By Bryan Schwartzman
Murders surged by more than 60 percent to five in the 103rd Precinct in the opening quarter of the year and held steady at five homicides in the 113th Precinct compared to the year-earlier period, police statistics showed.
But overall crime in the 103rd Precinct, which covers Jamaica, Hollis, and parts of South Jamaica, was down slightly in the first three months of the year.
On the other hand, crime crept up in the 113th Precinct, which includes Springfield Gardens, Rochdale Village and parts of South Jamaica.
The statistics reflected the number of incidents in the seven major crime categories from Jan. 1 to April 2 and compared those numbers with the same period in 1999.
There were five murders so far this year in the 103rd Precinct and three murders at this time in 1999, said Police Department spokesman Alan Krawitz
Rapes were down 40 percent in the first quarter, dropping from 15 in 1999 to nine in the first quarter of 2000, Krawitz said. Felony assaults slid 35 percent from 120 incidents at this time year last to 77 in the first three months of this year.
Krawitz said burglary was down 26 percent to 128 incidents in 2000 from 175 for the same period in 1999.
But both grand larceny and grand larceny auto both increased slightly by 2.8 percent and 3.2 percent respectively in the first three months of this year, according to the police statistics.
There were 129 reports of grand larceny vs. 125 in 1999, Krawitz said. Auto thefts were up slightly to 143 in 2000 compared with 139 in 1999 in the 103rd Precinct.
