Call this cop Top Gun.
Since late summer, 49th Precinct Police Officer Michael Munroe has been working the precinct, cultivating leads that have netted four firearms in the past three months. That seizure was followed by eight arrests.
Munroe’s unusually high gun collars earned him the Four-Nine’s Cop of the Month award for October. The distinction was put on hold following Superstorm Sandy’s disruptive outbreak.
But Captain Lorenzo (Andy) Johnson wasted no time at the Nov. 27 community council meeting, giving brief remarks before presenting Munroe with a citation from Senator Jeff Klein’s office and his own maybe cop-tongue-in-cheek award – a gift certificate to Dunkin’ Donuts.
“It feels good to be appreciated for hard work,” said Munroe, a five-year veteran whose career has been solely with the Four-Nine.
Assigned to the intelligence unit, a phalanx of plainclothes cops working the field, Munroe has taken to digging up sources to nail arrests, according to Johnson.
“Mike’s always sitting me down giving me intel,” noted Johnson. “Doesn’t matter if it’s the Four-Nine, Four-Seven, and even in the 40th (in the South Bronx).”
One of those arrests came during a joint visit to Pelham Parkway Houses between Four-Nine officers and the state Division of Parole in September.
Jarrell Bland, a known Bloods gang member once booked for robbery, was arrested after authorities discovered a 9mm handgun linked to the August 18 shooting at Pelham Houses, one of a myriad of shooting incidents that plagued the once jewel of the Housing Authority’s portfolio over the summer. Munroe also confiscated a bulletproof vest belonging to a police sergeant.
Bland, now behind bars for parole violation, remains a suspect in the Aug. 18 shooting.
Other arrests included two made in Bronx Park East, another at 2723 Barnes Ave., a car stop and two arrests from a longtime investigation on Hone Avenue.
This month, Munroe has his sights set on a new, undisclosed crime-ridden territory, sniffing about on the hopes of finding even more guns, said Johnson.
“Hopefully in January I can tell you about the successful operation there,” said Johnson, addressing the community.
David Cruz can be reach via e-mail at DCruz@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 742-3383
