Pubdate: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 Source: New York Post (NY) Copyright: 2001 N.Y.P. Holdings, Inc. Page: 009 Contact: http://nypostonline.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/296 Author: Larry Celona CONDOR' FLIES OVER HIGH-CRIME PRECINCTS The NYPD has quietly retooled the focus of the anti-drug initiative Operation Condor away from narcotics and toward beefed-up patrol in higher-crime precincts, The Post has learned. Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik made the move two weeks ago, picking 15 precincts around the five boroughs where the crime level has gone down but is still higher than elsewhere in the city, sources said. Most of the precincts are in The Bronx, a swath of Brooklyn, including Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, and upper Manhattan. Under the revamped Condor, the NYPD has cut the number of cops focusing on drug crimes, and is putting more uniformed officers on the streets to deal with shootings, stabbings, murders and domestic violence. The decision means the department will use the controversial initiative, which has roughly 4,000 cops work overtime on their off days and costs about $1.5 million a week, until Mayor Giuliani's term is up at the end of the year. Kerik has credited Condor with playing a major role in the still-falling crime rates, which are down 13 percent overall so far this year. Murders alone are down 12 percent, shooting incidents are down 21 percent and the number of shooting victims is down 26 percent. Former Police Commissioner Howard Safir first started Condor in January 2000, primarily to staunch the heavy traffic of narcotics on streets - using plainclothes cops. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake