New Top Cop

Whelan comes to 19th precinct from Queens By [Dan Rivoli ] The new commanding officer of the 19th precinct has left the single-family homes of suburban Queens for the luxury towers and low-rise tenement buildings of the Upper East Side. But the purse-snatchings, burglaries, identity thefts and other grand larceny crimes that Deputy Inspector Matthew Whelan is charged with tracking will be familiar. â??It"s still the same crimes we fought in Queens every day, Whelan said. Whelan, who took over from Inspector James Murtagh, faces new responsibilities in a neighborhood with a lot of activity, including tourist attractions, cultural institutions, Fifth Avenue parade routes and other large public gatherings. The precinct, which runs from East 59th to 96th streets between Central Park and the East River, also includes dozens of foreign missions and embassies. â??There"s a lot of counter-terrorism concerns because of targets, Whelan said. â??It"s just a different type of policing than I"m used to. The tony boutiques and high-end jewelry stores of Madison Avenue are another area of concern. In February, an armed robber took the life of a jewelry store clerk during a hold-up.[ In the wake of the murder](http://nypress.com/2010/02/11/in-wake-of-murder-fear-on-madison-ave/), the 19th precinct held safety forums to educate business owners and store managers about how to prevent robberies. â??The 19th precinct has done an outstanding job with Inspector Murtagh and his predecessors and we obviously expect the same wonderful job to accompany Deputy Inspector Whelan, said Matthew Bauer, president of the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District. To maintain safety, Bauer believes it"s critical that the precinct have a close relationship with business owners so they are comfortable giving information to police or reporting suspicious activity. â??There"s been a long-standing dialogue between the commanding officer and crime prevention officer [and] community relations officers of the precinct with our team, Bauer said. â??The business owners definitely feel they are taken care of. Whelan"s 20 years in the New York City Police Department have taken him to Manhattan"s Midtown north precinct, Brooklyn"s East New York neighborhood and the Queens public housing system. Whelan, 42, grew up on Long Island and still lives there with his wife, 10-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. He graduated from Rutgers University in 1999 with a degree in political science. While many officers have relatives in the force, Whelan said he is the first in his family to become a police officer. â??I didn"t see myself being a 9-to-5 business person, he said. Whelan took over at the precinct after Murtagh was named executive officer of the NYPD"s personnel bureau when Police Commissioner Ray Kelly announced a shake-up that shifted 40 people to new posts, the New York Daily News reported May 2. Whelan said he wants to continue Murtagh"s close relationship with Upper East Siders and the precinct"s civilian community council. â??In the 109 [precinct in Queens], we had a very strong community council, Whelan said. â??Being present at people"s meetings and meeting them face-to-face is important in my job.