Dangers cops face doing 'vertical' patrols

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - I went to the Melrose Houses in the Bronx where two police officers were shot in in a stairwell last week. If it's that dangerous for the cops, imagine what it's like for the people living here.

Thousands of families live in the Melrose public housing development and live with constant worries about crime, despite the NYPD presence and outdoor cameras. Getting inside your building doesn't mean you're home safe. Not when the front door is unlocked.

We wanted to get an idea of just how dangerous it is in these public housing stairwells for residents and for police officers so we invited Dr. Darrin Porcher, retired NYPD lieutenant and criminal justice professor, to show us what the danger is for everyone.

Porcher said the procedure is the officer takes the elevator to the top floor, starts at the roof landing, and walks down the building.

Porcher said the top staircase is a prime location for sexual assaults, drug use, robberies and violent vagrants. He said that officers may need to have their guns out.

Melrose tenants told me that one thing that could be done is to upgrade the lighting in all these stairwells and also to install the type of video surveillance system that already exists in other developments.