By Michelle Han
A Police Department forum at PS 7 in Elmhurst this week gave residents of northern Queens the opportunity to vent frustrations with quality-of-life issues ranging from graffiti to police response times to seemingly ferocious dogs.
The gathering, the eighth forum Police Commissioner Howard Safir has sponsored in the five boroughs over the past year, drew more than 300 people to the auditorium of PS 7 Tuesday night. The forum was hosted by Patrol Borough Queens North, which canvasses eight precincts: the 104, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114 and 115.
Safir, who was expected to attend until shortly before the meeting, was called to a news conference in Staten Island late Tuesday. Chief of Department Joseph Dunne fielded questions from the audience in his place.
One by one, Queens North residents voiced concerns about a number of issues, most of them having to do with quality of life.
A request for more officers was repeated by several members of the audience, from Bayside
