As NY1 marks Black History Month, the station will sit down with high-ranking African-American NYPD officers to see how they're making a difference in the city. NY1's Dean Meminger reports on one of the two commanding officers in Brooklyn.

Assistant Chief Jeffrey Maddrey has been the commanding officer of northern Brooklyn for the last two years.

Along with fighting crime, he says he's also trying to improve the relationship between the police department and the community, especially young black men.

"I'm here to work with them," Maddrey said. "I get out my car often and I'll talk to them, I'll tell them, 'Hey, what's going on? Why you hanging out here? Are you guys behaving? I don't want any trouble over here.'"

Maddrey is responsible for the safety of communities like Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene and East New York. Some of those areas have the highest crime rates in the city, although much lower than years ago. He says people still causing violence will be locked up.

"We focus on who's causing the problems, and we attack those areas. We go to those areas, we talk to the businesses, we talk to the homeowners, the community, the residents, and we let the bad boys know we're coming for them. And we will definitely do that," Maddrey said.

But Maddrey, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, says the NYPD is trying to give alternatives to troubled young people.  

"We had a cease fire call-in when we actually called in young men who are identified as gang members, crew members, who've been in trouble. We brought them in just three weeks ago. And one of the young men, he actually gave me his number," he said. "He's someone who I am looking to mentor and make sure he is getting out there and working and doing the right thing."

But many question if the NYPD is doing enough to repair the relationship with the black and Latino communities after years of out-of-control stop-and-frisk.

Maddrey says it is going to take time.

"If each one of my police officers in Brooklyn North, my 3,000 cops in Brooklyn North, just grab hold of one young man and say, 'Listen, I want to help you turn your life around. We can change this borough. We really can,'" he said.

Many in the community are hoping for that as well.