The Sheepshead Bay community came together with police from the 61nd Precinct Tuesday to celebrate National Night Out Against Crime.

NYPD precincts in all five boroughs celebrated the event, a symbolic gathering initiated 31 years ago to show neighbors reclaiming their streets from violence and crime. New York City’s police force is joined by more than 15,000 communities across all 50 states.

Check out the photos from the event.

Police forces across the nation will celebrate National Night Out Against Crime for the 31st year, and NYPD precincts in all five boroughs will be celebrating on Tuesday, August 5. The event is celebrated in more than 15,000 communities across all 50 states, representing the communities reclaiming their streets from violence and crime.

Locally, the 61st Precinct at 2575 Coney Island Avenue is kicking off the festivities at 5:00 p.m. Clown Simon will be there!

Also, there will be music, food, rides and ice cream. There have always been some great shows put on by kids, like last year’s dragon dance and the impromptu Gangnam Style performance by this 3-year-old:

It’s also a good opportunity to meet local elected officials and our precinct’s new commanding officer, Deputy Inspector Carlos Valdez.

See the flier above for more details.

61st Precinct police station located at 2575 Coney Island Avenue. (Source: Google Maps)

A prisoner, arrested on charges of drug possession, used his shirt to hang himself in the 61st Precinct police station (2575 Coney Island Avenue). According to a report in the New York Daily News, the prisoner was taken to Coney Island Hospital (2601 Ocean Parkway) but died there this past Thursday.

The 29-year-old prisoner, who remains unidentified, was arrested on August 30 when police discovered he had ketamine, a hallucinogenic drug, stashed in his car. After his arrest, he was found hanging in his cell at 5:45 a.m. The Daily News described the subsequent investigation that is now to be taken place:

Internal Affairs is looking into whether cops followed the rule that requires them to check on prisoners every 30 minutes.

“I can tell you that we do an in-depth investigation any time anything like this happens, and that is precisely what’s going on now,” Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

“So we are looking at that aggressively, Internal Affairs division along with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.”

Source: NYC Mayor’s office via Twitter

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly visited the 61st (2575 Coney Island Avenue) Precinct to talk to officers about the current conditions of the storm-battered neighborhood.

Cops from the 60th Precinct (2951 West 8th Street) were there, too, because their headquarters suffered a great deal of damage and the precincts combined for the time being.

Bloomberg spoke highly of the officers’ work during trying times. Kelly noted that the 60th Precinct requires a lot of repair work, including a major rewiring, before things are up and running again, according to a NY1 article. Kelly hopes to have the officers back in their Coney Island location in about a week.

“There was a tremendous amount of flooding, of course, at the 60th Precinct station house, which is in Coney Island, right in the middle of Coney Island,” stated Kelly. “Officers had to evacuate that building. They’re still not back in the building. They’re turning out of the 61st Precinct here. It’s working well, but obviously we want to get them back into that location as quickly as possible.”

According to reports, over 1,700 officers also have to deal with their own private property damage as a result of the storm.