Customer Message
To: Matthew C. Fraser, Chief Technology Officer NYC Office of Technology & Innovation (OTI) Cc: Jessica S. Tisch, Police Commissioner New York City Police Department 311 Program Management Office Mayor's Office of Operations Subject: Add a Dedicated 311 Service Request Type for Abandoned Police Barricades Dear Chief Technology Officer Fraser, I am writing to request a change to the NYC 311 system regarding police barricades. Right now, the "Police Barricade Request" page on the 311 portal (hxxxs://portal[.]311[.]nyc[.]gov/article/?kanumber=KA-02925) tells residents to contact their local precinct's community affairs officer to have police barricades set up or removed. The page treats setup and removal as a single process and directs people to handle it manually with a precinct. That approach may work for barricade setup of planned events, but it fails for a different and very common problem: abandoned NYPD barricades that are left in place for days or weeks after they are no longer needed. Problem: * Metal and wooden sawhorse barricades are routinely left behind on sidewalks and at corners after the original police activity ends. * There is currently no dedicated 311 complaint category to report these abandoned barricades. * Residents are not given a way to submit a location, attach a photo, and receive a service request number for follow-up. * Requiring each resident to find and call or email the correct precinct community affairs officer is inefficient and discourages reporting, which is why the barricades often sit in public space indefinitely. Requested fix: 1. Split the current topic into two distinct 311 items: * "Police Barricade Setup Request" * "Police Barricade Removal / Abandoned Barricade Report" 2. For "Police Barricade Removal / Abandoned Barricade Report," add a normal 311 service request workflow that: * takes the exact location (address or intersection), * allows one or more photos, and * generates a tracking / SR number so the public can see status like they can for complaints about abandoned vehicles or blocked sidewalks. 3. Route that request automatically to the appropriate person or team. Why this matters: * Abandoned barricades block pedestrian space, create obstruction at curb ramps, inconvenience those with wheelchairs, and visually signal "this corner is nobody's responsibility." * New York City already uses 311 to track quality-of-life issues and abandoned equipment in the public right of way; abandoned police barricades are functionally similar and should be handled with the same transparency. * Giving residents a structured request path, instead of telling them to call a precinct's community affairs officer, would generate usable data, create accountability, and help clean up the streets. I am asking OTI, as the steward of 311's design and intake logic, to create this dedicated service request type and to publicly separate "setup" from "removal." Thank you for your attention to this. I would appreciate confirmation that this request will be reviewed.
