com EEKLY December 9, 2018 6
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
There is a new commander at
the helm of the 49th Precinct.
Captain Andrew Natiw, who
was assigned to the precinct at the
start of his 22-year NYPD career,
returns to the command, bringing
extensive experience in narcotics
enforcement and investigations.
Natiw, who grew up on City Island,
has been a captain since 2008,
and previously oversaw a group of
detective squads in the northwest
Bronx precincts.
He also served as the executive
offi cer of a narcotics operation
that sought to link the sellers of
drugs, including opioids and heroin,
to buyers who had overdosed,
he said.
The captain said he expects to
use contacts he made during his
NYPD career to hone in on narcotics
crime in the command, and
will also seek to have needed community
support of the command’s
policing.
“The community is out there
and can be our eyes and ears,”
said Natiw. “They can help us by
providing timely information as
to when and where crimes are occurring.”
He added: “From what I have
seen so far, the community in the
49th Precinct will do anything
they can to help us, and vice versa:
we will do anything we can do for
them.”
Natiw said he hopes to continue
the community outreach of his
predecessors.
Natiw told the Bronx Times
that his father, a retired NYPD detective,
encouraged him to take the
civil service exam for the NYPD
while he was attending S.U.N.Y.
Binghamton.
The captain was initially considering
a career in business or
fi nance, and was studying Economics
at the time, a degree he
ultimately completed at Lehman
College after he was already on
the police force. He also earned a
Masters In Public Administration
from Mercy College.
The commanding offi cer stated
that when he was a newly-minted
sergeant working with families to
identify remains at ‘ground zero’
after the terrorist attacks on September
11th 2001, he fully realized,
as a police offi cer how much he
can really help.
“I know it sounds cliché, but
that is what we are doing: helping
people,” said Natiw.
Natiw worked in various commands
in what was mostly a swift
rise through the ranks, including
the 41st Precinct in Hunts Point,
44th Precinct in Highbridge and
the 26th Precinct in Manhattan,
in addition to special assignments
and operations.
When assigned to the 26th Precinct
in Harlem, Natiw said he
worked in schools, which he found
a rewarding experience.
He said he learned some valuable
lessons in policing along the
way, including the need to be supportive
of both his rank and fi le
cops and the community when he
was a patrol sergeant.
He made a number of nationwide
law enforcement contacts
that led him to be selected for the
prestigious FBI National Academy
training in Virginia, and this experience
has also served him well
in his policing protocol.
At the precinct, Natiw replaced
deputy inspector Thomas Alps,
who was transferred to the 52nd
Precinct where he will be its new
commanding offi cer.
49th Precinct welcomes new
commander, Captain Natiw
Captain Andrew Natiw, a 22 year NYPD veteran, is the new commanding offi cer of
the 49th Precinct. Schneps Community News Group / Patrick Rocchio
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