Capt. Leyson: "We're Doing More With Less"

Crime may be down in the 111th Precinct, but so are the number of cops available to patrol the area.

Capt. Ronald Leyson told the audience at Tuesday's Community Board 11 meeting that though he has more than 100 officers in command - as well as 18 sergeants and 11 lieutenants - the numbers simply aren't what they once were. 

“We’re down," he said. "We’re down a little bit. But as you can see from the stats, we're doing more with less.”

The cutback is due in part to attrition: the police academy is graduating fewer classes, meaning fewer recruits are available to join the ranks (the next class is slated to graduate in January). Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said in October that city-wide, the number of officers has decreased by 6,000 in the last 10 years.

But like every precinct across the city, Leyson said some of the 111th's manpower is being diverted to lower Manhattan, where Occupy Wall Street protestors have been embedded in Zuccotti Park for nearly two months.

Though the NYPD has inspired much scrutiny in its handling of the protest, Leyson said it's imperative that as long as protestors remain on the scene, police do too.

"We do send people there everyday, so it does cut into our manpower, but so does everybody else," he said. "We have to be there for the protestors as well as the public."

Leyson added that police are regularly culled from around the city for any number of reasons, be it a protest or a major sporting event like the U.S. Open or NYC Marathon.