NEW ISLAND OFFICERS

Staten Island received 103 new police officers after the Police Academy graduated its latest class of cops on Jan. 7. Many of these officers will work in the new Operation Impact zone just set up in Port Richmond.

Additional Impact zones can be found in 20 police precincts in the other four boroughs.

City officials said Operation Impact led to a 26 percent reduction in crime in Impact zones last year and helped reduce the city's overall crime rate to its lowest level since the early 1960s.

"Operation Impact significantly reduced crime in areas with persistent criminal activity," Bloomberg said.

As part of another crime-fighting initiative, 20 hi-tech police scooters originally purchased for use during last summer's Republican National Convention are being deployed on Staten Island . Ten scooters will be given to the Mid-Island's 122nd Precinct, while five each will be given to the North Shore 's 120th Precinct and the South Shore 's 123rd Precinct.

Bloomberg's press conference was held in the Brooklyn stationhouse of the high-crime 75th Precinct. That precinct is the home of Operation Trident, a new initiative in which the precinct is divided into three patrol zones, with each zone supervised by a captain.

Michael Scholl covers City Hall for the Advance. He may be reached at scholl@siadvance.com.