He’s home – and this time in command: The journey of Staten Island’s newest NYPD precinct boss

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Ever since he was young, NYPD Capt. Bailey Goon wanted to become a cop. Now, he has the responsibility of supervising Staten Island’s 122nd Precinct in New Dorp as its new commanding officer.

Goon is filling the role previously held by Deputy Inspector Luigi Carrubba, who has served as commanding officer of the precinct since late 2023.

Carrubba now serves in an administrative role for Patrol Borough Staten Island, an NYPD spokesperson told the Advance/SILive.com.

A passion for policing

Goon, 44, has been a resident of Staten Island since 1996. Currently, he lives in Eltingville with his wife and 5-year-old daughter.

“This was something I always wanted to do since I was young,” he said.

Goon was first appointed to the NYPD in 2006 and assigned to Midtown South in Manhattan during Operation Impact.

Operation Impact was a crime reduction strategy in the 2000s used by the NYPD that deployed more officers to high-crime hot spots, known as “Impact Zones.” The NYPD monitored Impact Zones on a daily basis and tracked crimes, enforcement and officer deployment.

After serving in Midtown South, Goon went to the 6th Precinct, also in Manhattan, and worked in patrol. In 2011, he was promoted to sergeant and was transferred to Staten Island, where he served in the 122nd Precinct and the 123rd Precinct, based in Tottenville.

In 2015, Goon earned the rank of lieutenant and was brought back into Manhattan, where he worked in the 10th Precinct.

Goon was promoted yet again in 2020 — this time to captain. He started out with this new rank as an executive officer in Brooklyn South before returning to Staten Island and serving as an executive officer in the 123rd, 122nd and 121st precincts.

Prior to assuming his role as commanding officer of the 122nd Precinct, Goon was commanding officer of the Staten Island Ferry unit.

When asked how he feels about becoming commanding officer of the 122nd Precinct, Goon said:

“It’s a change, you know? Obviously I’m going to have shoes to fill, because obviously Deputy Inspector Carrubba did such a phenomenal job here. But, I’m ready for it. You know, my whole thing is, I live on Staten Island, I have family that lives on Staten Island, I live in the 122 as well, but the investment that I have for Staten Island to make it safer, just like making my friends and family safer, that’s my goal for everyone else.”

Crime prevention efforts

For Goon, the solution to addressing crime trends is to monitor where the crimes are occurring and deploy appropriate resources.

In addition to an ongoing string of vehicle thefts, Goon also hopes to address a scam targeting elderly individuals.

According to Goon, seniors may be encouraged by a scammer to exchange jewelry. The unsuspecting victim is pushed to try on different pieces of jewelry before the scammer makes off with everything the victim originally had.

As noted in a Feb. 27 post on X from the 122nd Precinct, these scammers try to swap the victim’s real jewelry for fake jewelry under the ruse of a gift, prayer or blessing. That same notice explains that these scammers may claim to need cash and offer fake jewelry in exchange.

As not all senior citizens have access to social media, the outreach from the NYPD will need to extend to door knocking and handing out flyers, Goon said.

“So the elderly scam is something big right now, but it’s proper deployment, you know, going out to the gyms, going out to the stores, doing crime prevention to let people know ‘lock your stuff when you’re in the gym, you know, don’t leave anything unattended.’ That might be a way to drive down crime, but my goal is proper deployment and trying to drive down the numbers,” Goon added.

Signaling the end of a chapter and the start of another, Carrubba handed over the “C.O.’s pin” to Goon in front of the precinct stationhouse on Tuesday, according to an X post by the 122nd Precinct.

“As is a 122 Precinct tradition, today our former precinct Commanding Officer, Deputy Inspector Luigi Carrubba, handed over the ‘C.O.’s pin’ to our new Commanding Officer, Captain Bailey Goon,” the post reads. “This starts a new chapter for Capt. Goon & the 122nd Pct. Please help us welcome him!”