By Tommy Hallissey

Sgt. Theresa Wilson was just about to pack up and leave the apartment lobby of 3340 Bailey Ave., when Sherry, a young black woman, approached her table.

The police sergeant listened intently as the woman relayed her problem: the father of her child won't pay child support. She is taking him to court, but as a result he has been harassing her with phone calls.

She's worried, she told Sgt. Wilson, who asked her to fill out a complaint form to get her story on record.

October is Domestic Violence Month and Sgt. Wilson, who has headed the 50th Precinct's domestic violence unit for the past three years, came up with the idea to set up a table in the Bailey Avenue building, which she called an "at-risk" location.

The hope, she explained, is to get more women to come forward.

Sherry appreciated the extra support, explaining that she never would have visited the stationhouse to file a report.

"The precinct is intimidating; this is more homey and convenient," the mother said.

The event was Sgt. Wilson's last in the 50th Precinct. The 18-year police veteran is being transferred to the NYPD's community affairs division. As a going away present, Sgt. Wilson decided to throw herself a working party of sorts - a final ditch effort on her part to help women like Sherry.

For the last several years, Sgt. Wilson and her crew of two women and one man - Officer Marisol Guerrero, Officer German Garcia and Officer Jenny Castro - have been responding to all disputes in apartment buildings even if they aren't necessarily labeled as domestic violence. This way, Sgt. Wilson explained, her unit doesn't miss a thing.

The information table, however, is a new approach to a persistent problem.

So far this year, there have been 1,406 reports of domestic violence within the confines of the 50th Precinct, down slightly from 1,449 during the same period last year.

The severity of certain cases has drawn increased police attention like on Sept. 20 when a Kingsbridge Heights mother was beaten with a broomstick by the father of her child in a Bailey Avenue apartment building. The 25-year-old woman had an order of protection against the man.